97 4.0 won't idle

[T A]

Hey guys, I did a search but did find this problem posted.

I parked the my 97 6 cyl in the garage for the winter. Went out last week and charged the battery. Tried to start and it would almost run but wouldn't start. It will start if I give it gas while I'm cranking it. It will only stay running while I'm giving it gas. Seems to be running fine but as soon as I release the gas pedal it immediately shuts off.

What do you think I should check first?

 

[Cooper Smith]

Hey guys, I did a search but did find this problem posted.

I parked the my 97 6 cyl in the garage for the winter. Went out last week and charged the battery. Tried to start and it would almost run but wouldn't start. It will start if I give it gas while I'm cranking it. It will only stay running while I'm giving it gas. Seems to be running fine but as soon as I release the gas pedal it immediately shuts off.

What do you think I should check first?

IAC valve. Pull it off and clean it. It was probably dirty and now after the winter seized up. Make sure not to pull the pintle out all the way either. Also wouldn't hurt to disconnect the battery, trickle charge it overnight, then reconnect it.

Make sure if you park your cars in the winter to run them weekly or biweekly for 15-20 minutes.

 

[T A]

IAC valve. Pull it off and clean it. It was probably dirty and now after the winter seized up. Make sure not to pull the pintle out all the way either. Also wouldn't hurt to disconnect the battery, trickle charge it overnight, then reconnect it.

Make sure if you park your cars in the winter to run them weekly or biweekly for 15-20 minutes.

Thanks, I'll Youtube the IAC valve location.

 

[hear]

Thanks, I'll Youtube the IAC valve location.

It's mounted to the throttle body. Take off the air intake tube and shoot carb cleaner into the little hole. We have a detailed process in the How-To section on how to clean an IAC w/o even removing it.

 

[YonderWalnut]

If it doesn't end up being the IAC this sounds an awful lot like a failed check valve in the fuel pump. Its easiest to just replace the entire pump. Before your drop the whole tank for that though you can check to see if the fuel rails are holding pressure. If not I reckon you have your culprit.

 

[hear]

If it doesn't end up being the IAC this sounds an awful lot like a failed check valve in the fuel pump. Its easiest to just replace the entire pump. Before your drop the whole tank for that though you can check to see if the fuel rails are holding pressure. If not I reckon you have your culprit.

The fact that he can feather the gas to keep it alive feels like IAC, but who knows.

 

[YonderWalnut]

The fact that he can feather the gas to keep it alive feels like IAC, but who knows.

That's how it was when the pump failed on my TJ and also my Elantra. I actually drove the Elantra around like that for a while, having to keep my foot on the gas any time the clutch was depressed to keep it from dying. Not very safe but hey, I had to get places somehow.

 

[Cooper Smith]

That's how it was when the pump failed on my TJ and also my Elantra. I actually drove the Elantra around like that for a while, having to keep my foot on the gas any time the clutch was depressed to keep it from dying. Not very safe but hey, I had to get places somehow.

The check valve causes hard starting. Not really no idling.

 

[T A]

Thanks everyone for the help. Problem solved !

I cleaned the throttle body and sprayed a little in the IAC intake before I tried to start it. That was enough to do the trick, it started right up no problem. I spent some time and used about half a can of cleaner with it running making sure everything was as clean as I could get it. I didn't take off the IAC or anything other than the air intake since it seemed to be fine now. I'll also know what to do in the future if the problem comes back.

Thanks again for the help.