Help me fix a jeep to get a girl

[jk051]

Hi all,

So I was out in the parking lot after school today and what do you know...theres a hot girl with a car that wont start. So of course I go over and join a few other guys that were over there and theyve already decided its a dead battery...so we get the jumper cables out and it still wont start but it cranks fine. Take the jumpers off and it cranks fine...so i guess they were wrong about the battery. So i start spouting off a bunch of technical gibberish so i appear the most qualified to assist her (which i know i was...but thats not saying much with these guys). She gives me the keys and i go and try to start it and dont have any luck...until i step on the gas and then it started and ran fine as long as i kept revved up a little bit...but as soon as i took my foot off the gas it would die and do the same thing again. After a few minutes it finally started running normally and i was her hero...


****mechanical question starts here***

So basically i have to figure out what was going on with her car (one because more points for me, and two because im curious). Its a 2000 something jeep grand cherokee with a 4.0 v6 in it...other than that i dont know anything about it. so what would make it not start/die without stepping on the gas?

Thanks

 

[cgriffin_5139]

Fuel filter clogged. good luck

 

[JDraper]

Bad idle air control valve could do that too, and would explain why it ran better when warm. The Idle air control valve on a fuel injected motor acts like a choke on a carbureted motor. It controls how much air gets into the motor at idle. If it's stuck open, it's gonna be a bear to start and run like crap at idle until it starts to warm up. It will probably run fine (or at least reasonably well) at any point off idle.

 

[Texplorer]

Is the jeep giving you any codes? If it is obviously have them pulled, other than that the IAC, fuel filter, airfilter maybe??? Who knows with certain girls these days. Oh and if you want to score even more points tell her its a I6 (inline 6) not a V6.

 

[jk051]

Thanks for all the replies!

My first reaction was also the IAC. I know on exploders you can unplug the iac and the truck will start and just idle really low...could i also use this test procedure on the jeep?

There werent any codes while i was there. I thought about the air filter but i figured since it started running fine after a few minutes it wasnt it.

Lol...im sure telling her its a I6 not a V6 will get me a few points.

Thanks guys!

 

[BrooklynBay]

Do you have a scanner? Chryslers have a feature which lets you turn the key on, and off 3 times, then it puts it into a diagnostic mode. The CEL will flash a code. Tell her about this site. She might like it.