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Crazy high idle after engine wash

S

stephenspann27

NAXJA Forum User
Location
College Station, Tx
My dad painted my XJ last month, and he sprayed a slime into the engine bay to keep over spray from sticking on it.. so I used simple green.. and hosed the motor off.. When I started it, it idled around 3k for around a 2 minutes it did this each subsequent start for the next 15 minutes... and didn't go away until it finally idled down and I drove it around about 10 minutes.. I guess some water was throwing a sensor off somewhere?
 
I had the same problem when the Idle Air Controller got wet.
 
Ummm, water is electrically conductive, and messes up the not so weather tight electrical connectors.

Other than car washes - which can develop 1500 pounds and really soak the electrics, river fording/mudding is another way to find out Cherokees don't have waterproof connections.

Check the electric connections on the Jeep and any Mom-type van, you will see the same thing. Nobody expects a soccer vehicle to ford creeks, but Jeeps seem to be expected to do it. It's just not necessarily so.
 
I'm thinking about cleaning all the connectors, using dielectric grease, and taping them up. What confuses me about dielectric grease is.. it's supposed to be non-conductive.. so if you cake a connector in it, aren't you hurtin the conductivity?
 
Actually most of the connectors are water or "weather" resistant. Some of the sensors such as the TPS are not. Pulling apart connectors and cleaning them is a good idea. Dielectric grease doesn't hurt the connection assuming its a snug connection to begin with. It fills in the voids and keeps air and water out to prevent oxidation.
 
let the connection and sensors dry out. if it still idles high then look for a loose vac line.
 
If its a renix year engine you might not recover from the issues, it does NOT like water... Dont ask me how i know...
 
Yes it is Renix... Now that is is dry it is ok.. just don't want to encounter this problem on the trail.. the idle is so high you can't put it in gear.. and if you did, the brakes wouldn't hold it back.
 
It will randomly pop up, just cut the engine and try again... 2 yrs worth of it now. Never totally goes away.
 
ya mines done it ever since big water pit 6 months ago. sometimes when it happens cut the engine but dont let it die all the way and then switch the key to on again and when it picks back up it back at normal idle for me anyway
 
I keep a spare TPS in my tool box just for this. The wet TPS will eventually dry out again, but it takes a good long while.
 
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