Hey all I have a 2002 Jeep Liberty Sport. 4x4, 3.7L. Normally after cranking the engine it would start within a second or 2. Now for some reason it seems I have to crank it for 5 or 6 seconds before it starts. The battery is charged and the starter is not making any weird noises. After it starts I can smell a gassy smell inside the vehicle for about 10 seconds then it goes away. Even after the engine is warm and I shut it off I still have to crank it another 5-6 seconds to restart it. Any body have this problem or know any trouble shooting methods? Thanks in advance.
Problem starting
- Thread starter marronea
- Start date
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JeepJeepster
Full Access Member
How many miles are on the sparkplugs? May be time to change those out.
How many miles are on the jeep? Could also have some carbon build up.. You could try running some seafoam through it and see if they does anything. O
How many miles are on the jeep? Could also have some carbon build up.. You could try running some seafoam through it and see if they does anything. O
I never thought about the sparkplugs. I bought the jeep in July of last year and I have never changed them. I guess i should!! There is 49,000 mile on the jeep right now. What is the foam you are talking about? I've never heard of it. Thanks
Well, I'm stil having this problem. I've changed the plugs, air filter and threw some fuel injection cleaner in there and she still won't start right up the way she use to. It takes about 6 seconds of cranking before it kicks over. Could it be a clogged gas filter? Or somekind of sensor? I live in Germany and it's quite expensive to get work done over here. If it's something simple I'd like to do it myself. Thanks.
thecause17
Full Access Member
I don't think it's a fuel problem. If you're smelling gas, then to me that means when it finally does start, it was on the verge of flooding before doing so, meaning it's getting plenty of fuel....unless it's getting too much.
Just for giggles, try resetting the computer. It's sort of a shot in the dark. Other than that I'm not sure what the problem is. I would say a weak coil pack or plug wires, but these are set up different and have seperate packs for each cylinder and no spark plug wires at all.
Just for giggles, try resetting the computer. It's sort of a shot in the dark. Other than that I'm not sure what the problem is. I would say a weak coil pack or plug wires, but these are set up different and have seperate packs for each cylinder and no spark plug wires at all.
NomadKJ
Full Access Member
Starting problems- 02 Liberty
02 Liberty Ltd. 75k miles. Always used 93octane fuel but recently switched to regular since gas prices skyrocketed and manual says it only requires 89 octane anyway. Starting problems and hesitation on highway when letting off the pedal. Put in fuel injection cleaner and back to using 93 octane but problem still persists. Had tune up around 45k miles. Any suggestions???
02 Liberty Ltd. 75k miles. Always used 93octane fuel but recently switched to regular since gas prices skyrocketed and manual says it only requires 89 octane anyway. Starting problems and hesitation on highway when letting off the pedal. Put in fuel injection cleaner and back to using 93 octane but problem still persists. Had tune up around 45k miles. Any suggestions???
Well, I tried diconnecting the battery to reset the computer. I left it disconneted for about 10 mins. When I hooked it back up and tried starting it , I still had to crank for about 5 seconds. It would start but as soon as I let my foot of the gas it would stall out. This happened about the first 10 times I tried starting it, then finally it just stayed running. When I went to start it the next morning I had to crank it 3 times. It finally started on the 3rd try and puffed out some white/blueish smoke for a few seconds. Somethings telling me this isn't good. When I changed the sparkplugs last week there was nothing suspicious looking about the old ones, My oil level and coolant levels have stayed the same and there's no funny build up on the dipstick or oil cap. I tried pulling up some error codes by using a few methods that are steted in another post on this forum but I'm either not doing it correctly or there are no error codes in the computer. I'm at a loss here and I'm thinking it's about time i just run it into a mechanic. Any other ideas/trouble shooting methods? Thanks.
thecause17
Full Access Member
marronea said:
Why do you have your foot on the gas while starting? It's fuel injected, that's not necessary,and if that's what you're doing, then that's probably your problem.
2003KJ
Member
thecause17 said:
X2. That white smoke you saw was because the engine got flooded. I've had this happen once on my KJ, and it was after I hadn't really driven it all day, but kept having to move it around the driveway. The constant starting and stopping with out it getting warmed up caused it to flood out. After it blew out a big puff of white smoke and I drove it around the block a couple of times to get it warmed up it never happened again.
No need to give it gas while cranking. However if it becomes flooded and will not crank, hold the gas pedal all the way to the floor while you're cranking, this will shut off the injectors, thus allowing no more gas to be pumped into the engine. But of course, once it does finally fire up, take your foot off the gas O
I guess i explained that wrong. I initally tried starting it and it would just die. tried that about 3 times. Then i tried starting it while i pushed the pedal in a bit and it worked. I tried that about 7 times and everytime when I let go of the gas it would just stall on me.
