2006 Grand Cherokee Idle issues

Hey everyone, I have a 3.7L Laredo and have had idle problems for about a year. About a year ago it stalled on me twice while driving at fast speed. The first one was slowing down for a stop light going about 50mph and the second was getting off a highway, onto another. Both times, put it in neutral, started up and kept driving. There was some sort of update they did on my car and it hasn't stalled since (thank God!).

The low idling is still a problem. After a 30 minute drive home, I will be at a stop light or whatever, and it will drop to 300-400 rpms and then catch itself and go back to 500-600 where it seems to feel and run fine. I've had the throttle positioning level "repositioned" and serviced.

I've read that it could be a need of replacing the TPS or even the IAC motor. All is under warranty and dealership keeps saying nothing is wrong with it since the diagnostic aren't coming back abnormal. I've taken it in repeatedly for this only to no avail! I've thought about the lemon law but it's something that seems so simple to fix yet they don't see anything wrong with it.

Any suggestions? Anyone else have this problem? Did you get it fixed?

 

I would bring it to another dealership for repair. It could be many things, but have they looked at the alternator wiring/battery?

 

When I return from my vacation, I will take it to another dealership. No one has ever mentioned it possibly being the alternator wiring/battery. I have never had a problem with it starting up so how would the battery be a possible issue?

 

Anyone know why the diagnostic wouldn't pick up what is bad? Dealership tells me no codes come back, like everything is 100% fine. Therefore, they can't do anything. I even test drove it with a service adviser and he saw/felt it do it yet nothing came back.

GRR!!! Any ideas as to why? He couldn't tell me why yet he can't do anything, so he says!

 

Hope you get it fixed soon, that makes sense if they don't see any codes they won't mess with it, I'm going to guess trouble with the fuel pressure regulator, I'd trade it for another car if I were you before the warranty runs out if you can't find the problem, I'm surprised you've been putting up with this for a year now

 

I'll give y'all an update tomorrow when I get it back. We'll see what they say and then I'll have to weigh my options.

I've thought about the lemon law but talked to an attorney friend and he said with my condition (how easy it should be to fix compared to other problems) it would be hard to get them to replace my vehicle.

 

kcrenshaw,

I have an 06 Grand Cherokee too. It has had that problem before; low idling and stall outs. It's stalled out twice in 52,000 miles, so that's really not bothering me, but sometimes it does idle low, and then as you say picks up again. I took it to the dealer, and of course they said that "everything checked out OK". I have the 4.7 liter, 8-cylinder. Anyway I have not pressed the dealer as much as I probably should.

But since I read your thread I may go get it checked out at a different dealer.

 

Justin, So you don't let it bother you or you got it fixed? I'm just wondering how it will hold up for me driving to the FL Key's (6hour drive). Please let me know what the dealer says to you.

I have about 22-23k on my vehicle so I have about a year or less before factory warranty runs out. I looked on another forum about how good Explorers are (I love how much more room is in the back for cargo) and they have the same problem. I was looking to trade it in for one of those but now I am not so sure.

The dealer is suppose to go test drive it, run test, blah blah so we'll see what he comes back with. I doubt anything.

Kim

 

Looks like this is a fairly common problem, not just on the Cherokee, but the Commander as well.

Some people have said that the dealer needs to reflash/update the computer software in the vehicle, and a few others said the engine temp sensor needs to be replaced. A few mentioned a good cleaning of the throttle body did the trick too....


Just some more things you can mention to the mechanics.

 

Dealer says they've checked the IAC, TPS, and has newest updates. I will get it back today after they run some more "test" on it. I'll see how it goes down to they Key's. I certainly hope okay!!! I've never driven a long distance, just to back and forth to work and around town. The only time it did take a long trip was to Jax which is about 2 hours and that was when I bought it. When I return from the Key's, I will take it to a different dealer. If I have too I'll take it to my husbands mechanic and let him tell me what's wrong with it, if anything, and then take the report to the dealer. I don't want to mess up my warranty, otherwise I'd let him fix it.

 

For those of you who have been following my thread, the dealership said that nothing is wrong with it, no codes are coming back. I'm going to take it Autozone and see if they can run it. I heard they can do that, correct?

I finally called the guy who I bought it from in Jax (who's also a family friend) and told him what was going on and he said we could do a trade or he can see about getting corporate involved. I said I wanted to involve corporate and get them to correct this! GEEEZZZ!!!!

We'll see what happens.

 

kcrenshaw,

My vehicle has not stalled since early summer, or about 20k miles ago. And I have not noticed the low idling since the weather turned cold here in Michigan...Not sure if that is playing a role. During that time is when I took my vehicle in for service, and they discovered nothing. I drive long trips regularly, and have had no problems. That's not to say that a problem could not have happened, but I'm confident it's a "nu sense" issue, rather than a "safety" issue. May be different for your Jeep, but from the sound of it, probably the same issue.

Please let me know if you discover anything new.

On a side note, I read one post about Commanders having a similar issue; that's not a surprise since they both come out of the same plant here in Detroit...I often visit the plant where I bought my vehicle.

 

Justin,
I have noticed it only idles low when it's hot outside and it's warmed up. Hopefully, I won't have any problems. They ended up finding a recent update that didn't finish installing. Hopefully, that fixes it. I don't know though, it's been cold here in FL (30's-40's) so natrually it hasn't done it.

You would think that when everyone having a problem, they'd put out a recall and/or bulletin about it.