What the heck is wrong with my 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee?

D

dani

New member
i gree with the first person its the EGR valve..i say you need mayor tune-up staring with:
replace it or get it clean its cheap
fuel filter if u have any
air filter
belts--most likely thats why its hard to star its not givin out enough amp to charge or uhave short somewhere
spark plugs and cables distrubotor cap
also check on vacumm hoses that there not crack or broken
 
Alright, so it's a 1997 4WD V8 Jeep Grand Cherokee, and it's having some problems.

I'm going to describe what the main problems are and then add my minor issues in case they may be somehow related.

Here goes...

The main issue is that my car will start and won't stay running. When it starts okay by itself, it idles dangerously close to 0. Usually, it needs to have the gas pedal pushed down to give it a little extra kick while I turn the key. Once it starts running, the RPMs won't stay up, and the thing just drops right down to 0 and dies. If you keep your foot on the pedal, it will stay running until you take your foot off. It doesn’t have this problem all of the time. It's had this happen before, but it gets bad when I leave my car sitting for a few days without driving it.
What I do to get it working again is drive it around with my foot constantly on the gas pedal, and the other foot on the brake to press it when needed. I know this isn't good for my car, but after about five minutes of this, the car runs normally again. I've heard that it could be the fuel pump. I don't have the filter changed regularly either...

Alright, so for my side problems:
I get about 15 mpg, this isn't too bad for a Jeep, but it's about a mile or two below the optimum.
My gas gauge is totally off. Lately, it's been reading empty when I still have about seven gallons left in my tank!
I don't have ABS. It's in my car, but it's been out for a looong time, and I don't mind not having it...
Sometimes my battery dies, but it seems to be making a good connection when I try to start my car. ie, lights working fine... (I don’t think it’s an alternator problem because my battery charges and everything.)
There is a grinding sound in the front of my car. (I believe it might be a U bend.)
When I brake and slowly apply pressure instead of just pressing down hard, my car shakes. (I may need new brakes...)

Okay, so now that I've made my car sound like a total wreck...haha. I promise it isn't! I love my car. It's just having a hard time right now.

Any clue as to what's wrong and if I should see a mechanic or fix it myself?
 
Sounds to me like an EGR valve stuck open or going out. This will cause VERY poor idle, hard starts, poor gas mileage, but usually vehicle will run normal when traveling at a constant speed. EGR stands for exhaust gas recirculation, its a means to reduce NO2 emissions buy reducing combustion temperatures buy injecting small amounts of exhaust into the intake manifold while car is running. when they stick open or fail, the vacuum developed in your motor pulls in only exhaust which when stopped and at low speeds can cause a terrible loppy idle and while at speed makes for poor or reduced mileage.

This will set off a check engine or service engine soon light, so have it scanned for codes, then look up codes. An EGR valve code is a guarantee. They are reasonably priced from an auto parts store and easy to replace.

I doubt its a fuel pump, as a fuel pump going out would not start, regardless of giving car gas. There are other possible sensors and electrical, but EGR are almost always the culprit and are worth going at first
 
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