Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
Any suggestions as to possible faults/cures.
Many thanks :confuse:
Yesterday after about a 20 minute ride on my way home my car stalled and threw a check engine light. I started it right back up and every time I slowed down or came to a stop it would stall but start right back up. I tried making it to the garage to get the code read but the were actually locking the doors when I pulled in.
So I take my car home and I figure I will try to take it to work today and see what happens it did not stall or act up for about 15 minutes and then it stalled and would not start at all. I let it cool down for 2 hours and tried it again but no start.
The engine cranks and the guages are not going haywire, I have a full tank of gas, a decent battery. Another odd thing is my airbag light came on about a week ago for no apparent reason? have not thought much about it.
from my readings i am guessing Crankshaft position sensor (probable) or ECU (possible)
any help would be much appreciated.
My jeep starts up fine and drives well but I can tell when the gas isn't getting through to where it needs to for the car to continue to run. My car is shutting off at stop signs, traffic lights, and just about an hour ago while in motion on a very busy road. Normally after attempting to turn the engine a couple times it will start back up but the check engine light will always come on. After I park the car overnight, check engine light is off and I wonder if I'm going to be starting and stopping in the middle of busy intersections the next day. My 5 year old daughter was in the back seat today and cars were just coming up on me (while stalled) really fast in the rear before they saw me and my hazards on. Scared and after maybe 10 attempts to restart the vehicle without success, I gave it a whole lot of gas and turned the key until it started up. My jeep has 60k miles on it and I used mid grade gas. I used to use premium gas but the problem only seemed worse, so I went back to mid grade. The car sputters at time and other times I'm the quickest SUV on the road.
My two rear inside door handles snapped off because the handles are mounted to the panel which is only hard plastic (bad design).
Two days ago my LCD GPS Screen went out and when it's out I can't control the CD player or the steering wheel radio controls. The screen will come on first thing in the morning, but shortly after, will go out.
The driver side of my car leaks when it rains, driver side floor will be flooded but sunroof doesn't leak. Those water things that run from the sunroof down the side of the windshield to allow water to flow obviously were forgotten when the car was built.
Although the DVD player still works, my two front door handles are cracked and look as if they can only take a couple more pulls before they snap off as well.
Oh I forgot... when the car stalls, occasionally I will smell gas inside the car. Actually, I've smelled the gas inside the car before, and the car had not stalled. The EPS SYSTEM OFF light comes on because the system just shuts itself off when the car acts up.
I don't think cold weather has anything to do with the stalling because I just moved from MA to TX. When in MA I never had issues like this but I could tell the problem existed. Since in TX as of July 15th, I think it's time to get a moped for traveling seeing that the weather allows and it's more reliable. One last thing, I have also noticed that sometime when I accelerate the car jerks as if it were going to cut off but the gas got through. It does sound like water is getting in somewhere causing the problem.
Chrysler agreed to fix the door handles for $1000 after my car locked on me at the grocery and while my daughter was in the back seat locked in the car. She absolutely would not climbed into the front seat (per mommy's instructions to never climbed into the front) to unlock the door for me and the rear handles were gone.
Someone please, if you have any suggestions before I call Chrysler in the morning to give them a piece of my mind, I need information on the stalling, leaking, LCD/GPS screen failure, steering wheel controls and cheaper fix for the door handles.
Thanks!
My best friend is a mechanic of 30 years (in another state) and he called one of his contacts at Chrysler to inquire about the panel and handles. The contact told him it is a bad design and Chrysler is aware of the problem.
This is probably why they agreed to fix mine for $1000. They agreed to fix all four doors for that price which they referred to as the deductible. I am going to exercise that option, here in the next few weeks..
The potential for a tragedy to happen somewhere with jeeps stalling on highways and busy intersections/roads, as well as the door handles just snapping off is increaseling high. Cars were literally swerving to keep from hitting me last night, I couldn't move the car myself, plus my small child was in the back seat near the rear which would have been the point of impact.
The handles... what if a Jeep catches on fire. The first thing a person would do, with force due to the quick response is get out of the car. My door handles would not hold up to that, they would just snap off. And myself and my child are the only passengers ever in my car.
option #2
2) THIS MAY ALSO BE THE PROBLEM, IT IS GOING TO SOUND SCREWY BUT THERE ARE TORX SCREWS ON THE 1998 AND EARLIER ECU. BACK THEM OUT ABOUT A THIRD OF A TURN, THE SCREWS ARE TOO LONG AND ARE CAUSING SOME KIND OF SHORT IN THE CONNECTION OR MAYBE THE GROUND.
option #3
3) FOR 1999 AND LATER
I had same problem.... 87,000 2000 grand cherokee 4.7l
when i let off the gas it might stall. happens 1 to 4 times a day.
so far i have
replaced the crank shaft sensor - it stopped stalling for 3 days $130
cleaned the throttle boddy free
replaced the throttle position sensor $72
replaced the idle air control sensor $132
replaced the map manafold airflow sensor $125
no luck it is still stalling. not sure if i remember the prices
right on these parts....
by the way i have done all the work myself. it was about 30 minutes for most parts.
i just ordered a rebuilt ecu or pcu engine control unit. they program in the vin, mileage and part nbr so you gc will recognize it. $185
we will see when that comes.....
