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98 xj dies at idle, at speed runs fine

BigRedsXJ

NAXJA Forum User
Location
california
just got my jeep back from being stolen (they stole my stereo system) and now the check engine light is on and the jeeps acting up. when you turn the jeep on sometimes u need to give it gas for it to start other times no. when you get it to turn on the idle bounces down and the engine dies if you dont give it gas. when its at speed the engine doesnt do anything funny. when youre stopped at a light or stopsign or whatnot the engine dies out if you dont give it gas.....im wondering what the problem could be or if they put something into my gastank to make this happen? any ideas thanks a lot
jeremy
 
yea it sucks bastards even screwed in the plastics inside ....they sprayed my whole car inside and out with wd-40....:-/ but anyway i read somewhere it wouldnt be fuel filter or pump if the car does idle well that in the case of fuel pump/filter issues the car struggles when it is at speed
 
yea actually if it dies and u try to restart it acts like the batterys dead then if u wait a little bit u can turn it back on at least 5 mins of waiting. if u do get it started right away u have to give it gas a lot...
 
I would check the IAC(Idle air control) My 96' did this yesterday without warning. I unplugged the IAC and then replugged it in with the engine off and then restarted it and it ran/idled fine. The IAC is on the throttle body, its a round can with 2 screws holding it into the TB. I really do not know why it did this and has been fine since.
 
Sounds like a bad battery to me. DO NOT CHECK IT WITH A LOAD TESTER! Have it checked with a capasative resistance tester. Can't give brand names but a good diagnostic shop should have one and all dealers are required to have one if the techs will actually use it. That real popular parts store that sells junk has one too. A load tester doesn't always find a bad cell. I had the same problem and had a bad cell with a cca of 150, replaced battery and problem solved. Load tested old battery out of vehicle and tested good. Could still be IAC also as xjtrailrider mentioned. Make sure no wires for radio are exposed and check battery temp sensor under battery, pull round disc up and make sure it is plugged in. Check engine light probably charging system problem and will go out with battery. If that is the problem make sure you get the CORRECT battery size or we'll hear from you in six months.
 
Not sure as to that. I know that 96 and newer have it. This is a very common on all newer vehicles now. Of course Chrysler started it years ago remember the old lebarons that had the computer mounted next to the battery, it had a temp sensor mounted on the computer itself which rested against the side of the battery. Pull your battery out and on the bottom of the battery tray you will see a plastic round disc, pop it out from the bottom, thats the temp sensor. Some of the newer vehicles actually use the ambient air temp sensor mounted on the radiator support behind the front bumper, neon, stratus, cobalt, and so on.
 
Ah, my 95 didn't have a disc on the battery tray, although I replaced it after it was cracked.......so I'm guessing it's something that came with OBD2 as 95 was OBD1 and 96 is OBD2.
 
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