Engine dies at idle

[xraydave]

I left the ignition switch turned on overnight and my battery died. After jumping it off, the jeep started just fine and ran for about 5 minutes at idle while sitting in the driveway. Then it died. I started it again without any problem but when I took my foot off the gas it died again. I restarted it and drove through my neighborhood. It died three more times when I took my foot off the gas. I took it up on the highway and it did just fine. It never died again even after I got home and let it idle in the driveway.
I'm guessing it has something to do with an electric choke. Any Ideas?

 

[TJ4Jim]

Fortunately we do not have any chokes on our Jeeps, electric or otherwise. The Jeeps do not run well (or at all) on a dead battery so driving around like you did was recharging the battery. Better off recharging before running the engine.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Charge the battery overnight. Our engines absolutely will not idle or idle well when the battery is dead or too low. The alternator requires a strong 12 volt battery before it can produce power for the ignition system.

The days of engines being able to run without a battery are long gone for Jeeps and most other vehicles too.

And when the battery is too low, the alternator can't produce enough power to charge the battery.

Charge it overnight with a bench charger.

 

[Chris]

The other thing that would be worth checking is the IAC. That is very often times the culprit for 'idle issues' associated with Jeeps.

Here's a link: How to clean your IAC (Idle Air Controller) valve on a Jeep Wrangler TJ

Super cheap (almost free) and very easy to do. May as well do it just to eliminate it as a possible culprit.

 

[xraydave]

Thanks,
I charged it most of the day today but only 2 amps. Still having issue. I will clean the IAC and see if that solves the problem. It's probably overdue for that anyway. It just turned over 90,000 miles today.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

With only a 2 amp charger, it's going to take nothing less than an overnight charge to get that nearly dead battery fully charged. "Most of the day" on a 2 amp charger isn't much when you have a battery that is nearly dead. My bench top charger puts out 10 amps and it can take all night to bring up a dead battery.

 

[Swimmer35]

The other thing that would be worth checking is the IAC. That is very often times the culprit for 'idle issues' associated with Jeeps.

Here's a link: How to clean your IAC (Idle Air Controller) valve on a Jeep Wrangler TJ

Super cheap (almost free) and very easy to do. May as well do it just to eliminate it as a possible culprit.

I have this issue also, except no dead battery. I followed your link and cleaned everything out, but the issue remains. I guess I'll order a new TPS and IAC. Might well replace both while I'm at it.