IT CAME AND THAT SEEMS TO HAVE FIXED THE PROBLEM..... .... SO FAR SO GOOD
good luck
alan
Issues:
Stalling in motion,
Backfiring (I already blew one muffler due to this),
Startup stalling,
Sitting still it will also stall on me,
It will stall alot of the time if I shift it from Park to drive,
battery drains - though my hope is I might have fixed this part, I likely will not find out until winter,
Issues with car locks not working right (though I am fine using a key I just want it to stop stalling),
At one point I got a check cages light I've check oil and transmission fluid they are at the right level maybe it was responding to the stalling,
Recently after having powersteering issues I replace the pump,
I can pull the cables off and reset it, but that is only a temporary fix.
I literally sat in a parking lot this morning for 10 minutes trying to restart my car without it stalling otu on me... after it stalled on a road when I was going 50mph and on my way to work. Eventually I got it to start and I drove with two feet on gas and break most of the way to work.
I've one more year of college before I am able to buy something else... I'm almost through wihtout loans or debt. I really do not want to get a new car. This is killing me though, how am I supposed to be reliable without a source of transportation that is reliable.
I'm incredibly frustrated... If you can help let me know
I replaced all spark plugs, battery replacements about 10 of them in the past 3 years, O2 sensors, abs control module , catalitic converter, the computer, I had the transmission tested and there were no problems with it
My next thought is the crank shaft censor or a wire that isn't grounded properly. I have more issues stalling in rainy weather and high humidity. In winter it is a battery issues which might have been solved by the abs system being replace due to it overdrawing power. I want to fix the jeep but I'm becoming rather pesimistic as I fix more parts that it isn't able to be fixed.
The check engine light came on again so I'm taking it to the shop at lunch. However I'm interning this summer away from my family and home so I can't give up my car no matter how many problems it has.
I am new to this site and am having a bit of a problem. I have a 96' jeep grand cherokee limited. The other day i drove it about 100 miles with no problems at all then when i went to drive it home it wouldnt start it just clicked. At first i thought maybe my battery so the first thing i grabbed were my cables and then i realized that my lights were on so i thought maybe my starter was starting to go so after tapping on it and still not starting my dad said lets try giving it a jump. So we jumped it let it run for a bit and then he took his cables off and i went to get the kids...it shut off. So we tried again and it did the same thing so we loaded up the jeep and jumped it i stayed on the gas. everytime i let my RPMs drop below 1 1/2 it ould start to sputter like it was gonna die out (after navigating the back roads in deer county..no easy feet without slowing too much) we finally got to the highway but everytime i slowed down it would go to shut off. I noticed that every once in awhile the the check engine light would come on but only hen my little battery icon/gage on the dash would go up to full charge ( i guess thats what it means)and when it would go back to the middle (7) the check engine light ould go off. As soon as i pulled into my house it shut off before i had it in park. Unfortunately i am the only one in my family with even the tinest bit of auto knowledge and it is pretty limited...sorry for the long saga here but i wanted to make sure i told you as much as i could. i guess after all that my main question would be...is it the alternator? I just need something to go off of. I am going to pick up a used alternator this eveining just to start the process of elimination so if anyone has any other thoughts please let me know! Thank you to all of you who read this "book' that I wrote and to anyone who is able to help me out!
could be a bad coonection at the battery..... clean the terminals ........... but my bet is the battery..... it has enough to run the lights but not enough to start the car. so it is prbably not holding a charge.....
good luck
I want to share this with you. The ECM is the computer on the passenger side under the hood directly behind the radiator overflow tank. Before I got the new ECM I could push and pull or even just tap the computer and the jeep would die. So we decided to install a new one. So far in 20 minutes of driving (you know that's not enough to say for sure) it has not stalled. The ECM was $200 at advanced auto parts.
I'll update later.
Thanks,
Maria
what plugs on the firewall?
link title
Disconnect the negative terminal from the battery first.
Unplug the connectors...apply dielectric grease (available for $2.49 from any parts store) to the pins and the connector plugs and reconnect.
mine was not that bad. but it shut off like the key was turned off.... no studeer or misfire.... and it always started right back
got mine fixed with the very last option #3, I HAD TO REPLACETHE BRAIN (ECU) Got mine off ebay for $185 from
they will program, and ship for that price..... it has a lifetime warranty. It has to be programed for your vin #, part nbr, and mileage.... but they will tell you all that. It took about 35 minutes to swap the part. worked like a charm.......
grand cherokee stalls or dies out.
