Hello all from the UK... again

I'm hoping you kind forum members may be able to help my stricken Jeep for the third time.
At the beginning of December, I had noticed that the Jeep wasn't shifting properly. It was perfectly drivable but was shifting later than usual.
A day or two later, we had a small house fire and I was slightly injured and wasn't able to drive for a while.

Once I was mended, it was the Jeeps turn. I went out to start it for the first time in probably 2 months, and nothing happened. I replaced the starter motor and it fired up straight away.

I took it for a short drive, the shifting problem was still evident, then all of a sudden it decided it wanted to downshift by itself for no reason. I thought this was odd so I pulled over to the side of the road, let the traffic pass me then I set off again. Now the Jeep won't shift out of first.
I have read about disconnecting the TCU and try shifting manually but I can't find the TCU on my right hand drive Jeep.

I also have another problem. The Jeep's idle is very high now whilst it's cold, but if I leave it running until it warms up, the high idle disappears and turns into such a low idle that it will keep stalling.

My question is: Could this be my TPS? All these symptoms seem to match up. Guess the idle could also be IAC/Vaccuum leak.

I went out to the Jeep today after charging the battery and disconnected the TPS wiring leaving the TPS in place. I got out my digital volt meter, and tested the connector on the connector to the TPS. It appears to have 2 wires producing 5v, and the ground obviously not giving a reading. Do you think I should just bite the bullet and replace the TPS, or do you think I have multiple issues here? From what I have read, you shouldn't have 5v coming from 2 wires to the TPS.

'97 Jeep XJ
4.0 AW4

Thanks in advance again for the help

 

Definitely replace the tps.. Here in the states it's about a 25$ part...

A bad tps will cause an off idle and sporadic shifting patterns... It's a good place to start.

While your replacing the tps take your throttle body off (four 10mm bolts) and clean the whole thing out. Take all of the sensors off the throttle body and clean them too. A bad iac will cause weird idle too... So it doesn't hurt to clean those sensors especially if you have the throttle. Body off anyways.

If that doesn't do the trick I would go to your speed sensor next..

 

seems to be tps. also as far as shifting. if the tps does fix it which it should atleast help but you stated earlier that it shifted hard before you had idle problems?? is that correct if so. i would check vacuum and make sure its within spec. if thats good and u have a sticky 1-2 or 2-3 shift i would look to a cause of tany pan filter and new fluid. high idle off the cold is more then likely tps but a bad throttle body gasket could also be a cause.

 

True.. When I took my tb off the gasket just turned to dust. So I made my own out of some gasket paper I had laying around and some rtv for good measure.

 

Thanks for the replies guys.

I will order a new TPS. The only ones we can get on this side of the pond are made by Crown.

http://www.crownautomotive.net/

They are also £50 - equivalent of $75!

Hopefully it will fix it. I was wondering about removing the whole throttle body, and was also going to ask about the gasket. I considered this because the TPS bolts seem pretty stuck, although I haven't managed to get much leverage to it yet.
I did clean the IAC 6 months ago so that should be ok.
There is nothing I would love more than to come to the States and do some parts shopping

 

Wow that's expensive! That's like when I bought my Honda (it was a phase go easy on me) I had to buy a distributor for it... Well I've bought many of them for my jeeps and they go for around 60 bucks... When I went to get it for my Honda it was over 300!! Just because it was a foreign car I guess..

Taking the throttle body off couldn't be easier.. Take your intake tubing off, disconnect the throttle cables and then there will be 4 10mm bolts that hold the tb to the intake manifold.. Don't forgot to disconnect the sensors before you take the tb off! There will be a paper gasket in between the tb and the intake manifold. You can either do what I did and make your own gasket ( just trace the tb and cut one out of gasket paper) or buy one... But I would just make your own considering the price it will probably be for you... The two torx bolts that hold the tps on can be very stubborn. Just be careful not to strip them. I have striped them in the past and it's a pain having to use vice grips or one handed pliers becasue there isn't much to bite into... I personally would try and at least break the bolts free while the tb is still mounted up. Easiest way is a 1/4 wratchet with a torx socket..

 

That's my tool of choice for this job
Yes, I will get it off the TB before I remove it. Would make life easier.

You're right about foreign parts prices. I'm going to be lifting the Jeep soon but the prices are harsh. Looking at around $2000 for standard 3" lift.

Still... it's worth it

Just ordered the TPS. Will wait and see.

 

Yea I guess it's the shipping that nails you.. I work for greyhound and there is a Canadian fellow here doing some warranty work on the buses... He has a newer ford f150 and he has been buying all kinds of stuff for it while he's here it's crazy. But when he told me about how much it costs to get things shipped to Canada from here I understood very well. Haha

 

I took off the throttle body today and cleaned it out. I also took all the sensors off and cleaned them and their electrical connections.

I plugged in the new TPS, took it for a drive and it's perfect, in fact better than it ever has been. Can't believe this little sensor affects so many things!

Thanks for the help again guys

 

Good to hear it buddy! Glad that took care of your issues. Good job

 

Thanks, I appreciate the help

I took the Jeep out again today, and when I got back I was greeted by this:




Looks like the harshness of the UK's recent winter and being left standing for 4 months has taken its toll.

This leak is coming from what looks like the heater core. I can see a little pipe coming out of the firewall spilling coolant out when warmed up:



The unused electrical connector there can be ignored. It's from the LPG system.

Looks like I need to bypass the heater core for a few weeks until the weather picks up around here. Really don't fancy pulling the dash with snow outside.

I also noticed the oil filter adapter has now decided to leak, and the exhaust wants replacing.

 

Hey its always something right! Luckily the warm weather is coming.. Then you'll forget all about bypassing the heater core until it's winter and too cold to be out fixing it again! Did you check to see if maybe the line is just cracked? Or rattled it's way loose...? You never know. Did you take the lines off of the heater core?

You can go to a chrysler dealership and buy the o rings needed to fix the leaky adapter. They are like 6 bucks over here but I don't know in your situation. Time to get an upgraded exhaust system too!

 

I haven't touched it yet, the jeep is sat outside feeling sorry for itself. I will have a look this weekend. I did have a quick check for cracks but everything seems ok, the leak is definitely coming from somewhere inside the box. A pipe may have become detached I guess. I think I will remove the two pipes going into the firewall and loop them together to bypass the heater core. But yes.. you are right... I will probably forget by the end of summer and end up freezing :-)

Time to order some more parts I think!

 

My 1997 grand Cherokee Laredo is having issues too, a few months ago I was driving normally then all of a suden iT was like I was driving normally but it seemed like it was in a lower gear or had the breaks on I hit the brakes hard it it made a loud clink sound and went back to normal but now some days it takes a long time to shift gears (sometimes it gets to 2000-3000 rpm before it will change) and today it wouldn't change until it hit 3000 rpm and I took my foot off the gas petal could this also be a tps issue? Or am I looking at a new transmission? On a side note after having the trailing arm bushes all replaced my transfer case gear shift is now sitting in the neutral position however the actual transfer case is in AWD and when it's in LWD it's actually in neutral I'm at a loss so far have spent $3400 on this thing and am at my wits end please help

 

This thread is from 2013. Please start a "new" thread. You will get more accurate replies and folks won't have to wade through an old friend to read yours.