2002 stratus overheated, it started knocking,while on hwy., pulled over and shut-off. wont start. let cool down and filled with coolant, replaced spark plugs and wires, getting spark from coil-pack, thru to plugs, but wont fire. cant smell any gas on plugs or in throttle-body. what do you think?

pull the spark plugs and check for coolant, check compression, if it overheated you could have blown a headgasket or cracked the head

Coolant is too low. Coolant was not properly refilled, so there are large air pockets in engine head. DO NOT DRIVE until proper purging and correct coolant quantity and level are established.

To completely refill the system, you need to get the heater core full of coolant (the refilling has to be done with the heater on m?ximum, so to allow coolant to enter and fill heater core. Tha is the reason you don't get hot air. Amclaussen.

Okay, it may be due to overheating, that may be the noise you heard, lets hope. first allow engine to cool, open radiator cap or the resivoir cap, which ever is the fill, remove the bleeder at top hose and fill radiator slowly until coolant comes out bleeder.

note if water pump was replaced due to leaking and engine was overheated at that time then it may be a good idea to replace the thermostat .
after filling is done start engine and allow it to run. watch temperature if temp start to climb past half way shut engine down and let sit for 5min. then restart and check level, in res do not open cap . feel air from fan and see if it is getting hot, this may take up to a half hour but do not drive,

A few questions, does this jeep have an electric fan?
when you heard the knocking was engine temp hot?
If you start jeep cold does engine knock?
Did this jeep get a new thermostat with waterpump job?
did it overheat when pump went bad and why did water pump get replaced?

sorry for all the questions ,just trying to get all the info to help you .

Compression should be at least 150 psi, and all cylinders should be very close to the same. I would suspect some major engine damage. Sorry.

it overheated to the point of engine noise, i would do a compression check, it is most likely a head gasket.
when you filled the radiator did you wait for the thermostat to open and fill it again?

Check to see if coil is firing when car stalls may be overheating and not sending spark to plugs once it cools off it will fire again

A blown head gasket is likely. Leave the radiator cap off, start car, if bubbles come up in radiator you have a blown head gasket or cracked head. Let me know if this isn't it or if you have more questions.

The correct place to add engine coolant is the radiator's expansion tank. It should be a large tank under the hood with a cap that says "Coolant". The tanks will also have an Add and FULL level. Fill this tank when the engine has cooled to the FULL level. As for the radiator cap, it should come off when pressed down with hand pressure and at the same time turned in a counter clockwise rotation. DO NOT open the radiator cap when the engine is hot or at operating temperatures.

You have an air lock in the cooling system.
Do this: pull upper radiator hose off the radiator leaving it connected to the block, pour coolant into hose until filled ( you might have to do it to the radiator also). Once filled reconnected hose back to the radiator, then fill resevior to proper level. Start car turn heater on full. Let car run with cap off resevior until it starts pulling coolant in. Once warmed up shut car off let cool. Check fluid level again.

You most likely have air in the system. These things can be a royal pain to get the air bleed out of the system.
Look back next to the brake booster and you will see a rubber tube with a screw cap in the end of it(this is the heater bleed), also on the front of the intake area you will see a black tube with an allen sloted cap.
Remove the slotted cap and screw the screw cc on the rubber tube. Add coolant to the coolant jug allowing the system to equalize until no more coolant can be added. Add as much coolant as possible to the engine fill( the sloted cap near intake). The heater air bleed will remain open.Replace the engine fill cap.Start the engine and turn the heater to MAX position.Close the heater air bleed when a steady stream of coolant comes from it, during engine idle. Allow the engine to idle for five minutes, add coolant to the degas bottle as needed to maintain the cold fill MAX mark.Reopen the heater air bleed to release any entrapped air and close again. Maintain engine speed of 2,000 rpm for 3-5 minutes or until hot air comes from the heater.Return to idle and verify hot air is still coming from the heater. Set the heater temperature setting to 75° F and allow the vehicle to idle for two minutes.Shut the engine off and allow to cool.After the engine has cooled, add coolant to the degas bottle to bring the level to the cold fill MAX mark. This should have the air out of the system.