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YJ 4.0 no spark, no start, code 54


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As soon as I thought that repairs had come to an end - new problem emerges.

I was driving my Jeep and suddenly I started to hear repeating clicks, something similar to sonar sounds. I've stopped and thought that I've heard one of the pulleys, but while I was looking at car it just died. And haven't started since.

It throws code 54 - distributor sync pick up, so I replaced that part with another one from XJ - and got same code again. I doubt both parts are bad.
I have fuel at rail but no spark at ignition coil. 

My friend - mechanic, told me that maybe ignition coil is bad. Could this happen? 
My biggest fear is that something is wrong with PCM, but I can easily hook it to Snap On diagnostic scanner and read everything.. And there it says - cam sensor-NO.

Should PCM block both fuel and spark and not only spark if it doesn't have signal from Crankshaft or Camshaft position sensor?

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Well, rotor was not turning at all... So I removed distributor and three tooth were missing from dist gear. I'm going to put in another one, remove oil pan and collect missing chunks. After that I will put new oil. Should I do anything else (eg. gears on camshaft?)

next question would be-why this happened in the first place? I have replaced all lifters 5 days ago, could it be that there was not enough oil reaching the gears?

UPDATE: Distributor shaft is frozen, stuck. Won't move left or right with distributor taken out of engine

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Well, this makes sense...Your Snap-On scanner came through again:  It said no cam sensor, which is also caused by a distributor shaft not turning.  Glad you worked through this one.

The camshaft distributor drive gear is a spiral set of teeth machined into the camshaft core.  This sounds like either an oil starvation issue or possibly the stripping of the camshaft drive gear, a rare occurance.  At this point, you need to closely inspect the camshaft's distributor drive gear teeth for both damage and wear.  

Seizure of the distributor shaft could be caused by lack of oil flow to the distributor housing and gear.   This could be caused by running the engine low on oil, a defective oil pump or a clogged oil pump pickup screen.  You need to inspect this closely when the oil pan is down.  You are describing a lack of oil flow, which could also account for the recent lifter noise and oiling trouble to the lifters.

Note:  Considering Jeep inline six oil pumps, I would replace the oil pump and screen when the pan is down.  A new oil pump and screen will eliminate guesswork and future issues.  You will be replacing the distributor in all likelihood if you cannot free it up.  The distributor shaft and housing bearings have been stressed badly.

For the oiling system to work properly, the camshaft bearings need to be indexed properly with the block oil holes/feeds.  If the crankshaft bearings are not damaged or starved for oil at this point, and if the engine's oil pressure was normal with quiet lifters, the camshaft bearings are likely okay.

Let us know the condition of the oil pump, pump pickup screen and also the amount of pan sludge you find.  The distributor gear gets its oil as splash/spray from the connecting rods.  The gear could have starved for oil or maybe the distributor shaft bent when the teeth broke.  A bent distributor shaft could seize the shaft.

Get any and all metal debris out of the engine.  This is hard metal that broke apart between the camshaft gear and distributor gear.

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