Anyway, my check engine light came on today. I did the ignition thing to find out what the code was and it threw a P0455 which was some sort of evaporative leak. I researched it and i found out one of the major problems associated with this code is a faulty gas cap. I did notice that the cap was not seated firmly so i fixed it, reset the computer, and took it around the block a few times. So far the engine light has not come back on. I will see how things go in the morning when i try to start it. If its still the same I'm just gonna run it in the shop. Thanks for all your help.
Anyway, my check engine light came on today. I did the ignition thing to find out what the code was and it threw a P0455 which was some sort of evaporative leak. I researched it and i found out one of the major problems associated with this code is a faulty gas cap. I did notice that the cap was not seated firmly so i fixed it, reset the computer, and took it around the block a few times. So far the engine light has not come back on. I will see how things go in the morning when i try to start it. If its still the same I'm just gonna run it in the shop. Thanks for all your help.
2003KJ
Member
I don't think the starting would have anything to do with the gas cap not being on tight. I think thats another issue that just happened to come up at the same time.
I'm starting to think it might be a TPS (throttle position sensor) issue, based on the fact that if you give it some gas while you try to start it it will run, but die the minute you let off.
Once it gets up to operating temperature, does it idle on it's own, or will it die if you take you foot off the gas? I've seen TPS's go bad like that. It would give hell trying to get the engine going, and until it got warmed up it wouldn't have an idle (die immediately when you took your foot off the gas).
I'm starting to think it might be a TPS (throttle position sensor) issue, based on the fact that if you give it some gas while you try to start it it will run, but die the minute you let off.
Once it gets up to operating temperature, does it idle on it's own, or will it die if you take you foot off the gas? I've seen TPS's go bad like that. It would give hell trying to get the engine going, and until it got warmed up it wouldn't have an idle (die immediately when you took your foot off the gas).
JeepJeepster
Full Access Member
Sometimes when you unhook the battery, the computer needs to relearn. If it keeps doing it after you drive it for a day, then its something else. O
No, it runs fine now. I only had the problem with it stalling for a few minutes after I disconnected the battery. Now, after it starts it runs fine. The only issue I am having now is my original issue: i have to crank the engine 2 or 3 times before it wants to start. My owners manual actually says that the engine should start within 10-15 seconds of cranking but that seems like a lot to me. Normally my engine would start within 1-2 seconds to the first crank. Now it take me about 3 attempts at about 5-6 seconds a piece before it kicks over. Anyway, I thinks its about time I just take it in to have someone look at it. Thanks for all your help
wont start first time
hey iam haveing the same problems as other members i have an 02 liberty 3.7l V6, i cant get it to start the first time, it will only start the 2nd or 3rd attempt, and sometimes i smell fuel after trying to start it all those times, but i think its just because its getting flooded. ive changed the crank and cam shaft sensors, sparkplugs, battery, and had a bulletin done on the fuel pump for fuel pressure, which i have. iam really out of ideas, iam wondering if it might be my timing is out? i don't know can anyone help me.
hey iam haveing the same problems as other members i have an 02 liberty 3.7l V6, i cant get it to start the first time, it will only start the 2nd or 3rd attempt, and sometimes i smell fuel after trying to start it all those times, but i think its just because its getting flooded. ive changed the crank and cam shaft sensors, sparkplugs, battery, and had a bulletin done on the fuel pump for fuel pressure, which i have. iam really out of ideas, iam wondering if it might be my timing is out? i don't know can anyone help me.
tjkj2002
Full Access Member
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You need to confirm correct fuel pressure upon turning the key to run and a fuel filter change is highly recommended.
VTNomad
Full Access Member
Battery
It's a 2002, does it still have the original battery? A lot of people with 03-04's are starting to have battery problems (including me). The problems are all solved with a new battery.
Another possibility is that you arlernator is bad and isn't properly charging the battery. But my money is on the battery itself.
It's a 2002, does it still have the original battery? A lot of people with 03-04's are starting to have battery problems (including me). The problems are all solved with a new battery.
Another possibility is that you arlernator is bad and isn't properly charging the battery. But my money is on the battery itself.
is there a way i can check my fuel ratio my self, and ive already replaced the fuel filter, when i had the bulettin done on the fuel pump. does anyone recommend doing seafoam( iam stationed in the uk, is there something else i can use except seafoam, as they dont have it here). anyone else have any ideas.
i have a new battery on it, but maybe the connections are bad, iam going to disconnect it completely, and reset the pcm, and clean the terminals and see if that works, and ill let you guys know. the weird thing is that once i get it started it runs like a champ! i don't know?
