Highest idle yet!

[brucecooner]

I didn't name this piece of crap the Heartbreaker for nothing.

 

Earlier today I called the Eternal Brake Job "still crappy but good enough" and drove it around in the afternoon heat.  Despite the brakes still being where they were six months ago it drove JUST FINE.  It idled fine, it shifted fine, it ran nearly perfectly. I parked it so I could go and celebrate Mother's Day with the wife and kids, thinking I'd take The Heartbreaker back out this evening and put some fresh gas in it and put a few miles on it.

 

So in the cool evening breeze I did some cleanup work from the Eternal Brake Job. I  secured a loose line under the hood, put the brake line hold down bracket back on the rear axle, wrestled the drum plugs back in (ugh), tightened a few bolts.  I was actually, happy about owning it for the first time in literal months. Things were looking up. I was excited that I was fixing to just, drive it around.

 

Then when think I might just <expletive> DRIVE MY JEEP A FEW MILES, I start it and lo and behold it has decided, the very first time I start it to just drive it around, without thinking about the booster or the brakes or anything else, maybe I might enjoy a few miles of driving my Jeep, it has decided that it will idle at ALMOST THREE THOUSAND RPM.  

 

I turn it off a little while, and fire it back up but no, it has decided it will KEEP IDLING AT ALMOST THREE THOUSAND RPMS.

 

I was so happy, and then without any warning or notice it stuck a knife in me and twisted, hard.

 

The idle never even thought of going down.  The hoses are all in place, it's not the booster vacuum line, I pulled the booster line and held my hand over it and that made no difference to the idle.

 

It sounds like it is trying to self destruct. Which honestly wouldn't bother me at this point.

I'm so sick of this hateful thing I don't even care, I took off and just flung the cursed hunk of junk around the neighborhood streets good and hard and fast.  It wants to die so bad, I'll help it along, there are a lot of very tall cliffs in Arizona and I've seen Thelma and Louise. Except that I will just give it a good hard push and wave bye as its @$$ end goes over and then I'll go buy a shiny new 4Runner and ENJOY my weekends for a change.  Because I will never have a day where I just drive this <expletive> thing around for fun. 

And I can absolutely FORGET ever getting it out on a trail. 

 

Hey, you want to know the best way to enjoy a Comanche?

BUY A TACOMA AND SLAP A COMANCHE BADGE ON THE TAILGATE.

 

This thing drove so nice the first few months I had it, sure it had a few issues but it was actually usable.  And now it's always always always some new thing every time I touch it.

 

I'm not looking for help, I'm not looking for advice.  There's plenty of that out there and I've read it all by this point. 

I'll test the fracking TPS for starters I guess.

I've already freshened the grounds on the block and several other places.

I'll pull the C101 out FROM ITS <expletive> ROOTS.

It's not the grounds, it's not the sensor, this piece of unmitigated crap just HATE HATE HATES its owner.  It does NOT want me to enjoy a single day of ownership where there's not SOME NEW BUSTED THING to worry about.

And I fully expected to have to do some work on this thing it's just, gah, all the time, all the time, all the time, something to fix, something else that has to be fixed RIGHT NOW, no Bruce, don't even think of just driving it around!

 

To be clear, I don't DISlike working on it, I've generally enjoyed, for the most part, the work I've done. 

That brake job though, gawd please make it stop, literally.

It's just, I work and work and work and there's NO POINT at which my work feels effective, like I'm accomplishing anything.

Isn't that the most frustrating thing, in both car maintenance and life in general?  To feel like you are spinning your wheels for nothing?

 

Seriously, does anyone, anywhere, just get to enjoy owning an old Jeep?  Are all these XJ's I see out on the roads tormenting their owners to the same degree? 

I guess really I just got what I deserve for buying a 30+ year old truck.  Ugh, how can they be so pretty and so hateful at the same time?

I literally hate it, and then I look at it and think, "oh but it looks so nice".  Gawd I'm a fool.

 

I MUST have overlooked something, maybe when I put the breather box back on I bumped a line somewhere. 

[MiNi Beast]

Install new tps.  Carry one with a cps to have on hand.  Enjoy. 

