Randomly Stalling?WTF!!?

[YJoffroad]

So, I was just sitting at a stop light today when out of nowhere the idle started going real low and then just stalled. She started right back up and I kept driving but now it's happening pretty much everytime I come to a stop. Also while driving down the road, keeping a constant speed, she'll sputter( for lack of a better word). Basically it's like i took my foot off the gas for a sec or two and then pushed back down on it, but my foot doesn't move?! Someone please help! I don't know what the heck is going on

 

[laxpug19]

you get some cheap gas lately? might be watered down...

 

[YJoffroad]

i usually go to mobile. Should I try a higher octane gas, instead of 87, get the mid-range one?

 

[Sparky-Watts]

No, I don't think a higher octane would make a difference. Almost sounds like a clogged fuel filter to me.

 

[YJoffroad]

well i just climbed under the jeep and looked. The fuel filter looks pretty new, but either way, I'll stop on my way home from work pick up a new one and throw it on to see if it make a difference.

 

[currupt4130]

May be a vacuum leak.

 

[Lonnie]

thats what happened to my 94 grand cherokee the egr valve was leaking vacume i replaced it and problem solved so i would agree check for leaks.

 

[YJoffroad]

yeah, i had some down time at work today so i pulled out the Haynes manual and of course my problem was listed right there(should have thought of that b4). So i read up on it, and it did mention to check for leaks. So I'm going to give that a shot now and hopefully that'll be it. Appretiate the help though, thanks.

 

[ms018kmf]

I have had water in my gas twice in the last month. I believe that condensation is forming from a leak in the fuel system somewhere. I know that some water was from a cheap fill that I did (the last cheap fill for a while). Now I am as picky as when I had my Eclipse (boost is even less tollerant of cheap gas). Water goes for the lowest points it can find in our fuel systems, usually a whole bunch of it in the bottom of our tanks. Then it starts migrating everywhere else. I would keep a few bottles of gas dryer for the bad days. It's just 100% Isopropyl Alcohol, very cheap and common.

 

[LVRockCrawler]

yea.. try that or vac. leaks - a bunged up filter usually makes it cut out at speed as it loads up under pressure (acting like a realllllly bad miss then die) and will "unclog" itself as the muck settles back down at idle or stopped... just my $.02

 

[lovell33w]

i would definitely start with checking for vacuum leaks. usually when an engine won't hold an idle its because of a vacuum leak. what does ur exhaust smell like? can u smell raw fuel? about 6 months ago i had a similar problem, but it wasn't a vacuum leak. my computer took a dump on me. the ignition module, distributor, and stepper motor (on the back of the carter carb) all run into the cpu. I had to splice the ignition module wires and the distributor wires together, manually adjust the stepper motor to a permanent position and unplug it from the cpu. Its referred to as the nutter bypass incase you end up having to do it. it pretty much makes the ignition system similar to a cj setup. best of luck.
oh, and btw, the octane rating on fuel just lets u know how much compression/heat the fuel can endure before combusting on its own. high performance cars need higher octane because they have much higher compression ratios. if they used 87 octane, the fuel air mixture could easily combust before the spark plugs fire, resulting in "knocking" and further damaging the motor. just stick with the recommended octane for your engine and you'll be fine. just an fyi. later.