1) CHECK YOUR CONNECTIONS AT THE ECU (ENGINE CONTROL UNIT) MAYBE CALLED THE PCU (POWERTRAIN CONTROL UNIT) ON THE PASSENGER SIDE FIREWALL. ON 1998 AND EARLIER THE 3 PLUGS SOMETIMES GET A BAD CONNECTION. IT IS USUALLY THE ONE CLOSEST TO THE FENDER. UNPLUG, SPRAY WITH CLEANER AND REPLUG. YOU MAY EVEN HAVE TO WRAP A ZIP TIE AROUND THE UNIT TO KEEP THE PLUG IN TIGHT.
2) THIS MAY ALSO BE THE PROBLEM, IT IS GOING TO SOUND SCREWY BUT THERE ARE TORX SCREWS ON THE 1998 AND EARLIER ECU. BACK THEM OUT ABOUT A THIRD OF A TURN, THE SCREWS ARE TOO LONG AND ARE CAUSING SOME KIND OF SHORT IN THE CONNECTION OR MAYBE THE GROUND.
3) FOR 1999 AND LATER
I had same problem.... 87,000 2000 grand cherokee 4.7l
when i let off the gas it might stall. happens 1 to 4 times a day.
so far i have
replaced the crank shaft sensor - it stopped stalling for 3 days $130
cleaned the throttle boddy free
replaced the throttle position sensor $72
replaced the idle air control sensor $132
replaced the map manafold airflow sensor $125
no luck it is still stalling. not sure if i remember the prices
right on these parts....
by the way i have done all the work myself. it was about 30 minutes for most parts.
i just ordered a rebuilt ecu or pcu engine control unit. they program in the vin, mileage and part nbr so you gc will recognize it. $185
we will see when that comes.....
IT CAME AND THAT SEEMS TO HAVE FIXED THE PROBLEM..... BEEN A 3 WEEKS.... SO FAR SO GOOD
alan
"That's all we have to say about that."
Good luck
But again, hold the pedal to the floor until it starts up then apply a little pedal to keep it running, stay close to 1 RPM.
thanks,
So far so good, it's been 2 weeks.
Dana
A more thorough description and pics will help a lot of us determine if the PCM, one of the sensors or the wiring is bad.
Everyone should know that 90+% of the time the problem is the wiring.
If anyone has this, I'd be more than happy to build an electronic Library for everyone
MST
I bought a DTC reader and no DTC's or enhanced DTCs have registered. I pulled the throttle body off and cleaned it and blew contact cleaner in the connectors for the TPS, IAC, and that little pressure transducer on the drivers side. I tried back probing the TPS connector for operating voltage without success but did put an ohmmeter on the sensor contacts and the resistance change seems smooth when moving the butterfly plate. Replaced the throttle body and hooked everything back up.
It now idles between 400 and 500 rpm a little rough.
I am just getting to know this car and it seems pretty complicated. Which makes easter egging really expensive unless you're a good guesser. So what I'm now wondering is why the computer doesn't see the low rpm and the closed throttle plate and advance the spark or feed in a little more air. Possible answers are a) poor crankangle sensor output (seems unlikely as poor sensor output would be less pulses and the computer would increase rpm), b) some problem (possibly mechanical since no DTC) on the Idle Valve, which may have been effected by the cleaning. c) corrosion on the throttle body at the edges of the butterfly plate (this seems unlikely because it seems minor, but there was a change in idle after the grease/gunk was cleaned out. plus corrosion pits would increase air inflow, making it appear partly open). There is a screw stop on the front/driver corner of the throttle body which could be used to hold the butterfly open a little but one of the fixes says not to do that.
Right now I'm working without manuals but have one ordered off ebay. I'm hoping for some schematics so's I can see what's feeding what.
After lunch I'll go down and probe the TPS a little more carefully and see what the closed reading is. supposed to be 4.something volts. Then have a look at the idle valve altho there's no apparently test for that. And clean some more connectors.
keep in touch
thanks
Worked the TPS using some other year's checkout procedure. saw familiar numbers for excitation and sensor output voltages. back probed the connector using straight pins and clipping the DVM leads to them. brushed the idle air control valve and noticed the body was warm. I've put the IAC off because of no procedure to check it out. So I pulled it off and it looked like the creature from the black lagoon had been living inside. anyhow it looked pretty frozen and I figured the warm body was from the computer sending 'move it' voltage and getting no motion. ran down to my local jeep dealer where they tried to sell me a whole new car and $147 later, it idles fine. with no trouble codes. altho there sounds like something's loose in the drive train but now I can get it inspected and back on the road.
anyhow, check the IAC for heat, pull it off and have a look. pricy but
good luck.