[Classy Comanche]

I had a high almost runaway idle last year. I was almost at my wits end with mine too. I had a new O2 sensor put in, TPS, IAC and brand new air filter installed as well all in one go. Between that happening and my radiator leaking it seemed to never end. I had my days where I almost posted it on FB marketplace. Sometimes it seems to get worse before better. Calm after the storm.

[cruiser54]

Most likely the TPS is bad or has a bad connection on the engine side. 

[Pete M]

as much as we tend to anthropomorphize our trucks, it's important to remember that they are merely a collection 100,000 old parts frequently made by the lowest bidder then stuck together some 30 years ago that need to be arranged in the correct order with perfect connections in order to simply drive us to the store. 

 

at least it's not one of those rigs with an engine that likes to self destruct.  I'm also into CRD Libertys.    we have a ton of wiring issues PLUS parts are super expensive PLUS the valves or belt can pop at any time and eat your block. 

[brucecooner]

15 hours ago, Pete M said:

as much as we tend to anthropomorphize our trucks, it's important to remember that they are merely a collection 100,000 old parts frequently made by the lowest bidder then stuck together some 30 years ago that need to be arranged in the correct order with perfect connections in order to simply drive us to the store. 

 

at least it's not one of those rigs with an engine that likes to self destruct.  I'm also into CRD Libertys.    we have a ton of wiring issues PLUS parts are super expensive PLUS the valves or belt can pop at any time and eat your block. 

 

Yeah, I fuss and swear because I wanna be out on the road, but at the end of the day it's just an old piece of machinery that needs maintenance.

Nothing more, nothing less.

 

Libertys eh?  Those are rare, can't remember the last time I saw one. Didn't they have the sliding fabric roof?

 

And despite my tirade I was out there again this evening in the driveway, hood up hunched over the intake manifold. 

I gotta say when the parts are easy to pull and work with (like, not brakes) it's kind of relaxing to mess around with. 

Sure wish I could drive it though.

 

I pulled the throttle body off and it wasn't exactly thickly coated below the butterfly, but there was probably about 30 years of carbon in the innards.

I took the TPS and IAC off and cleaned the throttle body up with some fuel system cleaner. 

The IAC was coated in soot, so I did spray some cleaner into it around the needle, and the first few squirts came back out black.

That may or may not be a bad sign for the IAC, I may need a new one now.

I'm hoping I'm smart enough to test the TPS once I've procured a new gasket and put the TB back on. 

 

If it comes down to new sensors, can anyone recommend sources for getting actually good stuff?

 

 

 

[Pete M]

Libertys are pretty common, but the CRDs make MJs look like F-150s when it comes to rarity.  less than 16k were ever sold in the US.   

 

 

[brucecooner]

On 5/16/2023 at 4:59 AM, Pete M said:

Libertys are pretty common, but the CRDs make MJs look like F-150s when it comes to rarity.  less than 16k were ever sold in the US.   

 

 

 

I had to study up on wikipedia, I was thinking of the second gen Liberty.  I've heard some of those had a retractable soft roof that was prone to leaking.

Your Gen1 looks very nice with the flat hood. It gives off that "small but capable offroader" vibe like the old school Samurai or Amigo, the kind of thing they don't sell anymore.  

 

I'm sure experiences vary, but I've avoided direct injection engines so far. From what I understand Toyota's dual mode injection engines should last since they get to clean the valves from time to time(?).

 

[brucecooner]

For the record I pulled the throttle body, removed the IAC and TPS and cleaned up the body really well.  It wasn't horrible but was due for a cleaning.

I hit the connectors with electronics cleaner, re-assembled, adjusted and tested the TPS which showed to be okay (it could still be the engine side connection like cruiser said though).

 

Anyway, it started and ran as normally as it ever has after that.

We even had a nice little drive down to Rainbow Valley. 

Of course I left it running for this shot, set the brake and hopped out just long enough for a photo.  No surprises thank you.

 

 

I still feel like it's going to runaway idle again at some point though until whatever's causing it is explicitly addressed.

Is there a good source for sensors, or the IAC? 

For a CPS I'd go with Mopar, but of course they're not what they used to be (nothing is).

[cruiser54]

Good result. Keep driving it. You know CPS has nothing to do with high idle, right? And, that your CPS can be tested easily? 

