97 xj won't start up after sitting 2 years

I have a 97 cherokee with a 4.0L/aw4 w/ 108k miles, it's been sitting for about 2 years. From what I remember about it when it was running, I put some hood vents on without drip pans or covers and started frying the sensors on the throttle body. That and a few other problems, I found it much easier to have it sit there and drive my other car.

Recently I've started working on it again and still can't get it to start. It does crank over now but won't fire up. The gas tank registered as empty so I put in fresh fuel and some seafoam additive. My throttle body had corroded shut so I replaced that, all of the sensors on it, and while I was at it I put on a newer style intake manifold. It has a brand new battery in it and I've had the starter off and tested at autozone/oreilly before it would even crank over. Found out the NSS was going out so wiggling the shifter let it turn over. Motor mounts have also been replaced.

I put new plugs and plug wires on it as well since the other hood vent is right over the distributor cap, and I'm sure 2 years of rain/snow/etc sitting on it would surely damage it. I'm getting a new distributor cap tomorrow, but I had the neighbor over to see if there was a spark in the new wires and he said there was, which should mean a good distributor cap?

What else could be the issue? It will crank over all day and just drain the battery, especially since it's full power options. I can smell gas in the fuel rail area so I know it's getting gas, air and... spark?

Any and all help is appreciated. I've been going down the list of problems in the haynes manual for the last couple weeks to fix all of the small stuff and still nothing.

Did you take a close look at the "quality" of the spark? Often overlooked.

You are looking to see a strong, blue, snapping spark. Yellow/white/orange indicates a weak spark, which may not be strong enough to start the engine. Weak spark can indicate a faulty coil (which can be tested by the way for primary and secondary resistances with a meter and a manual).

Also wouldn't hurt to run a compression test on all cylinders to see if something internal might be going on. Don't get tunnel vision.

Check the distributor rotor for signs of a burnt rotor end trying to contact weld itself.

Try a shot of starting fluid. if it fires and then dies, it's old/bad gas in the lines.

I recently left my MJ sit for over 2 months(Too damn hot to work outside in the summer here) and it was a bastard to start last weekend.

While it's only been sitting for the summer, the gas is over 6 months old. It usually won't start and run first time out of the gate, as I use a batt. disconnect when it's sitting, and it doesn't like to fire first thing after the computer has been re-set. This time I couldn't get it to start at all. After adding new gas, I could get it to fire using ether, but it wouldn't stay running. It took about a half can of ether (Yes, I admit, I stood there and idled the engine spraying ether into the air cleaner for probably 2 minutes :shhh: ) before the new gas got to the engine. Whatever the fuel in the lines was, it wasn't gas any more.

It could take longer with a late-model, as there is no return line on the fuel rail to circulate fuel.

tbburg sounds right on this one.We sprayed starter fluid in it, it fired and died right away.Instead of spraying ether into the engine for 2+ minutes to get new fuel going through the rail, whats a better option?

Is there anyway to create a siphon and pull the bad gas through the line into a cup until the good gas gets there? I don't want to drop the fuel tank and replace pump/filter if there's another way. Any help is appreciated, I want it running before it snows!

Siphon out the gas tank and use that stuff in your lawn mower. Disconnect the fuel line at the gas tank, and use a really low pressure air to blow out the fuel rail (you can remove the valve core from the Schrader valve). Reconnect everything. Then refill with new gas (5 gals should do it) and key the engine on until the fuel pump has fuel pressure at the rail again. Ta da.

We disconnected the line to see if fuel would come out earlier when we sprayed starter fluid in it and she was dry as a bone. Do you think there's a blockage that would/could be cleared with the low air pressure?

I'll siphon the tank tomorrow and disconnect the line to clear them and hopefully that does the trick. It had maybe 1 gallon of gas in it and I topped it off with 5 gallons of fresh gas about 3 weeks ago...

By design, the fuel pump should energize and run for approximately 2 seconds when you turn the key to the ON (not start) position. Do you hear the fuel pump run?

If you hear the fuel pump run and you still have no fuel pressure at the rail, it is time to install a new fuel pump assembly. I would highly recommend Bosch (stay away from Airtex for reliability reasons).

If you do NOT hear the fuel pump run, you have a problem with something in the control electronics that is not allowing juice to get to the pump. Check and swap fuel pump relay, check fuses, etc.