My wife filled my Cherokee up at Wal-Mart(fail) last Friday. My XJ started running rough and died at a stop sign on Tuesday. First thing I thought of was the wally world gas. I bought some heet with injector cleaner and she came to life. Sub-zero this morning and it started cold fine, but when I came to the first stop sign it died. I can keep it running at speed, but not idle. I put half a can of seafoam in it this morning. I had to go to the post office this afternoon and it was a booger to keep going. What gives? Fuel problem? Ignition problem? Vacuum problem? Please help!!!

 

To be honest, there are a number of possibilities.

But you should start with the simplest. And that is your battery. A "marginal" battery often results in stalling at idle.

And to answer your question, YES, you absolutely can have a battery that is strong enough to start the engine, but marginal enough to give the engine management system fits. And that can create stalling. I cannot tell you how many times I have worked on this exact symptom with battery being the culprit.

Any parts store will "load test" your battery for free. And load testing is the only accurate way of determining battery condition. Testing voltage in and by itself can absolutely be inconclusive; must put the battery under LOAD.

Start there. And keep us updated!

 

I would check your throttle body and clean it out along with your idle air controller.

 

I just had a headliner installed. so interior lights were on a lot. The jeep started but would not idle. Battery can give all kinds of trouble. How old is your battery?

 

One time I left the dome lights on all night when it was -15 or so, had to run the Jeep at about 2000 RPM in the driveway for several minutes before he would idle properly. I figure that the drag from the alternator was just too much. The engine wouldn't just stall out, it just spun down all the way until it didn't turn no more. Once I got it somewhat "charged" I had no issues.

If this sounds like your Jeep definitely get that thing tested. Cleaning out the throttle body and checking the IAC/TPS function is always a good thing, but if that were the fault I'd expect that you'd be able to maintain an idle with your foot down.

 

The battery is not that old, but I think I will put the battery charger on it anyway just in case. My gas mileage has been terrible lately, so maybe I have other problems. Thanks to all for the replies. Any other sugestions?

 

Simply charging your battery won't tell the story. It must be LOAD TESTED.

Not saying it is your battery, but why not have a parts store load test it so you can rule it in or out?

And know this. Newer batteries can fail too. I've seen it many times.

 

Especially if the newer battery is one of the fancy 1000+ CCA units in the same size as the factory 550 CCA. You don't necessarily want that much density. A few bumps later and bam - the lead plates make contact and you've just lost a cell.

 

Update.....I had the battery load tested and it was fine. The charging system was fine. The ignition system was fine. There were no codes present. The culprit was...........the Idle Air Control. The old one was black and nasty. The recess that it came out of was really dirty. The engine ides fine now and hopefully I'll get a little better gas mileage after I clean the throttle body. Low octane gas isn't good on the fuel system at all. Again...Thanks for all the replies.

 

Use to have that problem in cold weather (-12) and winter gas. It would idle in park but not in drive until it finally got to temp (highway driving). Is yours manual or auto? I regularly cleaned my throttle body during the winter seemed to keep it running but it does sputter after a few days of sitting in the cold.

 

My XJ is an automatic. I only had the idle problem at a stop or in park. While I was under way my XJ acted fine. I bought my Jeep new and now it is getting to the age when I know I will be doing more and more maintenance. I wouldn't get rid of my Cherokee for nothing. Everybody in my community knows me by my Jeep. It's my identity. There are a lot of lifted Cherokees in my community now, but mine was the first.