rgs80074

Hello Everyone,

I need help on this issue don't have the money for a mechanic shop but do have a friend who's coming over tomorrow to finish working on a van and might be able to get him to look at this if we can figure out whats wrong.

I went up to the store from my house today 1.5 miles. the vehicle started up just fine and ran just fine to the store and had not been giving any issues for awhile that I am aware of.

So I left the BP store started my vehicle and it died right away. started it again same thing. tried it again but kept my foot on the gas and it stayed running. Reversed out of the spot let off the gas to stop and it stalled.

Turned off the ac (just in case) and restarted the vehicle, did not stall again while waiting for the light to change but I had it in neutral and giving it some gas.

what about half way home had to take my foot off the gas to hit the brakes and nothing happened the vehicle kept running. Pulled into my driveway not giving it gas all the time kept running like normal. pulled into my parking spot with foot on the gas kept running put it in park kept running.

Opened up the hood and tried to inspect the best I could with engine running everything seems to be running just fine (will wait for it to cool down does appear i need some coolant as the reserve appeared a little low). had a helper turn on the ac other than it being slightly loud like its normally has been since I bought the vehicle everything stayed running just fine.

the alternator or charging gauge showed it right about 14 volts like normal.

turned off the vehicle and it started right up with no problem.

But and especially right now that my van is down I can't have a second vehicle go down I need to know what might have caused it and is it something I should be worried about. Wish I had more history on the vehicle but I purchased it in last January of this year and haven't had tons of issues with it that I was not expecting from a used vehicle. After purchasing it I did the following work (just in case it might relate to this issue). The other day we tried to replace the front electric seats with two manual seats from a junkyard. the rail system on the manual was not quite a match even though they came from a 1998 jeep grand cherokee was able to get 3 of the 4 bolts to line up but not the last one on the inside front almost just went ahead and went with 3 bolts instead of 4 but chose to put the electric seat back in.

rotors
shocks
pads
radiator flush
radiator lines
didn't do a tune up as the person said it was just done and the wires and such look good
oil change
alignment
2 tires
front light replacement (all 6 pieces, lens, turning marking etc)
rear tail light lens replacement
back lift gate shock replacement to hold open the back
power steering pump
belt

issues left to be fixed in the vehicle these are actual vehicle issues not cosmetics like radio etc but in no specific order

clogged condensation line
front seat replacement
door lock system (will the button will only unlock and lock the back door)
remote reprogram (from my prior 1998 jeep grand Cherokee)
check light switch for any issues (have had the dash lights flicker on and off in the past but hasn't done it in a few months)

and about two months ago I had all my dash gauges stop working for about 5 mins. Thats something I was/will look at when I have the light switch checked but only happened that once and only for a few minutes only mentioned it just in case its a clue. the vehicle drove like a champ it was just the gauges wasn't working then the check gauges light came on and then they all started to work.


The person I have coming over tomorrow to work on my van is not a certified mechanic but knows some of his stuff especially if he's worked on it before. I want to say he knows more than me but maybe not but with my recent surgery I can't physically do the work at the moment although i've been temped to try given i couldn't get a hold of him and he was a week late on coming over.

I really hope this is a minor issue I have more work on the van to be done (that he won't do) that I think it more important than something thats minor. I have to do a trans fluid, gasket, and filter change and change the trans cooling lines (i have a small leak on those) other than that the van just needs and oil change and its got small issues as well such as the one door does not unlock from the power locks, drivers door needs to have new bushings or hinges or something installed, vacuum hoses are missing at least 2 of them one suspected to be one that is used to changed the location of the ac vents location, and of course checking out the ac to see whats wrong. well it has no refrigerant in it so its more checking to see where the leak is. but all those are after thoughts so to speak.

I have to prioritize my repairs into whats most critical and get them done as money permits.



I have some theories to what happened on the jeep.

homeless lady who gave me dirty looks for no reason did something while I was inside the store and whatever she did undid itself on the ride home.

let my mother driver the jeep the other day and she (the jeep) did not like her driver it.

the electric seats caused an issue somehow but straighten up on its own.


ryan

Doogluus88

Knowing what year it is would be helpful. I'm assuming it's the 4.0 you have.
Having to keep your foot on the gas to keep it from stalling makes me think it's your IAC going bad. Your IAC is mounted to the side of the throttle body and they go bad eventually. When your foot is off the gas the large butterfly valve in the throttle body is closed but air still needs to get to the motor. That's where your IAC comes in, it allows air to bypass the valve in the throttle body. You may need to just take it off and clean it, or it might need replaced.

This is the best and cheapest place to start troubleshooting. Could also be a fuel pressure problem.

rgs80074

sorry about the vehicle information

1996 jeep grand cherokee limited
4.0 engine
2wd

Doogluus88

No problem

I would check what I mentioned before about the iac. Also try posting in the "grand Cherokee tech" section to get more advice.

rgs80074

just watched a video on the part you mentioned. think i'll try cleaning it over the next two days and go from there.

in the video I watched the guy said his vehicle started stalling at idle so that kinda is what I had happening.

I think its possible it might not do it again if I do nothing. It could have been dirt or something gummed up stopping it from working then worked its way loose.

But either way taking it off and cleaning it can't hurt I have everything I need to do it with.

Hopefully its an easy fix as I have enough stuff to fix on the vehicles without having to keep ad dig more to the list.
ryan

rdr8887

You'll need a T20 to get it off. 6" extension helps as well. Try not to drop the bottom screw if you don't have a magnet chuck. It will likely rest on the intake manifold if you do.....but it sucks when it falls lower.

It literally takes about 3 minutes to get it off, 15 to clean it...then 5 to put it back on....without dropping that screw.

Good luck.

rgs80074

well i went ot work on it today. decided i'd test and see if the problem was still there and yep it was.

one or two good pushes of the gas peddle and it worked fine so not sure if its a buildup blocking it or what.

but an extension would be the last thing i would want i have a standard t20 screw driver and it barely fits into the area.

sad thing is that sucker is really on there. its either my weak shoulder still from surgery or they are extremely tight.

i even tried a t20bit and socket set and still have not been able to really get them to budge.

and damn its hot outside 93 feels like 100 but you know florida so its humid as heck.

rgs80074

wow having an injured shoulder makes doing work hard.

I ended up giving up on trying to get that screw out the way it was so i took the four throttle body bolts out and was able to get it out and apart. the part looked dirty.

In fact the throttle body looked very dirty as well. wonder how often the last owner changed the air filter so i sprayed it as well.

but believe it or not i have no rags to use to clean with not even any junk ones and i'm overheated from outside and need to lay down shortly to get some sleep from work so its going to wait until the morning when i'm off work.

now that the throttle body is off i can clean it all up and put it back together before rebolting down the throttle body.

i really hope this is the problem and judging on the dirt on everything i bet it is. the iac or whatever had actual dirt on it. actual dirt how does that make it past the air filter and such to get to that part. i already sprayed it and its alright 70% cleaner (throttle body) but will do a better cleaning might as well since its off.

will update how things go tomorrow.

ryan

rgs80074

Well,

Thanks guys for the help. It appears it was either the IAC or the throttle body itself.

I ended up taking the throttle body off itself because I could not get the IAC out with my bad shoulder and its position. Since I had it off I thought let me clean this dirty thing up as well.

Boy was it dirty. As mentioned in a prior post there was actual dirt on inside it not sure how that happens unless the prior owner did not do the maintenance on the vehicle like he claimed.

but I put it back together and started it up with no issues at all. Runs without having to have your foot on the gas and is running at a steady rpm.

Thanks again everyone.

Ryan

Doogluus88

anytime!