Everything was fine until 9:30 when I loaded up the boys and the Jeep wouldn’t start – at all. Cranks fine, won’t hit. I used to tell students that’s the easiest condition to diagnose, but that was on cast-iron pushrod engines with carburetors. Now it could be:
a. arcane fuel system problem
b. arcane ignition problem
c. stripped teeth on a timing belt
d. something I’ve forgotten about entirely.
Engines have moved on just a tad since I was a dealership wrench, is what I’m saying. When I quit, they still had distributors.
I already had to go to town because it was time for my bi-annual propane regulator failure. So I ended up giving shit-shoveling a miss and hiking overland to D&L’s to catch a ride to town – to find that the place I normally buy my regulators from no longer sells them. Totally wasted trip, I could have kept up with shit-shoveling instead. Fortunately D&L are going to another town tomorrow or Wednesday, and they can definitely get me one there. Not an urgent matter, the current one still works fine in the afternoons. Just not in the frigid mornings.
Now I’ve got to hike over to Landlady’s to feed chickens. Then I’m going to try this product I was able to get in town, made by some guy named Evan Williams. Because it’s been that kind of day. 🙂
Which Jeep, CJ/YJ/TJ? All are cast-iron pushrod engines, the latter two likely without carburetors. No timing belt. If Mopar MPI, they’re really not that hard to diagnose. I’m getting better at it than I want to be…
Are the gel socks helping with all that walking?
Is it time for you to get a horse? A donkey? A 4 wheeler?
Fuel injected? Crank position censer top of bell housing . No spark no fuel. Plug and play;)
There is an incense smoker atop the bellhousing? Apparently Chrysler Corp. is less secular than AMC. Then again, with a modern Jeep (not the old dirt-simple ones), prayer might be the best solution.
Joel could use a donkey. A little one. Then he could call him “Burrito.”
In the event you didn’t already try, turn the key to the run position and press the schrader valve to see if you have fuel pressure. If not, check the fuses; if not a fuse, switch the AC breaker with the fuel pump breaker. If you are getting a signal through the wires to the pump, you still have a electrical fault somewheres. If that fails and you have shock to the pump and no go juice at the injector rail, get under the ass end and whack the tank with something like a mallet and see if it makes the pump turn. Failing that, punt.
So OK, if you are getting gas at the fuel rail I’m about to get you into trouble. Likely lots of it and you’ll really have a reason to curse me. It’s a YJ. YJs, like Cherokees have a crank sensor on the top of the bell housing. There two wee bolts holding it in place. It’s a magnetic sensor that gets Alzheimer’s. If you have a long screwdriver or a wrecking bar you can rest the blade atop the plastic housing and give it a smart tap. This will do one of two(or three) things:
Push the forgetful sensor closer to the flywheel/flex plate and let it read, thereby sending a crank timing signal to the computer and off you go.
Or shove the sensor into the flywheel/flex plate and make a gawdawfulass® racket when you crank it.
It’s a delicate operation. You can break the housing on the sensor and that’s less than bueno. <<<that's the third thing.
The above advise is given in the spirit that I sucked as a Jeep tech.
Now, on to Even Williams. Careful, that shit creates stupidity on a level of merry malevolence that I can hardly describe.
My last experience with EW Whiskey involved a case of it, several of my dumber friends, a Nissan Maxima and Ocotillo Wells Off Road Vehicle recreational area.
We did a severe amount of damage to the case of booze, then proceeded to do a great deal of damage to that Maxima trying to find a friend at a very remote camp who was going to be racing out to a place called Competition Hill the following day.
Don't ever let anyone tell you that you cannot wheel an early 90s Maxima. You can, but the insurance company may total it afterward.
I like my Toyotas but sometimes I really miss my old VW Beetle. Guaranteed to have trouble on any trip more than a hundred miles but never anything more than a handful of tools wrapped in a towel couldn’t fix. Damned thing was less complex than a riding lawn mower.
FYI – it’s a TJ, 2001.
Scratches head.* I thought it was a ’91 for some reason. That said, same procedure applies for fuel pressure check. Also for the crank trigger check, adjustment which is still fraught with same hazards. Also, there is a cam sensor where to distributor used to be, that could be bad.
Check for corrosion on the wires leading to the coil pack.
*Never seems to make me any smarter.
🙂 Be that as it may, I can tell you the fuel pump works fine, there’s pressure in the rail, and I’ve got a flashing CE light which leads me to believe you’re probably right about some essential sensor taking a dump.
Also, the cavalry may be in sight. A visiting son of a neighbor is said to be a lot more up on this than me, and could possibly be available for a consult. Or not, and in either case there’s a good chance of an adventure in towing in my near future.
If its sensor related, I’ve found unplugging sensors can get you into the “limp home” mode. Its not idea by any means but it can get you to a place, where it can get fixed, or at least give you a place to start looking IE “I unplugged this sensor and it started up, i plug it in and it wont…”