miked1215

Hey all,

I’m new to the forum and happy to be here, hoping to access the hive mind with some questions I’ve got regarding my Jeep.

I bought a ’95 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited with the 5.2L v8 under the hood about 6 months ago with 168k miles on the clock. Factory recommended maintenance has been done all throughout its 1 owner life. This beast is my daily driver and I intend for it to be indefinitely. I’ve already put about 3k miles on it, with nothing braking. I am having some (potentially?) odd symptoms though:

1. At operating temp, when idling at a stop sign or red light, I’m sitting right around 250 rpms. Initially, it’ll idle at 500 rpms, and after a few seconds of sitting will slowly settle into 250. Doesn’t seem like it wants to die, but I do get the tiniest shake intermittently when idling in this scenario. I’ve replaced the TPS as well as the IAC, with no change in symptoms. Is this normal idling speed in drive?

2. When I decelerate down from traffic speed to a stop, the shift from 2ndinto 1st is noticeable, and happens at about 10mph or so as I’m braking. It will give a little shudder, but no metallic sound or anything out of the ordinary. Periodically, I notice hard shifts as well, however I’ve noticed with the right amount of acceleration/deceleration I get smooth shifts throughout. Initially when cold starting and driving below operating temp, it shifts smooth. ATF is good, has been changed every 30k miles religiously since new. Would a TV cable adjustment solve this issue?

3. I also noticed that my oil pressure when idling at 250 drops from the 40-45 pounds I get while driving at normal speed down to 25ish pounds. The second I get on the throttle, it rises back to 40 pounds without worry. Is this normal for the 5.2?

4. I live in northern California, so in the summer months we can get up to 100-110 degrees. With AC running, or AC off and stopped in traffic, I noticed that the engine temp will creep up from 185ish to about 210. Once driving, it’ll settle right around 190 degrees. Is this harmful in the long term, or is this just normal for the jeep? Is there anything I can service to keep her a little colder in the summer? In these winter months the temp is absolutely perfect regardless of how cold it is.

5. Most recently, under conditions that don’t seem to matter, the Jeep has failed to start twice. It will crank completely normal but won’t fire. I found that manually opening the throttle to WOT and releasing it to snap back into place causes my accelerator pedal cable to have a delayed snap, and then it’ll fire right up as if nothing happened. When off, regardless as to whether this problem is happening or not, the accelerator pedal is stiff, almost to the floor, and I can’t operate it. I also noticed the accelerator cable attachment to the throttle body has tons of slack in it. I don’t notice any issue with acceleration or achieving WOT during normal use. What the heck is going on?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated here. Also, if anybody can make recommendations for a knowledgeable mechanic in northern California, that would be greatly appreciated!