cranking/ flooding problems

[pullinmyhairout]

My wife's 96 Cherokee sometimes floods when cranking.Following cranking proceedure seldom works.If it doesn't crank the first try, you can pretty much forget it.This is happening more and more often.Can someone help before it's too late?

[jeff compton]

Is your wifes jeep equipped with a remote starter or anything, what's the condition of the plugs, wires etc?

[pullinmyhairout]

No remote starter,wires and plugs ok.Does it worse in cold weather(below 40).Years ago I'd say auto choke is sticking.Aren't they obsolete now?

[jeff compton]

Try cleanning the throttle body out and if possible remove the iac motor from the throttle body and clean all the passageways out really good. The only other thing i'd suggest without hooking a scanner to it and looking at the actaul sensor values is verify the fuel pressure is @ spec when it starts. I've had cherokees in the past that on first fuel pump prime only had 20 psi of fuel pressure. It should be well over 45 psi. Anyway just some things to check. When it won't start is there spark at the plugs?

keep me postte dif you wish

Jeff

[pullinmyhairout]

Well,Jeep finally stopped completely.After checking for fire the fourth time,coil wire came out of boot.Replaced coil wire, Jeep cranks and runs fine.Funny how when it cranked,it never jarred enough to quit firing while running.That's why I'm not a mechanic I guess.

[jeff compton]

Yeah sometimes the simplest things trick us all once in a while, now that's it running it might be worth replacing all the ign wires and the cap and rotor to rule out any future scenarios and rechecking the plugs if the jeep has been flooded frequently. cleanning the throttle body is always good maintenance
and quite easy to do. I'd recommend changing the oil as well because of the cylinders washing down when it's flooded. Congrats

Jeff