Cherokee (pioneer) repairs

[SeanD]

Greetings:

My Jeep is a 1989 Cherokee (pioneer) with 152K on it. The engine leaks oil and oil does accumulates in the air filter. A rebuild is on the horizon, but until then....sometimes it just will not start. Turn the key, engine turns over rapidly, but no luck. I can hear the pump come on before turning the key all the way to start. Often if I wait a few minutes to an hour or so it will then fire right up. WHen it does start, it is usually within the first 3 seconds of trying.

Suggestions? I noticed some posts about the Hall effect sensor. Is this a possibility? Also, I recently bought a jar of the Techron fuel injector and added it to the gas (is it snake oil?).

Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated. It looks finances will force me to do all the work, so I need to educate myself as much as possible. THanks for any advice.

Sean

 

[jps4jeep]

Welcome to the site! I would also check into a timing issue, and a spark issue. could be loose connection at the coil. I know this is not a common problem, but I have seen it before. there is a possibility that you spark could be too advanced, flooding the engine, do you smell gas when you try to start?

 

[MudderChuck]

Blown motor

A lot of people say, sporadic starts and no starts are often the CPS sensor. On the back of the motor, in the top of the bell housing (down behind the valve cover), slightly on the drivers side. Hard to see without a mirror and flashlight. The test is when the motor won´t start, unplug the sensor and plug it in again. Often the motor will start up. When most guys have starting problems, they will replace the CPS sensor (around $30) just to make sure and elliminate that possibility. The next most common thing is spark and ignition parts, commonly the distributor cap, which gets fairly corroded often.
I periodically put a bottle of injector cleaner through the gas tank, seems to help smooth out the idle some.

 

[XJNick]

Welcome

Your oil in the air filter problem is most likely a clog in the PCV (front) or CCV (rear) hoses that attach to the valve cover. While your at it, I'd remove all the vacuum/vapor lines and clean them out with compressed air.

As for the no start issue, I too agree that the CPS (it is a hall effect sensor) is a very likely culprit.

Good Luck :mrgreen:
-Nick :!: