Ok, here's the deal.
Early 1989 2.5l 4cyl TBT LHD here in the UK. I believe she's quite possibly the rarest YJ of her kind in the UK according to people who know about this stuff.
That's not a good thing. Not on this island anyway.
Other than a back fire issue or two she's never let me down despite my tinkering.
Really fun drive home 40 miles a couple of weeks ago, Jeep was great.
Next day, sun was out so
1. Put a new stat and housing on.
2. Flushed the heater core and pipes.
3. Put it all together again.
4. Gave the bunch of filthy wires down under the battery a good scrub.
5. Learned this is the ignition relay/ solenoid. (GND, SOL, BATT and IGN)
6. Drove the car around the block to face her uphill on my drive to burp the system.
7. Car cut out.
8. Nothing on key turn, totally dead.
9. No lights no stereo, no dash lights, no dome light, no crank nothing. Silent.
10. Checked battery- full.
11. Checked tank - half full.
12. Checked Batt connections - good and tight.
13. Checked every connector - all connected.
14. no start, nothing, basically dead.
15. Checked fuses under the dash - all good.
16. Swapped fuel relay on left side of battery.
17. no start- nothing. silent.
18. Figured I might have shorted something out when cleaning wires off/ to the ignition relay block.
19, Blow dried the engine bay with a hi powered blower.
20. Jiggled the wires under the battery and noticed one had broken off.
21. Fixed that with a new spade and reattached to the ignition starter block.
22. PROGRESS!! Electrics come back and heater blower running, lights, wipers, stereo, dome, everything.
23. Car cranks! No start. Healthy crank - not starting.
23. Replaced the fuel relay on left of battery with brand new one.
24. No joy.
25. Dropped the tank to test the pump/ sender wires = wires showing correct voltages.
26. Checked fuel filter - seems good.
27. Checked fuel lines - all good.
28. Rechecked the fuses, connections etc = all good.
29. Called a Jeep mechanic/enthusiast to take a look (one of only two in a 50 mile radius who will touch my Jeep- welcome to the UK)
30. Sparks are not firing on crank.
31. Can smell petrol from block with plug removed - assuming pump is working.
32. Checks everything same as I did including crank position sensor, alternator, ignition pack, plugs, cables, wiring etc.
33. No obvious reasons for good crank but no spark.
34. I order a new Ignition Relay, new Dist cap, new rotor, new better quality ignition cables.
35, Took off the Ignition relay and cleaned it up, filthy and corroded.
36, Put it back on, hooked up the wires which had also been cleaned and metal brightened.
37. Cranks better, wont fire up.
38. Decided to replace the wires (found out four of them are fusible links) with better connectors.
39. IDIOT! forgot to unplug the neg cable, wires shorted and blew up the relay, sparks and smoke. IDIOT!
40. Braided ground cable from block to firewall starts smoking, singes the thin metal tube above it, nothing serous.
41. Unplugged the battery and
42. Obviously Jeep is officially dead.
42. Cleaned and wire brushed every ground point and nut/ bolt and washer.
43. Took Ignition pack off the firewall, cleaned it and brightened up all metal parts.
44. Coil is less than a year old but cleaned it anyways.
45. Took the big black box firewall connector apart and cleaned it up and took the connects down to metal but still kept most of the black dielectric grease to aid in connectivity etc.
46. Checked all fuses.
47. Installed brand new fuel pump relays.
48. Attached brand new Live batt connector and brightened up the live cable to remove green corrosion, reconnected.
49. Put new stronger connects on the ends of the fusible links, cleaned the ends to bright metal, fit new plastic covers and heat shrunk them.
50. Parts arrived from Germany!
51, Installed and very carefully rewired the Ignition relay in and attached to firewall.
52, Installed new Dizzy cap, rotor and proper ignition leads.
53. Lights all working - the Jeep turned over like it was a new car, really fast, healthy crank.
54. STILL WONT FIRE UP. AAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!
55. Swearing, cursing, kicking things, throwing a fit in the garage, plugged in guitar and wailed, kicked the bins, kicked the other car….
56. Drank tea. Calmed down.
57. Checked fuses again – all good.
58, Checked battery – all good
59. Read how to check continuity of wires – thinking it’s a busted but invisible fusible link.
60. Didn’t understand the instructions.
61, Came here for help.
Help.
I’ve tried everything in my humble arsenal to get this bloody YJ running again. She just won’t fire up. Everything looks and sounds like its all wired and connected properly, I can hear a quiet wooshy sound from near the TBT when I turn the Key so I’m assuming that must be fuel being pumped to the Throttle Body.
It seems like there is no literal ignition of that fuel.
Living in the UK there are only about 3 known companies who know something about YJ’s and it’s gonna cost me a small fortune to get it towed and lord knows how long or how much to fix. I think it’s just something stupid like a fried link or perhaps the signal from the ignition relay isn’t getting to the coil pack to ignite the fuel by the plug?
I don’t know how to test all that and I have sneaky suspicion of one of you folks was to take a look, in under 2 minutes you’d say ‘ it’s that thing there mate’ and rig up a workaround and she’d roar into life hahaha.
I buy the busted bit or repair ait and we’re off on the road once more.
What say you folks…..what have I missed???
Thanks for you patience in reading..... thought I'd list everything I've done.
