Topic: '97 TJ No-Start. Baffled.

[GrannyLow]

So yeah- I'm leaving Home Depot yesterday- it was a quick trip, so the engine was still very close to operating temp- and when I turned the key, it was as though the coil wasn't even connected. Just spun. Didn't even try. I happened to need some other stuff, so I went back in for about an hour, came out, started right up. After that, I purposefully recreated the same conditions, and it did the exact same thing; trying to start soon after shut down results in a nostart. Wait around 30+ min, bingo- starts.

Any ideas?

CPS replaced about three years ago, so that's probably unlikely to be involved.
Tank fuel pump replaced a year ago just because I had the tank out, anyway.

Oh- it had begun to idle rough when cold, and lopes a bit, sometimes now. If I just blip the throttle, it stops.

Any help greatly appreciated.

[sharpxmen]

determine if it's spark or fuel or both that you're missing, spark is easy to check, for fuel you can check pressure at the Schroeder valve (can't remember the correct spelling but it's the nipple in the center of the rail, take the cap off and press on the valve like on a tire to see if you have pressure) and then check for signal at the injectors with a light bulb or analog multimeter/voltmeter (while cranking).

could be a multitude of things from CPS, cam sensor, coil, fuel pump, temp sensor and even the PCM/ECU, determine the spark/fuel status when it happens first.

any CEL and codes stored when this happens?

[jfrabat]

I have had similar things happen on different occasions, and I have had different causes.  Bad fuel pump, bad coils, CPS, cam position sensor...  I would start with what Sharp proposed.  Try to narrow your problem down next time something like this happens.  It could even be your ignition switch, from what you say, so try narrowing it down.

[grumpygy]

Also did you smell anything.  when my coil went by I didn't smell anything but my eyes were really irritated, you could smell it when I popped the hood.  Also put your hand down by the coil (don't touch) does it feel hot.