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Stalls at idle

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Old 01-11-2011, 10:11 PM
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Unhappy Stalls at idle

Hi guys. 2001 XJ Sport with 126k, the 4whl drive option. I just picked it up recently, and thanks to NY's lemon laws, I'm now in constant contact with the dealer as the second time I drove it the engine began stalling out at stop lights when idling. I have already taken it back to the dealer to have him work on it, and he said that the mechanic cleaned the IAC. Got it back, and it was idling at the bottom most line on the tach (250 RPM?) until it warms up to 190 or so and then it just stalls out again, unless it rarely idles, but then again, it only goes to 250.

In short, it's stalling at idle without moving, or idles at 250 rpm so the body shakes and you know it's moving rough. While I'm going to make sure the dealer fixes it while I've got the 30 day window so I don't have to pay anything, do you guys think it's just the IAC?
Old 01-11-2011, 10:58 PM
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Replace the IAC motor, cleaning does not do much at all.
Old 01-11-2011, 11:03 PM
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no check engine light
Old 01-11-2011, 11:09 PM
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I second the idle air control.
Old 01-11-2011, 11:10 PM
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check your throttle position sensor, my truck did something similiar

it would idle fin, then as soon as you put it in drive, it would stall

replaced the tps and problem fixed

not saying its what it is, but check it out for sure
Old 01-11-2011, 11:14 PM
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Find a donor jeep and just undo the 4 bolts holding the throttle body on. get a new one clean it and see if that does anything........im guessing it is a sensor
Old 01-12-2011, 12:39 AM
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no check engine light. Getting the guy to change the IAC tomorrow, hopefully.
Old 01-12-2011, 03:20 AM
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Do you have a coolant temp reading when it stalls? If not it'll be your ECT. That's what mine was. Would idle fine, but when the coolant reading dropped, hello stalling and rough/high idle. Other than that, new sensors.
Old 01-12-2011, 05:20 AM
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May sound simple, but a marginal battery CAN cause stalling.

And yes, you can have a battery strong enough to start the engine, but marginal enough to give the engine management system fits.

LOAD TEST the battery. Takes all of a minute and parts stores will do it for free.
Old 01-13-2011, 02:27 AM
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Was driving it over to the dealers garage and it stalled at the light, did a quick look and there was still a coolant temp reading. Guy said it shouldn't be too bad, so he'll call me tomorrow. I'll keep the thread updated so that if anyone in the future has the same problem they can at least know what I had...
Old 01-13-2011, 11:00 AM
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A bad IAC motor will not set a code in most cases.
Old 01-13-2011, 12:58 PM
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As you guys and I suspected, it was the iac. The mechanic said that he was able to replicate the problem of it stalling out idling at 250 or so, and now its back to a healthy idle of 300. He said it was full of carbon, so I might seafoam it next, just for the rest of the engine.

Thanks again! Now to drive it in the snow and fix my speakers...
Old 01-13-2011, 01:09 PM
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sup w/ the speakers???
Old 01-13-2011, 05:44 PM
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Originally Posted by Acesnines
and now its back to a healthy idle of 300
Actually, the spec. idle rpm for the 4.0 is around 700-750. Not 300.
Old 01-13-2011, 06:09 PM
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Whoops. Phone mess up. It is at that idle, I just mistyped.

The passenger side speakers are not working. Neither are the switches for any windows, but those are pretty common issues, so I'll be fixing them soon.


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