How does your Cherokee idle?
04-22-2009, 05:49 PM
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Model: Cherokee
How does your Cherokee idle?
Hey everyone,
I purchased my cherokee about a month ago and have been working on getting her maintenance up to date. The PO took OK care of her, not the best. It's a 97 Country 4.0 Auto, 159K miles.
So far engine wise, I have done:
-Distributor cap and rotor, well a whole new distributor but thats a different story. ( dist cap screw snapped off in distributor housing!)
-New Champion copper plugs .045 gap
-Valve cover gasket
-Air filter
-Changed the oil, Chevron 10W-40 & WIX filter
-The gas has a bottle of Amsoil P.I. in it, only about 50 miles since this addition
-Not engine related but it has new 02 sensors front and rear and a new cat/muffler. It had 02 codes when I bought it, the cat was ratteling like crazy and the muff had 2 small holes in it. The header looks good though, no cracks that i can see.
My main question is, how does your cherokee Idle? Mine seems to have kind of a eratic idle. It will bounce up and down about 50 RPM, between 600-650 RPM idle, is this normal? It seems to shake the whole truck.
I know the 4.0 is not the smoothest engine alive, but our 88 that we used to have ran much smoother.
I am going to clean the TB this weekend, maybe that will help?
I purchased my cherokee about a month ago and have been working on getting her maintenance up to date. The PO took OK care of her, not the best. It's a 97 Country 4.0 Auto, 159K miles.
So far engine wise, I have done:
-Distributor cap and rotor, well a whole new distributor but thats a different story. ( dist cap screw snapped off in distributor housing!)
-New Champion copper plugs .045 gap
-Valve cover gasket
-Air filter
-Changed the oil, Chevron 10W-40 & WIX filter
-The gas has a bottle of Amsoil P.I. in it, only about 50 miles since this addition
-Not engine related but it has new 02 sensors front and rear and a new cat/muffler. It had 02 codes when I bought it, the cat was ratteling like crazy and the muff had 2 small holes in it. The header looks good though, no cracks that i can see.
My main question is, how does your cherokee Idle? Mine seems to have kind of a eratic idle. It will bounce up and down about 50 RPM, between 600-650 RPM idle, is this normal? It seems to shake the whole truck.
I know the 4.0 is not the smoothest engine alive, but our 88 that we used to have ran much smoother.
I am going to clean the TB this weekend, maybe that will help?
Last edited by 97xjcountry; 04-22-2009 at 05:52 PM.
04-22-2009, 06:07 PM
#2
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Mine seems to have a bit of a twitch to it while idling. You cant really see it on the tach but I can feel it. I need to tune mine up a bit (cap/rotor/plugs/wires) and see if that helps.
04-22-2009, 06:16 PM
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Year: 1987
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0 liter RENIX I-6, DIY Cold Air Intake, 2.5 FM Exhaust, 3 Core Radiator
Yes, clean the throttle body inside and out including the IAC. I would also ispect all around the intake manifold and hose connections for any vacuum leaks.
04-22-2009, 09:51 PM
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Year: 2000
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
Yeah if a vacuum is unplugged thatll make it idle higher. Had it happen to me and could hear a "ssss" sound. Turned out to be a vacuum on the intake mani and that calmed it down.
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04-23-2009, 03:36 PM
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Year: 1994
Model: Cherokee
Engine: l6 HO
Mine idles @ 600 rpm's whether its in gear or not (its an AW4) and has never stumbled once since I got her with 211,600 miles. Just purchased the Accel tuneup kit from Quadratec for $69 and plan on doing it tomorrow...Tj
04-23-2009, 06:22 PM
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Model: Cherokee
Yeah, you guys are right, plug gap is .035. Pulled a plug last night and verified they are @ .035, I was going off memory on the .045 number.
Do the two plastic elbows coming out of the valve cover do anything besides let the top end breathe?
When I replaced the VCG last week I sprayed them down with engine degreaser and cleaned them the best I could. I couldn't get them out of the gromet's, was scared of snapping them off. They were pretty nasty with oil. No oil on the air filter though.
I am going to clean the throttle body including the sensors tomorrow night. Cleaning the trottle body with TB cleaner, can I just clean the sensors with electronic connector cleaner?
Also pulling the NSS to clean it, I have the P0705 code, no backup lights but starts fine every time. I did notice that it sometimes won't shift into overdrive. Its pretty random though, I will be driving at 60 MPH @ almost 3K RPM. I come to a light and stop, get back up to 60 and it will be @ 2K or a little below..?? Does the NSS allow the AW4 to shift into overdrive?
I did drain and refill the trans fluid two times now, it shifts much smoother since then. And yes , I checked the level @ operating temp with truck in PARK. When I got the truck the fluid was dark but not burnt smelling. The trans shifts nice and firm before and after the fluid change.
Do the two plastic elbows coming out of the valve cover do anything besides let the top end breathe?
When I replaced the VCG last week I sprayed them down with engine degreaser and cleaned them the best I could. I couldn't get them out of the gromet's, was scared of snapping them off. They were pretty nasty with oil. No oil on the air filter though.
I am going to clean the throttle body including the sensors tomorrow night. Cleaning the trottle body with TB cleaner, can I just clean the sensors with electronic connector cleaner?
Also pulling the NSS to clean it, I have the P0705 code, no backup lights but starts fine every time. I did notice that it sometimes won't shift into overdrive. Its pretty random though, I will be driving at 60 MPH @ almost 3K RPM. I come to a light and stop, get back up to 60 and it will be @ 2K or a little below..?? Does the NSS allow the AW4 to shift into overdrive?
I did drain and refill the trans fluid two times now, it shifts much smoother since then. And yes , I checked the level @ operating temp with truck in PARK. When I got the truck the fluid was dark but not burnt smelling. The trans shifts nice and firm before and after the fluid change.