I too have a 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee, but the V6 version.Originally Posted by kyleb229
A few months back I experienced a similar problem where the car was idling low (around 500-600 RPMs) at a stoplight and then just shut off. It was running without problem for the 15 minutes prior to this. I restarted the car (after a few tries) and was able to get home by ensuring that I kept the RPM's above 700 or so. After talking with some people who know something about cars, I had the fuel filter replaced and also went ahead and had the fuel injection system cleaned. All of this was only about $70. This seemed to solve the problem for a few months.
About a month ago the car started acting up again. After struggling to start up it would immediately shutoff. The only way I could get it to start and remain running was to give it gas while engaging the starter. After it started I would again keep the RPM's above 700 and then sit there for a little while. Eventually (2-5 minutes later) I could remove my foot from the accelerator and the car would remain idling around 700 RPM's. The car would run fine as long as it was moving, but when it was stopped it was having difficulty idling. It didn't completely shut off, but the RPM's would waver between 500 and 700. Anytime it got near 500 it would get close to shutting down. This was the case for a few weeks.
Last week the car finely had enough and shut off a few times when I was at stoplights. I decided it wasn't worth driving around and have left it parked in the garage until I decided what to do. Today I searched a few sites with recommendations for stalling cars and tried a few things. One thing I tried was to see if the computer was outputting an error code that could be the problem. I went the key turning process to get the odometer to display the error code, but it just said "done", indicating that there were no codes. So I disconnected the battery for a few minutes to reset the computer and then reconnected and tried to drive the car. At first it seemed like things were getting better because the car would idle around 1000 RPM's. However, after just a few minutes it went back to idling around 700 RPM's and then it started dropping to 500 and below. At that point it was about to shut off and I kept it revved so I could get back home. So resetting the computer didn't work. There was also a recommendation to disconnect the MAP sensor and see what happens, so I did that and nothing changed. Still no good.
I saw this post and it sounded very similar to what was happening to my car. I thought I might be able to add some more detail in case someone had a brilliant idea. I too do not want to replace the fuel pump if possible because it is a costly repair due to the fact that the fuel tank has to be removed to change the pump. I am curious to see if changing the throttle position sensor will have any effect, but I don't know how to do that. Is it easy? Is there a website with details on where it is or how to do it?
Please let me know of anything you find out and I will do likewise. Thanks...
(For the record, I too have replaced both front window regulators. The first time I did it myself but paid the ridiculous $237 price tag for the part. The worst part was that the dealership made me pay $4 a piece for those crappy green plastic tabs that are gauranteed to break when you take the door apart. I was appalled. The second time I bought the regulator for $90 from the monsterautoparts.com site and did it myself in under an hour. Sorry to see that so many are having the same problems with there Jeeps.)