95 YJ with plenty of problems

[Goesman]

Hello everyone, first time jeep owner with a load of problems.

A little background: 95 YJ with 2.5 and 5 speed transmission. Bought it off my boss. He bought it and so called blew up the engine on the way home. He is not the most mechanical minded guy and didn't bother checking it out first. He got a new what he calls crate engine and had someone put it in. I would ask him for more info but really he is not to bright in this area. He drove it for a little while around his farm as far as I know before parking it.
He tried to sell this to everyone at work but no one would take it. Finally he decide he would take a 1000 for it and I struck up a deal. It's ugly, someone rattle can painted it but it's straight and solid with a spring over conversion kit and new tires. New motor, lifted, new tires how could I go wrong.

And this when it all went south. He said 6 a battery in it and it should run. One good battery and a little tinkering and I got it to start. It run bad, real bad. Wouldn't idle, running on one cylinder most of the time. I pulled the vacuum line to fuel preasure regulator and it's shoots fuel out. Ok bad regulator no big deal. For giggles I plugged the line to the regulator so it would build pressure in the fuel rail and it started up and ran a little better. If you held it half throttle it would smooth out and sounded great.

Ordered a new regulator and installed it. Hit the key and fuel pump ran. I cycled the key a couple more times and cranked it over. Nothing, nothing at all. Noticed the fuel pump wasn't running. I messed around a bit longer and found it had no spark. Great what did I do to it. I tried a couple more little things with no results. Went back home and did some research and learned about the auto shut down relay and found a FSM. With new knowledge and hope, back I went. Tested relays and made sure I had power where it needed to be. ASD relay was definitely not kicking in. Jumped the ASD relay to ground and bam had fuel and spark. Cranked it up and it run, wouldn't idle so I had to hold it about quarter throttle. Sounded great, really great just no idle what so ever. This jeep is 30 minutes from the house in the middle of no where. I loaded up my tools in it and any thing else I might need out of the truck. It wouldn't idle but if I kept on the throttle I was convinced it would make to the house down the back roads. Jumped in it ready to go cranked it over and nothing. Fuel pump was running but no spark. Damn now what. I checked relays again and all good with the ASD Jumped to ground. Checked power to coil, good. Checked power to crank and cam position sensors, 9.7 volts manual says 8v. Found the vacuum line was not connected to map sensor, fixed that. Anouther few tries and no spark. I know the crank and cam sensors are a problem and will trigger the auto shut down. I will order them friday and see what happens. I found it odd that one moment it ran and the next nothing a couple times.

Any way long story short, I wanted a project, and boy have I got one, I guess. I have been all over this forum, youtube and where ever I can find information that might help. When I get the sensors I will get them put on and let all of you know what happens. Wish me luck.

Daniel

 

[Chris]

Hello everyone, first time jeep owner with a load of problems.

A little background: 95 YJ with 2.5 and 5 speed transmission. Bought it off my boss. He bought it and so called blew up the engine on the way home. He is not the most mechanical minded guy and didn't bother checking it out first. He got a new what he calls crate engine and had someone put it in. I would ask him for more info but really he is not to bright in this area. He drove it for a little while around his farm as far as I know before parking it.
He tried to sell this to everyone at work but no one would take it. Finally he decide he would take a 1000 for it and I struck up a deal. It's ugly, someone rattle can painted it but it's straight and solid with a spring over conversion kit and new tires. New motor, lifted, new tires how could I go wrong.

And this when it all went south. He said 6 a battery in it and it should run. One good battery and a little tinkering and I got it to start. It run bad, real bad. Wouldn't idle, running on one cylinder most of the time. I pulled the vacuum line to fuel preasure regulator and it's shoots fuel out. Ok bad regulator no big deal. For giggles I plugged the line to the regulator so it would build pressure in the fuel rail and it started up and ran a little better. If you held it half throttle it would smooth out and sounded great.

Ordered a new regulator and installed it. Hit the key and fuel pump ran. I cycled the key a couple more times and cranked it over. Nothing, nothing at all. Noticed the fuel pump wasn't running. I messed around a bit longer and found it had no spark. Great what did I do to it. I tried a couple more little things with no results. Went back home and did some research and learned about the auto shut down relay and found a FSM. With new knowledge and hope, back I went. Tested relays and made sure I had power where it needed to be. ASD relay was definitely not kicking in. Jumped the ASD relay to ground and bam had fuel and spark. Cranked it up and it run, wouldn't idle so I had to hold it about quarter throttle. Sounded great, really great just no idle what so ever. This jeep is 30 minutes from the house in the middle of no where. I loaded up my tools in it and any thing else I might need out of the truck. It wouldn't idle but if I kept on the throttle I was convinced it would make to the house down the back roads. Jumped in it ready to go cranked it over and nothing. Fuel pump was running but no spark. Damn now what. I checked relays again and all good with the ASD Jumped to ground. Checked power to coil, good. Checked power to crank and cam position sensors, 9.7 volts manual says 8v. Found the vacuum line was not connected to map sensor, fixed that. Anouther few tries and no spark. I know the crank and cam sensors are a problem and will trigger the auto shut down. I will order them friday and see what happens. I found it odd that one moment it ran and the next nothing a couple times.

Any way long story short, I wanted a project, and boy have I got one, I guess. I have been all over this forum, youtube and where ever I can find information that might help. When I get the sensors I will get them put on and let all of you know what happens. Wish me luck.

Daniel

It’s great that you got it to start at least, even if it was just temporarily. The whole no-spark issue can be a real pain, especially when it seems to be intermittent. The fact that it runs better with the ASD relay jumped suggests there could be something going on with the electrical side that’s causing intermittent failures.

Replacing the crank and cam sensors is definitely a good next step. Those sensors can often cause weird issues if they fail. Also, make sure to check any connections or wiring around those sensors as well; sometimes corrosion, loose wires, or damaged connectors can lead to strange behavior.

As you’ve already gathered, the vacuum leak you found with the MAP sensor could also be a contributing factor to the rough idle, so it’s good that you addressed that. Another thing to consider while you’re diagnosing might be to check the throttle body and IAC (Idle Air Control) valve for gunk and carbon buildup. A clean throttle body can often do wonders for idle issues.

Keep us posted on how the new sensors work out for you!

I guess you got that project you wanted, huh?

 

[Goesman]

It's fixed and it runs great and I bet no one has ever saw the problem i had that caused my issues.
First off replaced the crank sensor and no start. Replaced cam sensor and no start. I just wasn't getting any spark. Checked again power to the coil and it was good. Checked the continuity from the coil to the ecu and it was good. I had power to all the sensors. Then I thought maybe a bad plug wire from the coil to the distributor and it was good. I started to think great I need to get a new coil but I just had this feeling that wasn't the problem.
Then I found the problem. In this jeeps life someone rattle can painted it. When they painted it they also painted stuff under the hood. You know what, they painted the plug wire terminal on the coil. Cleaned the paint off and boom it fired right up and runs great. Never in my life would I of thought that would possibly be a problem. Drove it home even though the front brakes were dragging. I have a jeep now and good running one. It's ugly but it's mine and it's going to be fun.

Thanks everyone.