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need advice on my comanche


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hi guys my name is Justen, i have a 1988 jeep comanche 4wd that doesnt have the original motor. i aint afraid to get dirty and tear it apart if i have to. the jeeps motor was swapped out in a day by the guy i bought it from it has a 2003 jeep wrangler 4 cylinder motor in it with an allison transmission, it wants to turn over but i can't get it to start at first it was the positive connectors that were loose i tighten back in and it works i had to jump the battery to get the motor to wanna turn over. i need someone with experience on what to do, i was thinking of finding another 03 wrangler and taking the motor out and just replacing the motor with that one would that be easier? any advice would help me, thank you.

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Get some pictures of things, please, because I really don't know what you're working with.

 

Assuming it's a 2003 2.5L that's been swapped into the 88, but the 88 wiring and injection has been retained, it shouldn't be too bad to figure out what's going on.  But I'm not sure if that's the case.

 

Let's clarify a few things:

 

1. Have you seen this thing run?  Or were you told that it does run?

2. When you say it 'wants to turn over' that means to me that the engine wants to crank over (spin) when the starter is engaged.  Not that it wants to actually start.  Am I correct?  Or does it crank and sputter like it's trying to start?

3. You tightened the positive connectors, I'm assuming you mean the positive lead on the battery?  This made it crank over faster/better, or did it actually make it start?

4. You had to jump it.  Was that after cranking for a long time so it ran the battery down?  Is the battery charged?  Is the battery good?  Did it crank over properly when jumped?  Did it start when jumped?

 

At the very least I can tell you swapping the motor out is not likely the easiest solution right now.  And AFAIK no Jeep has ever used an Allison transmission.  Asin transmissions, yes, they've used those.

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i had to tow it to my dads last novwember 22 2016 i drove it onto the tow dolly and then drove it off the tow dolly, i had a problem where the pipe that leads to the exhaust on the motor had a hole about 8 inches down the pipe and it looked like someone was vaping out of the exhaust pipe, it didnt sound right but it still drove once i parked it at my dads it had been sitting til now without being started

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is there spark?  is there fuel?  that should be your starting place   :thumbsup:

 

At this point, yeah, it's the air/fuel/spark thing.  Almost.

 

Is it actually cranking fast enough would be my first question.  If it's just turning over slowly, it's probably not going to start even if everything else is working.

 

If it is, proceed to pulling the intake off, and misting some good gas or starting fluid into the intake.  It it tries to start, or runs for a few seconds, you know you've got spark.  If not, proceed to checking for spark.

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its almost got a full tank of gas, i know when i first try to start it the radiator hose for the bottom of the radiator i made was frozen so i had to pour warm water in my radiator to get rid of the ice it was low on water anyways but i think some of my liquids may be frozen a bit, but idk i aint that skilled i take a transmission out and plug it in, i was working on it today i accomplished fixing the door so now i just gotta get my baby running again

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my second question is, would it be worth putting an ls engine in my comanche?

 

Yeah, but that's not here nor now.

 

 

Does it crank reasonably fast?  Do you have spark?  Did you pull the intake off and mist some gas in it?

 

When the lower rad hose was frozen, did you freeze water in the block/head? :???:

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Get some pictures of things, please, because I really don't know what you're working with.

 

Assuming it's a 2003 2.5L that's been swapped into the 88, but the 88 wiring and injection has been retained, it shouldn't be too bad to figure out what's going on.  But I'm not sure if that's the case.

 

Let's clarify a few things:

 

1. Have you seen this thing run?  Or were you told that it does run?

2. When you say it 'wants to turn over' that means to me that the engine wants to crank over (spin) when the starter is engaged.  Not that it wants to actually start.  Am I correct?  Or does it crank and sputter like it's trying to start?

3. You tightened the positive connectors, I'm assuming you mean the positive lead on the battery?  This made it crank over faster/better, or did it actually make it start?

4. You had to jump it.  Was that after cranking for a long time so it ran the battery down?  Is the battery charged?  Is the battery good?  Did it crank over properly when jumped?  Did it start when jumped?

