Extended Cold Start on 1997 TJ 2.5

[bbankhead]

Hello all,
I have recently purchased my first Jeep and am loving it. Teaching the boys how to drive the back roads with a standard before they graduate to something else. When I first purchased my TJ a few months ago it would start up on first crank and without any trouble. I have noticed over the past few weeks that the initial start (cold start after the Jeep has been sitting over night or longer) that it is taking a few cranks and sometimes after it does crank it will run for about a second or two and then die. Now after a few attempts of starting, it will fire up and run great. If I kill the engine and come back after a bit (less than a hour or two) it will crank right up on first crank and run fine. I am wondering if the fuel pump is getting weak and/or loosing pressure or letting the gas seep back into the tank thus causing the extended crank time. If I am way off on my thinking, please let me know as I am sure there are several of you that have seen and fixed this issue before. Can anyone tell me what the best brand fuel pump is and what the part number is for my specific TJ. I don't mind spending a little extra on a quality part. My Jeep is a 1997 TJ 2.5L with the 15 gallon tank.

Thanks for any and all help,

 

[TJ4Jim]

Yep, sounds like the fuel pump is on the way out. The oem pump is Bosch but the complete assembly is no longer available, so you have a choice to just replace the individual pump module with Bosch (still available) or switch to a complete assembly like Delphi. I would buy the 19 gallon assembly and when you drop the tank cut the internal vent tube in the tank (plastic) which will increase the capacity from 15 to 19 gallons. Tank is the same either way and it's just derated so Jeep could charge more for the 19 gallon.