[brucecooner]

8 hours ago, cruiser54 said:

Good result. Keep driving it. You know CPS has nothing to do with high idle, right? And, that your CPS can be tested easily? 

 

What I've seen indicates a faulty CPS is more apt to lead to hard crank, stalling and low power, and NOT idle issues.

 

Is there a way to test the CPS? I haven't seen anything that talks about it.  Most people seem to arrive at CPS diagnosis by way of elimination.

 

I tested my TPS and it shows steadily increasing voltage over the whole throttle range, no gaps or drops in voltage.

That's why I'm a little suspicious of the IAC. I did have the IAC off and spritzed some fuel cleaner in it, and a bit of black gunk came out, it might have been working poorly.

The idle seems better but is still not the best.  It doesn't surge through the 500-700-500 cycle as strongly as it used to, but does seem to idle more on the lower RPM side.

[cruiser54]

34 minutes ago, brucecooner said:

 

What I've seen indicates a faulty CPS is more apt to lead to hard crank, stalling and low power, and NOT idle issues.

 

Is there a way to test the CPS? I haven't seen anything that talks about it.  Most people seem to arrive at CPS diagnosis by way of elimination.

 

I tested my TPS and it shows steadily increasing voltage over the whole throttle range, no gaps or drops in voltage.

That's why I'm a little suspicious of the IAC. I did have the IAC off and spritzed some fuel cleaner in it, and a bit of black gunk came out, it might have been working poorly.

The idle seems better but is still not the best.  It doesn't surge through the 500-700-500 cycle as strongly as it used to, but does seem to idle more on the lower RPM side.

You need to spend more time on my website.

 

CRUISER'S MOSTLY RENIX TIPS

RENIX CPS TESTING AND ADJUSTING

OCTOBER 30, 2015 SALAD 131 COMMENTS EDIT

Renix CPSs have to put out a strong enough signal to the ECU so that it will provide spark.

Most tests for the CPS suggest checking it for an ohms value. This is unreliable and can cause some wasted time and aggravation in your diagnosis of a no-start issue as the CPS will test good when in fact it is bad.

The problem with the ohms test is you can have the correct amount of resistance through the CPS but it isn’t generating enough voltage to trigger the ECU to provide spark.

Unplug the harness connector from the CPS. Using your voltmeter set on AC volts and probing both wires in the connector going to the CPS itself as shown in Figure 2 as Connector A, crank the engine over. It won’t start with the CPS disconnected.

You should get a reading of .5 AC volts.

If you are down in the .35 AC volts range or lower on your meter reading, you can have intermittent crank/no-start conditions from your Renix Jeep. Some NEW CPSs (from the big box parts stores) have registered only .2 AC volts while reading the proper resistance!! That’s a definite no-start condition. Best to buy your CPS from NAPA or the dealer.

Sometimes on a manual transmission equipped Renix Jeep there is an accumulation of debris on the tip of the CPS. It’s worn off clutch material and since the CPS is a magnet, the metal sticks to the tip of the CPS causing a reduced voltage signal. You MAY get by with cleaning the tip of the CPS off.

A little trick for increasing the output of your CPS is to drill out the upper mounting hole to 3/8″ from the stock 5/16″, or slot it so the CPS bracket rests on the bell housing when pushed down. Then, when mounting it, hold the CPS down as close to the flywheel as you can while tightening the bolts.

Another little tip to save tons of aggravation is to stick a bit of electrical tape to your 11mm socket and then shove the bolt in after it. This reduces the chances of dropping that special bolt into the bell housing. 

[gogmorgo]

Honestly every vehicle I’ve owned has has a ton of deferred maintenance from the previous owner. I’ve never paid more than $3000 for a vehicle, and that was an 18-year-old 3/4 ton last summer. I’ll drive the thing until I get too frustrated with whatever symptom not to address it, and then when I pull it apart I’ll find a couple other problems I need to address before I can fix the one I wanted to. Usually end up replacing several times the purchase price in parts before it starts being reasonable. But there’s always that one small, seemingly inconsequential thing you do that just seems like putting the last puzzle piece in place to have a functional driveable vehicle. And it’s the best feeling when you do get there.