I have to press Gas pedal to start (96' MPFI)

I am a little confused. I have a 1996 4.0HO and in the morning I have to press the gas pedal to start it. I have to drive with the gas and break because it will die if I let off of the gas. It drives just fine. after a little while presto, it will idle just fine. usualy only does it in the morning but has at other times. I just dosen't make sense to me as MPFI is electronic signal to electronic injectors not like a carb. Also maybe related is the oil pressure gauge reads correctly at Idle or coast. If I press the gass it maxes out and bounces all over the place. Any help would be appreciated. The starting threads I have read are different from what I am expieriencing. cheers:helpme:

the oil gauge problem is usually a bad/dirty connection at the sending unit or the sending unit is bad. its located next to the oil filter adapter.

for the other problem, i would clean the throttle body and IAC.

also check the voltage of the battery with a voltmeter when you start it up. could be a weak battery, bad alternator, or the serpentine belt is not tight enough.

89xj said:

check the voltage of the battery with a voltmeter when you start it up. could be a weak battery, bad alternator, or the serpentine belt is not tight enough.

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Test the battery and the alternator. Low battery voltage from a bad battery or leaving the lights on reboots the engine computer and the idle settings are lost. The symptoms are hard to start, dies unless you keep you foot on the gas, idles OK after a few minutes.

I'm with Tim on this one your battery is going or you have an amp draw somewhere.

I had this exact same problem in January 'o7 with my '96... it would just crank until I stepped on the gas, then I would have to keep it above 1oooRPM for a few minutes or else it would just shut off again when it dropped below 7ooRPM..

turns out I hadn't had a tune-up in over 3 years

i have found that if i leave my lights on and the battery drains, when i jump it it does the same thing your sayin. i would have to agree and say that you have a bad battery or alternator, or they are close to it.

What you guys are saying makes sense. I will check it out. I haven't given it a tune up yet. I bought it a year ago and I have no idea when it was tuned up before that. Thanks for the help. I did notice that it is throwing the 12 error code which says the battery was disconnected recently even though I haven't disconnected it. I have shaken it up a bit wheeling it though. cheers

I'm also going to say it's a battery issue my dads 99 started like that because his terminals were dirty and loose.

Well I just bought a optima red top. The battery was bad and was causing my computer to reset as stated in the comments of others. Thing starts like a champ now. one or two turns and vrooom. Thanks for the help. cheers:flipoff: