89 Cherokee Chief 4.0 won't start backfires flames from injector

My Jeep ran fine until we had a major freeze and i couldn't start it for a week and a half. Every time I've tried to start it it backfires flames out of the air intake of the injector. I also don't hear the (normally loud) fuel pump. I've tried starting fluid and a little gas down the troat but nothing works. It'll crank for a bit act like its tryin to start and then backfire through the intake. Any ideas???

Just got it two days ago -- found out that it starts OK by turning the ignition key just enough to kick over, instead of rotating it as far forward as it will go. Rotating it all the way resulted in major flooding, and eventual flames under the hood, smoke, fumes, etc. Rotating just a bit = starts like a dream every time. HTH!

Thats a new one for me.

The capacity for Jeeps to break in new and challanging ways never ceases to amaze me, (I have two Jeeps)

I thought for sure somebody would come up with something by now. Still dead after another week

Thats a new one for me.

The capacity for Jeeps to break in new and challanging ways never ceases to amaze me, (I have two Jeeps)

I read your quote and felt intrigued to place my views, because this is the first time I've ever spoken in a forum. Anyway, to the point my friend has a CJ-7 and one night he went through a puddle of mud up to his pants. On his way home he started spitting out flames and backfiring real bad. It turns out his distributor cap had water in it. You may have the same problem due to the thawing of the ice and the condensation could've accumulated in your distributor. Hope this information helps.

Check the crank position senser, It may have just gone bad or the connector may be dirty. Went through this type of problem with mine for months and finally found the CPS I had replaced was the problem. The new one was bad. Also use a timing light to see if the timing is firing like it should, maybe something else like bad spark plugs or ingnition or the senser inside the distributer may have gone bad. Just things to check. Good luck