Rowbin

I have a 92 Cherokee, I6 auto. Lately I've been having to give it some gas to crank, and then keep my foot on the throttle, keeping the revs up to a little under 1k to keep it running. The second I take my foot off, the revs drop to 0 and the engine shuts off (electronics are fine though). I had my uncle look at it, and he thinks it's the throttle position sensor, or some other problem around that area. I can drive it around fine, but I have to brake with my left foot and use my right to keep the revs up at a stoplight. So it makes it pretty much undriveable. If I'm going under 30ish and take my foot off the gas, the engine will just cut off (again electronics working fine), but if I'm doing over that, the engine will stay on.
I'm taking it to the shop soon when I have some money, but I was wondering if anyone else had any similar issues. Hoping there might be an easy (free) fix, but if mine and my uncles suspicions are right and it is the TPS, it's only a $35 part.

DFlintstone

Any black smoke? Like it's all clogged up? Make sure the little tube from the inside of the throttle body up to the MAP sensor back on the firewall is free and hooked up right. Important, that!

try codes?

The "Key Tricks"
Older (OBDI) models - Start with the ignition off. Within five seconds, switch the key on, off, on, off, on. ("On" is NOT "Start" and "Off" is NOT "Lock"). The "check engine" light will flash. Count the flashes. Each code is a two digit code, so a (for example) 23 would be FLASH FLASH (pause) FLASH FLASH FLASH (long pause). It will never flash more than 9 times, so watch for those pauses!

Rowbin

I've never noticed any smoke at all, but I'll check all that in the morning, along with the code thing. I'll report back if I find anything. Thanks for the advice!

tjwalker

Don't forget about the possibility of a "marginal battery". It is the #1 cause of stalling.

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

Have your battery "load tested". Any parts store will do so for free. If battery checks out, then I agree with your uncle that the throttle position sensor is suspect. And yes, always check for stored codes.