# 2002 Jeep Wrangler Sport V6



## bfloyd360 (Jul 20, 2007)

I purchased a 2002 Jeep Wrangler Sport V6 (5 Speed) around 2 months ago from an old guy, which he had it in his garage in mint condition with 32,000 miles on it when I bought it. It now has 34,000 miles on it and I noticed two problems that just popped up.

1st. The other day I started the jeep up and was letting it warm up before taking off. Around 30 seconds after starting it I rev'd the motor a little to 2,000 to 2,500 RPM's and quickly let off the gas. I noticed that the RPM's stayed there for around 2-3 seconds before falling down to 500-750 rpms. I then rev'd it up again and got up to 3,000 and noticed the same problem. I did go light mud riding the day before. I thought that I may have got some mud or something on the throttle cable and might be hanging it. I popped the hood and removed the duct going to the throttle body to confirm that the butterfly was closing when you let off the throttle.

I confirmed by rev-ing the motor by hand and watching the butterfly valve it was closing as soon as I left off the gas. But, the motor was still staying at the peak RPM's for a couple of seconds before going back to normal idle range. I did notice slight dirt or dust in the throttle body were the butter fly is located. I did notice a sensor on the other side of the butter fly, is that a throttle position sensor?? If so, do you think it might be slow on reacting when the throttle is let off?? Do you think some dirt might be in there causing this problem?

2nd problem I noticed I was driving in 5th gear running around 55 or 60 miles per hour. When it felt like the jeep jumped out of gear or the sensation that the motor was shut off and then came back on. I let off the gas and then confirmed that the jeep was still in 5th gear (which it was). I proceeded up the road and around a mile later it did it again just like above but never did it again..

Any thoughts would be helpful! No check engine lights or anything abnormal.


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## qldit (Mar 26, 2007)

Good Afternoon bfloyd360, firstly the problem you describe could present a significant safety issue and needs prompt attention.

As you mention it is highly likely your throttle position sensor is defective in some way.
Testing these items is not all that easy or positive for odd defects.
It may be worth considering it's replacement if you can see no apparent problem with it or with it removed.

Your gear problem sounds odd, it may be worth watching it for further errors.
It sounds like you may be experiencing engine rev control loss, once again this may implicate the throttle position sensor but would likely store an error code in the computer. It may be worth pulling any codes to see what if anything appears.
At a guess I suspect your throttle position sensor may have mention.

By the way disconnecting the air intake ducting to the throttle body also ceases airflow sensing so the engine will not run after initial start usually and may generate further error codes if operated with the ducting off.

You could try manually operating the throttle butterfly arm with the engine running and ensure it is returning to the fully closed position (with all ducting in place) and it that run-on condition remains before pulling the position sensor.

I have seen silly problems created by extra floor mats fouling the throttle system that were very deceiving. Don't get caught.

Cheers, qldit.


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