Golden Nugget
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Phoenix, AZ
Hi there, frequent reader and new member here with a question (a cry for help, really). My wife and I just moved back to the U.S. from Mexico. We lived in a small village north of Cabo for five years and covered almost every square mile of southern Baja in our '99 XJ. It's gone off cliffs and into ditches many times and once (almost) washed out to sea but it never stopped running, bless its' little heart. Ironically, as soon as we made it back to Arizona it started acting up. Here's what's going on:
1. Most days it will turn over strong and catch initially but will not idle. Only after staying on the accelerator, keeping the revs up, and getting under way will the idle kick in to the point where you can let go of the gas without stalling, normally by the time you get to the first stop sign.
2. Subsequent starts will usually be trouble free but occasionally the engine will struggle to turn over, at least initially, like the battery is depleted. It will always catch eventually, and sometimes it will idle fine while other times it won't, struggling again as described above.
Thinking (well, guessing) that I'm dealing with an electric or electronic problem, but without the benefit of having actual knowledge or expertise, here are the steps I have stumbled through so far:
1. I checked all the wires as best I could but in most places the wiring harness is covered in a black sleeve making a visual inspection difficult. I didn't test any individual wires but from what I can see there are no obvious issues with the wiring.
2. I did whip out the multi meter to check out the battery and the alternator. The battery is brand new and showing 12.4 Volts at rest. With the engine idling and no electrical load, the alternator is putting out 13.8 Volts to the battery. So I'm thinking (perhaps erroneously) that the issue is not with the battery or the alternator.
3. I replaced the Idle Air Control valve (I cleaned up the old one but decided to just go ahead and replace it anyway. I mean it's, like, twelve bucks). No improvement.
4. I was going to replace the Throttle Position Sensor next but holy crap that thing is on tight. So far I've twisted two Torxs bits on it and I'm no closer to getting it off. I will keep on trying though.
After that, I'm running out of ideas. Can the problem be in the PCM? I mean, it's like it keeps forgetting what the idle position is. I know this problem (or problems much like it) have been covered before on this forum -in fact, that's what has guided my actions to this point, but I haven't had any success. Provided I somehow get the TPS off and replaced, and it doesn't solve the problem, how should I proceed?
Thanks for any and all input you might have!
1. Most days it will turn over strong and catch initially but will not idle. Only after staying on the accelerator, keeping the revs up, and getting under way will the idle kick in to the point where you can let go of the gas without stalling, normally by the time you get to the first stop sign.
2. Subsequent starts will usually be trouble free but occasionally the engine will struggle to turn over, at least initially, like the battery is depleted. It will always catch eventually, and sometimes it will idle fine while other times it won't, struggling again as described above.
Thinking (well, guessing) that I'm dealing with an electric or electronic problem, but without the benefit of having actual knowledge or expertise, here are the steps I have stumbled through so far:
1. I checked all the wires as best I could but in most places the wiring harness is covered in a black sleeve making a visual inspection difficult. I didn't test any individual wires but from what I can see there are no obvious issues with the wiring.
2. I did whip out the multi meter to check out the battery and the alternator. The battery is brand new and showing 12.4 Volts at rest. With the engine idling and no electrical load, the alternator is putting out 13.8 Volts to the battery. So I'm thinking (perhaps erroneously) that the issue is not with the battery or the alternator.
3. I replaced the Idle Air Control valve (I cleaned up the old one but decided to just go ahead and replace it anyway. I mean it's, like, twelve bucks). No improvement.
4. I was going to replace the Throttle Position Sensor next but holy crap that thing is on tight. So far I've twisted two Torxs bits on it and I'm no closer to getting it off. I will keep on trying though.
After that, I'm running out of ideas. Can the problem be in the PCM? I mean, it's like it keeps forgetting what the idle position is. I know this problem (or problems much like it) have been covered before on this forum -in fact, that's what has guided my actions to this point, but I haven't had any success. Provided I somehow get the TPS off and replaced, and it doesn't solve the problem, how should I proceed?
Thanks for any and all input you might have!
Last edited: