Stalling and Sputtering while Creeping Forward

97TJ_305

Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2018
Messages
31
Location
Miami
Hi everyone, first off thanks for being so helpful. I got my first TJ (2001) at the beginning of 2018 and have found so many answers on these boards. Unfortunately that Jeep got stolen but I just replaced it with a 1997.

I'm having a little trouble that seems to be somewhat common since there are already a lot of threads on the topic.

Basically when I'm engaged in Drive (it is an automatic) and the car starts inching forward there is a sputter once the transmission really kicks in. If I apply the breaks at that moment the RPMs drop very low and sometimes the engine will actually stall. Stalling usually only happens on cold mornings before the engine has warmed up.

A couple times the stall has happened when I switch from Reverse to Drive as I'm backing out of my parking spot.

I do have a rough switch between 2nd and 3rd gear where it revs up a bit before the switch. I'm hoping that is not a related issue and I don't need to replace the transmission.

Based off the advice of other threads, today I cleaned the throttle body and IAC. The throttle body wasn't so bad but the IAC was very corroded and even after cleaning it is still pretty dirty. The sputtering problem was still there after the cleaning.

I'm attaching photos of the IAC. Should I go ahead and replace it with a new one and see what happens?

Also, I noticed the crankcase valve hose was cracked at the end. I put some duct tape for now while I order a replacement. Could this be related?

Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance for any help.

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About 55 degrees here in Miami this morning and it stalled going from reverse to drive when I was backing out. Right when I switched to drive the RPMs just tanked to 0.

Any ideas?
 
Does anyone know what that loose cable is for? I see photos of it attached to the throttle body like the other 2. Could this be causing the problem?

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No stall today but it came damn near close a few times. After going a few feet to my parking lot stop sign it went back into neutral and drive wasn't engaging when I was trying to get going. A couple seconds later it engaged on its own.

Trans problems?
 
Not sure but, it looks like that cable (that no longer has a factory end on it) is your throttle valve (TV) cable from the tranny. It could affect things. Is the seat for your IAC clean too?
 
Hey there! Did you ever get this problem fixed? I'm having the same issue with my 02 TJ.

Yes I did get it fixed!

It could have been one or two things or a combo of both.

Took it to a transmission specialist and when we drove it around he said transmission was not the problem but it was switching too early. I told him I tried adjusting the throttle cable so he went back and did that again.

Also, he topped off transmission fluids and said it needed a lot. Driving out of the shop it was already fixed.

Next day there was a puddle of transmission fluid under my Jeep and turns out I had a few gasket leaks that needed to be fixed.

So it was either that the throttle cable wasn't shifting at the right time causing the engine to sputter similar to switching gears in a manual poorly, or I had so little transmission fluid that it wasn't switching right.

Hope this helps you. Ever since it was fixed its been running perfect and I've taken it out on a few road trips with zero issues.