hard starting mj

[amx'er]

hi all, just recently picked up a 87 comanche just for "getting it out of the way", i have had several jeeps before starting with a cj with a 304, cherokee, and wife with g. cherokee. question is what would cause it to

be difficult to start in any temp? once it is started runs great, good pedal, good torque. been out of the loop for a while, btw it a 4.0, 5 speed, 4x4.

any sugeestions would be a great help!!

[86FUBAR]

check and make sure ur battery is in good condition and ur power/ground is good and secure with no coroision . check volts wile cranking/runing

 

what is it doing exactly, slow cranking, not wanting to fire ?

the more info the better

[MJCanadian]

My 90' comanche takes about 16 turns to start no matter what temp, I don't really worry about it because I know it always starts everytime, no stuttering, no spitting..... just takes its time

[Eagle]

hi all, just recently picked up a 87 comanche just for "getting it out of the way", i have had several jeeps before starting with a cj with a 304, cherokee, and wife with g. cherokee. question is what would cause it to be difficult to start in any temp? once it is started runs great, good pedal, good torque. been out of the loop for a while, btw it a 4.0, 5 speed, 4x4.

any sugeestions would be a great help!!

What do you mean by "hard to start"? Are there times when it simply doesn't start or you have to fight with it to get it to go, or does it just crank a bit longer than your 304 did?

 

The Renix EFI system won't fire until it sees that the engine has oil pressure. They always take a few revolutions before they start. This is unlike a good-running AMC V8, that'll usually fire up after about a quarter of a revolution. It takes a bit of getting accustomed to, but it's not a problem.

[amx'er]

thanks for all the advice! as far as battery voltage and such, it's all good,

and for the starting all the time, yes it is a very dependable, starts every time, just a lot of cranks going on. it is the fuel injection 4.0, i had them (injectors) cleaned and checked, notice a little better gas milage, but stll the cranking. makes sense to get the oil pressure up before firing/ running. guess it's just the opposite of low oil pressure shutting the engine off! i have several amc cars, all with V-8's, so not really used to I-6.

also one other item, are the mj's notorious for oil pressure gauge or sending units givng weird readings? some days mine will read 55psi, some days 30psi. checked all the connections and wiring, all seems good

again thanks for all the info, i will most likely be a frequent flyer on this site.

[Pete M]

Also if the CPS is getting weak the engine will tend to crank a lot before firing. The computer won't fire till it gets a good signal about where the crankshaft is in its rotation. Long crank times (3-6 seconds) are fairly common with the older MJ/XJs. As long as it takes about the same time each time I tend not to worry too much about it.