4.0 long cranking time?

lilseth0014 · 07-02-2008, 04:17 PM

My jeep take a few seconds to start in the morning and after sitting a while like in a parking lot or something. I just replaced the battery 2 days ago and nothing has changed.

Could there be a problem with my starter? Does a starter start to go bad or lose the power it once had? I replaced my altinator a few month ago so that should be fine?

My jeep does have 315,000 miles on it. Could the motor be dieing now!!! The jeep all in all drives fine and still has excilent power.

It is leaking oil from the valve cover and the oil pan and of course my rear main seal.

Should i replace the rear main seal now?

I also have a spare engine with around 27,000 miles on it or around there. When i go to put that one in should i do any clean up on that engine? Should i replace any gaskets or take anything apart and pressure wash anything? Is there any ways to check for good pressure or see if its worth putting in that engine?

Sorry that there is a lot of questions. Just thought i would throw all of them out there at once.

Saudade · 07-02-2008, 05:05 PM

How long have you owned it? Has it always taken this long? Normally, it takes a few revs in order for the ECU to establish TDC and #1 before it starts sparking away. As long as the starter seems to crank it quickly, it may be normal.

315K is OK as long as it's maintained. A compression test will give you a good idea how it's all doing inside.

You should fix the leaks. The RMS is a dirty job but not all that difficult. Here's a writeup.
http://www.jeepin.com/features/rearmain/

jc052685 · 07-02-2008, 07:18 PM

check the fuel pressure while starting. most likely the fuel presure regulater.

lilseth0014 · 07-02-2008, 07:24 PM

i have had this jeep for about 5 month now maybe a little longer. It has seemed to run like this about the whole time i have had it maybe had gotten a bit harder to start. But non the less i will probably start to fix up the seals and now i will work on the engine.

Nerys · 07-03-2008, 02:50 AM

This is NORMAL. every cherokee I have ever seen takes about "2" extra cranks to start over what you "expect" it too. Jeep put a pretty punny starter in there. Its fine nothing wrong with it. Properly cared for 315k is fine I have 452k on mine and the only reason it dies was about 200k ago I sucked 1.5 quarts of mudd into the engine and did not realize it till after my wheeling checklist that night. Needless to say that was not healthy for it :-) the engine still ran fine but it leaked from everything. I deemed it not worth repairing and just put another engine in it.

BUT beyond that properly cared for 500k is EASY with the I6

There is an aftermarket starter you can get. Green Machine or something like that. Beefier more cranking torque but its not cheap $300 IIRC (that was some time ago)

Otherwise don't worry about it. Its a jeep thing.

**bamasteeler** · 07-03-2008, 07:43 AM

in addition to checking your fuel pressure check and see if ya fuel pressure stays in the rail after you shut it down there is a leak down test in the manual. if its leaking down the check valve in the regulator could be bad or you could have a fuel injector leaking by.