G
Early 1989 2.5l 4cyl TBT LHD here in the UK. I believe she's quite possibly the rarest YJ of her kind in the UK according to people who know about this stuff.
That's not a good thing. Not on this island anyway.
Other than a back fire issue or two she's never let me down despite my tinkering.
Really fun drive home 40 miles a couple of weeks ago, Jeep was great.
Next day, sun was out so
1. Put a new stat and housing on.
2. Flushed the heater core and pipes.
3. Put it all together again.
4. Gave the bunch of filthy wires down under the battery a good scrub.
5. Learned this is the ignition relay/ solenoid. (GND, SOL, BATT and IGN)
6. Drove the car around the block to face her uphill on my drive to burp the system.
7. Car cut out.
8. Nothing on key turn, totally dead.
9. No lights no stereo, no dash lights, no dome light, no crank nothing. Silent.
10. Checked battery- full.
11. Checked tank - half full.
12. Checked Batt connections - good and tight.
13. Checked every connector - all connected.
14. no start, nothing, basically dead.
15. Checked fuses under the dash - all good.
16. Swapped fuel relay on left side of battery.
17. no start- nothing. silent.
18. Figured I might have shorted something out when cleaning wires off/ to the ignition relay block.
19, Blow dried the engine bay with a hi powered blower.
20. Jiggled the wires under the battery and noticed one had broken off.
21. Fixed that with a new spade and reattached to the ignition starter block.
22. PROGRESS!! Electrics come back and heater blower running, lights, wipers, stereo, dome, everything.
23. Car cranks! No start. Healthy crank - not starting.
23. Replaced the fuel relay on left of battery with brand new one.
24. No joy.
25. Dropped the tank to test the pump/ sender wires = wires showing correct voltages.
26. Checked fuel filter - seems good.
27. Checked fuel lines - all good.
28. Rechecked the fuses, connections etc = all good.
29. Called a Jeep mechanic/enthusiast to take a look (one of only two in a 50 mile radius who will touch my Jeep- welcome to the UK)
30. Sparks are not firing on crank.
31. Can smell petrol from block with plug removed - assuming pump is working.
32. Checks everything same as I did including crank position sensor, alternator, ignition pack, plugs, cables, wiring etc.
33. No obvious reasons for good crank but no spark.
34. I order a new Ignition Relay, new Dist cap, new rotor, new better quality ignition cables.
35, Took off the Ignition relay and cleaned it up, filthy and corroded.
36, Put it back on, hooked up the wires which had also been cleaned and metal brightened.
37. Cranks better, wont fire up.
38. Decided to replace the wires (found out four of them are fusible links) with better connectors.
39. IDIOT! forgot to unplug the neg cable, wires shorted and blew up the relay, sparks and smoke. IDIOT!
40. Braided ground cable from block to firewall starts smoking, singes the thin metal tube above it, nothing serous.
41. Unplugged the battery and
42. Obviously Jeep is officially dead.
42. Cleaned and wire brushed every ground point and nut/ bolt and washer.
43. Took Ignition pack off the firewall, cleaned it and brightened up all metal parts.
44. Coil is less than a year old but cleaned it anyways.
45. Took the big black box firewall connector apart and cleaned it up and took the connects down to metal but still kept most of the black dielectric grease to aid in connectivity etc.
46. Checked all fuses.
47. Installed brand new fuel pump relays.
48. Attached brand new Live batt connector and brightened up the live cable to remove green corrosion, reconnected.
49. Put new stronger connects on the ends of the fusible links, cleaned the ends to bright metal, fit new plastic covers and heat shrunk them.
50. Parts arrived from Germany!
51, Installed and very carefully rewired the Ignition relay in and attached to firewall.
52, Installed new Dizzy cap, rotor and proper ignition leads.
53. Lights all working - the Jeep turned over like it was a new car, really fast, healthy crank.
54. STILL WONT FIRE UP. AAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!
55. Swearing, cursing, kicking things, throwing a fit in the garage, plugged in guitar and wailed, kicked the bins, kicked the other car….
56. Drank tea. Calmed down.
57. Checked fuses again – all good.
58, Checked battery – all good
59. Read how to check continuity of wires – thinking it’s a busted but invisible fusible link.
60. Didn’t understand the instructions.
61, Came here for help.
Help.
I’ve tried everything in my humble arsenal to get this bloody YJ running again. She just won’t fire up. Everything looks and sounds like its all wired and connected properly, I can hear a quiet wooshy sound from near the TBT when I turn the Key so I’m assuming that must be fuel being pumped to the Throttle Body.
It seems like there is no literal ignition of that fuel.
Living in the UK there are only about 3 known companies who know something about YJ’s and it’s gonna cost me a small fortune to get it towed and lord knows how long or how much to fix. I think it’s just something stupid like a fried link or perhaps the signal from the ignition relay isn’t getting to the coil pack to ignite the fuel by the plug?
I don’t know how to test all that and I have sneaky suspicion of one of you folks was to take a look, in under 2 minutes you’d say ‘ it’s that thing there mate’ and rig up a workaround and she’d roar into life hahaha.
I buy the busted bit or repair ait and we’re off on the road once more.
What say you folks…..what have I missed???
Thanks for you patience in reading..... thought I'd list everything I've done.
G