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'00 XJ rough/low idle then stalls, then won't start

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Old 10-07-2017 | 07:12 PM
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Model: Cherokee
Default '00 XJ rough/low idle then stalls, then won't start

Hello everyone, I am new here and looking for some help.

I have a 2000 Cherokee, 4.0, with 147,000 miles.
History of the Jeep:
I've had the Jeep since 2005 when it had 67k miles, I drove it daily until 2011. During that time the head was replaced. I bought a truck and moved a couple hours away so I left the Jeep with my parents. My dad drove it occasionally and in the winter for the next few years. The water pump went out early 2016 and it sat outside in the driveway until now. I hauled the Jeep to my house 2 weeks ago.

Current state:
With a new battery it started right up with some terrible water pump noises. I drove it up my driveway and into the garage. I replaced the water pump, changed out the coolant, and changed the oil/filter. I replaced spark plugs a couple years ago, so I left those alone. The jeep started, ran strong and was quiet. I drove it around for 10 minutes breaking in the new pads and rotors and then parked it in the garage for a couple days while cleaning up the wheels. Two days ago I drive it to the gym, a 5 minute drive, and then drive it home an hour later. Yesterday I drove it to the gym again with no issues. When I started it to leave, it stayed in a very low idle and died. I started it again, gave it some gas and drove it home. This morning I backed the jeep into the driveway to do some cleaning, it idled low but was smooth and did not die. An hour later I tried to start it and it immediately died. I started it again and gave it some gas to get it back into the garage. I tried to start it again and once I got it running (rough) there were small amounts of white/blue smoke leaving the exhaust pipe and a knocking noise. It would idle rough and then die a few seconds later. I started the jeep a few times and then it didn't start anymore.

After some research I checked the throttle body and throttle position sensor. Both were surprisingly clean. I unplugged the TPS and MAP sensors and then reconnected in case of bad connection. I tried to start the jeep again but no change. I then did a compression test thinking something internal is trashed. The head was previously replaced due to warped/cracked head, so the jeep was driven with coolant in the oil for a while... Although it has had probably 30,000 miles on the new head. I gave each cylinder 7 compression strokes for the test, each cylinder gave me 150-155 psi. I was looking for complete failure vs. good so I wasn't concerned with exact values.

Prior to the compression test I had the battery disconnected for a few minutes while disconnecting injectors and removing spark plugs. After re-installing everything and battery reconnected, the jeep fired up and ran like normal, idling smoothly around 900 rpms and no smoke... I finally had a CEL show up so I thought maybe I caught a break and a sensor code would come up. No luck, took it to autozone and they read 5 & 6 injector Circuit open. I assume this is due to disconnecting all injectors for the compression test.

Sorry for the long post. Any ideas?

Cliffs:
Jeep in my possession for many years
New head installed around 120,000 miles
Not driven since early 2016, bad water pump
Replaced water pump recently
Driven on a couple 10 minute trips with no problem
Latest trip, jeep died on startup
Today, jeep had very low idle and died
During rough idle, knocking noise, white/blue smoke
Jeep wouldn't start anymore
Disconnected battery, removed spark plugs.
Completed compression test.
Started jeep with battery reconnected, runs like normal.
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