I recently bought a 95 cherokee se 2.5 lt, since i got it i noticed and excessively high idle while driving and in neutral. I decided to clean out the throttle body and butterfly valve..NO luck. I then checked the IAC and cleaned it and it seemed to be fine. Lastly I did a carb cleaner test to find and leaks in the vacuum lines. I believe i found the leak right where the exhaust meets the engine. When i spray there the car almost stalls. Im kinda a noob with working on cars but would it be a bad exhaust gasket?


If you look at the photo, i sprayed the top left of the exhaust pipe just to the right of the threads with no bolt in it and noticed the change in idle.

 

Why is there no bolt/washer there? It looks like the bolt/washer also holds the intake manifold runner to the head. That would explain why there is a change in your idle, the carb cleaner is entering via the intake not the exhaust. That would also explain your high idle. Put the bolt/washer back or buy one and see what happens.

 

Might get lucky if not gasket n0 good in that area gonna have to replace it .

 

THanks for the suggestions, just found this online
Looks like im missing bolts 4 and 6 on the diagram...Just bought a head gasket as well so i mine as well replace it and see what happens. Any one know where i can get these bolts and sizes ect.?

 

It looks like #4 is a bolt and #6 may be a stud. Check with a dealer first. Let's hope #6 isn't broke inside the head. Stick something into the hole and see how deep it is. If the stud is broke in the head, order a new one.

If there's a broken stud in the head don't avoid the repair, that exhaust runner needs to be tight, it too will cause a lean situation for the upstream O2 sensor.

 

So i didnt have very good luck with bolt #6, got an easy out stuck inside the stud. My friend started drilling into the stud from the side to maybe get another easy out in...Dont think that was the best idea. Any suggestions on what to do now would be a huge help

 

Im starting to think it might be more pain than its worth, is it really that bad to leave it and connect the rest of the bolts?