Shop Jeep Spark Plug Wires

ALong with Jim's advice, look for a weak ground to the coil. As Jim stated, bad wires or plugs can cause the coil to work too hard to produce enough voltage to push the current through.

I also agree with above along with chunking the Autozone garbage and buying either a factory or AC Delco replacement. I have had the same trouble with this type of car when installing lower quality coils. Spend a few more dollars on a good one and be done with it.

What comes to mind with long term storage like that outdoors is bad fuel - additives that was put in the fuel causes problems and may after even one flooding so it didn't feel like starting and sometimes even with spark the plugs won't work. They get the spark but won't make a good spark. If it was running ok when it was put there I would probably just put new plugs in it and mark your wires (masking tape or something) and leave the old plugs out for a day!

Also - I've seen hydraulic lifters compress and the valves don't work well but should again. It may take some serious cranking but go slow as you don't wan't to burn out the starter. You can heat up plugs with propane torch but it's generally not worth the trouble vs new. Use a bit of good old starting fluid in air intake but replace the air cleaner as it's also a spark/flame arrestor.

This is a place where I will suggest a fuel solvent and it may need a while to burn up the old fuel but get rid of it, by using it up or drain it.

You'll get it going and then check out the tire pressure, battery, change the oil in an outdoor stored car and you may need to do some brake work too. Vehicles don't like sitting around and some problems may show up but just one year may not be too bad.

Let us know how you are making out and expect some different problems till you hve used it some before you give it your full trust. Good luck, T

I've never been able to get all the fuel out of a tank and the problem may be between the tank, fuel filter, injectors and I you can get away with it it's a whole lot easier to use solvents but they have to move along. SeaFoam is an awesome product and you may have water from condensation and time (this jeep isn't new anymore) and it gets into. One year old gas is old but I've dealt with some five year old gas that was a pest. The solvents should work if this is it. Use only isopropyl achohol based water remover. Methanol just prevents the water from freezing but doesn't remove it.

If starting fluid doesn't get you some reaction we may be barking up the wrong tree here. None of this work will hurt though and we'll keep trying, T

Yea I got my jeep running after replacing the fuel filter and adding some of that isopropanol stuff to the tank. And it runs fine except for one of my valves is ticking and I was wondering how exactly to fix it?

Also my power steering fluid is low and my Haynes Manuel says to use “Jeep power steering fluid (or equivalent)” which what would classify as equivalent?

The valve may be fixed with just changing the oil too much or a solvent which I don't wan't to recommend right now. It could be sludge, bad lifter or not nice a worn lobe on camshaft.

Where was the PS leaking? You can use just trans fluid or the product that works for 100K now in my own car for a shaft seal called TransX. It's just a maybe and won't fix a real leak in a hose and may not work but I haven't found it to hurt anything. It took several tries before that TransX worked but it has in now a low use car of mine with a bazillion miles on it. I generally don't believe in additives except for water removing dry gas.

Just new oil is a slow cleaner of your engine. Fast stuff may throw too much junk at once and cause problems again - some fatal for the engine. The ticking valve could just be a loose plug and you can see them wobble and they can fall out which will wake up the neighbors!

The real fix if you need this car bad is to replace the bad parts - I don't drive much further than I can walk and I will try some tricks on my own cars. Ok - that's my own cars all old, but the real fix is new parts. Good luck, T

Ya the only reason why the power steering fluid is low is because the jeep used to belong to my brother which he doesn’t know much abought cars and did some work of his own which he wound up loosening off the 2 bolts that hold up the reservoir so it was siting upside down.

That would explain some problems.!!!!

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Just for readers of this thread that was a different problem but all cars/vehicles with PS should never be forced when at the full end of their travel as they are stupid and will just make unreal pressures that can only cause problems. T

check your plugs firing order

The first likely problem items are the high voltage items like plugs, wires, cap, rotor and coil(s).. Sometimes you can see them "arcing" when dark or perhaps plain sight now. Note: The longer you run an engine that is misfiring for any reason the harder it is on you convert(s) up to killing them and o2 sensors,

T

i dont understand...what plugs, wires, caps, rotars, coils are you talking about and what is wrong with them? what do you mean arcing? are you saying those things are getting wet and therefore causing some kind of problem?

Electricity just naturally seeks the easiest way to ground. In car's ignition system the high voltage of the items metioned need to insulate that charge to fire the spark plugs. If it doesn't get there or leaks between any errantly it won't fire properly or sometimes at all.

All but about distilled water conducts electricity. Ever see the warnings about using electric things in or near water even at home?

Temporarily spraying some WD-40 (water displacement is what the WD stands for) can correct the problem especially in near invisable cracks or carbon traces on any of those parts.

The dampness could be affecting something else electrical. The most sensitive is the ignition and it's components,

T

i appreciate your advice and insight, but im not really sure about what your telling me to do. just spray some wd40 on some stuff? spray it on what/where? if that is the temporary solution, whats the long term solution. if i wanted to take it off-road im afraid id have some trouble with it stalling and/or possibly dying after getting wet+

how do i know which part(s) are causing the problem?

If it is jumping electricity out of a wire or between them or at the cap you may see it as a spark. When you have the problem you could just spray one item at a time and the one(s) that make it correct the problem should be replaced. If you find a plug wire that has a spot rubbing thru or something like that on a budget you can get just one wire.

The other way to find WHICH item is causing it is to spray plain salt (table) water on suspect parts when it's running well and the one(s) that make it repeat the problem may show right up for you.

It may not be the high voltage ignition stuff at all and could be wiring to some other sensor usually at a plug/connector that is weak or making a poor connection.

You said you can get this problem right away from hitting a puddle so anything that might get wet from that is highly suspect. Many vehciles won't wet the engine much or at all with ordinary puddles.

If you want my guess on which part right now I'd blame the distributor cap. They get hairline cracks sometimes from being shocked with cold water on a hot brittle plastic part and will behave when dry again and misbehave when wet again.

Note: Problems when moisture is the trigger are almost always electrical and not mechanical problems,

T

I don't know how you'll like the sounds of this as it seems a little radical but it worked for me as I had the same problem. I first bought a new cap, rotor, wires, spark plugs and some silicon grease plus a small bottle of rubber glue. I took a flat tipped screw driver and hammer and gently broke the outer part of the cap away from the screws and removed the cap and rotor. Then I used a pair of small vise grips to lock onto the cap bolts and removed them. I then inspected for any damage and seeing none, Put the new rotor and cap back on. Then I coated the cap terminals with the silicon grease as well as the spark plug tips after installing them. Next I put some rubber glue on the cap screws, put the wires on and haven't had a problem since. When doing stuff like this, be careful, wear protective eye gear, work like a surgeon, not "Grog" the caveman. Good luck.