 

At the very least I can tell you swapping the motor out is not likely the easiest solution right now.  And AFAIK no Jeep has ever used an Allison transmission.  Asin transmissions, yes, they've used those.

sorry i forgot to answer this yes it still has its 88 injection it has an air intake still not sure if the original motor had a carb on it its still got its original power steering pump but that has been leaking I'm not sure if that would be the problem though

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If it's got the 88 wiring and injection then it's a renix system, there are a few experts here who can help trouble shoot the renix no start.

 

You could swap another 2003 2.5 engine in, but unless the current engine is bad you would still be stuck with no start.

Probably would be bad to get a few pictures of the engine bay so the folks here can identify what you've got.

 

If it were me I'd test for spark, being lazy I'd probably try a little starter fluid and see if i tries to start, if it does then you've got a fuel problem, it if does nothing then it's a spark issue. That is where trouble shooting the renix system comes in, if you MJ still has it.

Could be as simple as a crank position sensor that bolts in the transmission bellhousing.

 

It shouldn't be mechanical timing unless there has been a catastrophic failure of some sort like the chain breaking, which would not be common.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

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anyof you guys got skype I'm going out to my dads today to work on it or can i just stream live from this website to show you guys what its got but heads up my buddy didnt clean out the engine bay after the original motor blew so its got grease everywhere the motor swap was done in a day

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so guys i found out what the problem is,i hae air, spark but no fuel in order for the motor to run i sprayed starter fluid into the carb and it ran so where would the fuel pump be located for my jeep anybody know?

put a new fuel filter on it first, if it wasn't changed with engine it could be that simple. If it doesn't start check any fuses for the pump, how old is the gas, turn the key on and we if you here a hum coming from your tank that's where the pump and sending unit is. Try to smell the gas if it doesn't smell rite. The smell should be strong and pungent. It could be bad gas. I've gotten it at stations with contaminated ground tanks. The gas will separate over time. Condensation in the trucks tank can do it to. Pull your fuel line crank it to see if you have flow. Where the injectors cleaned before motor was installed? I don't know didelly about a four banger but a new fuel filter always helps and it's a good way to start out with a new to you car. Then you know where you stand. It's cheap insurance. Best of luck.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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I'd probably put a fuel pressure tester on it, but without one you can still check a few things.

 

You should be able to hear the pump humming when you turn the key on.  The pump is in the tank.  If it isn't humming you should use a multimeter to see if you have power at the plug for it, or jump, prior to pulling the pump out to replace it.

 

As said, if the gas is old it's quite possibly no good.  You also might be out of gas but the sender is stuck, if it's been sitting for a long time.  Also, ethanol fuels may rot the 'sock' filter off the inlet of the pump, which will plug the pump.  Likewise that, or other contaminants can plug the filter on the frame rail.

 

See if the pump is running first, and if you actually have fuel in the tank (add some fresh gas) and go from there.

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  • 2 months later...

hey guys I'm back i pulled out my old fuel pump put in a new one and theres no power to it i thought i heard humming with the old one but there was no power to it either also the negative wire was burnt at the bottom for the negative nipple on the fuel pump also burn the whole negative nipple also into the plastic part,second the old fuel pump was covered in rust, but I'm still not getting anypower to the fuel pump, i think its the fuel injectors but ive never broken or had one go out on me before so idk exactly what the fuel injector is for does it suck the gas through the fuel line into the air intake? or could my ground wire for my fuel pump got snapped by a rock when i was having fun offroad where it was rocky?

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The battery to body ground could be missing. That could make the fuel pump ground wire burn off while cranking because too much power (amperage) is going through it. The fuel stops pumping when the motor isn't cranking over and runs for just 3 seconds unless the motor is running when you first turn on the key from the off position to prime the system.

Look up cruiser54's Renix tips and follow them to get things done right.

 

The auto trans is 3 speed (904 by Mopar) or 4 speed auto? (AW4 by Aisan)

 

That hole in the exhaust wouldn't happen to be where the O2 sensor used to live? Mine blew apart and melted the crank sensor harness.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

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