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Fixing Jeep Wrangler Engine Hesitation During Acceleration: Step-by-Step Solutions

It’s rarely a good indication if your Jeep Wrangler’s engine is acting strangely. Because the Engine is the most important part of a car and if any abnormal sign triggers that must be identified as soon as possible and you must look for the trigger of the problem.

For proper engine functioning, a Jeep Wrangler requires the correct air/fuel ratio of 14.7–to–1. When the fuel and air ratios are off, the Jeep will hesitate during acceleration.

But is still your Jeep hesitating when you accelerate? When you depress the gas pedal, does it misfire? Have you recently visited a car wash or cleaned with a high-pressure hose? If you match all the questions with your problems with your Jeep Wrangler then here I am discussing how to fix them.

Common Causes For Hesitation During Acceleration And How To Fix Them:

There could be other common causes for Jeeps to hesitate when accelerating. Those are:

  • Bad Alternator
  • Bad Spark Plugs
  • Bad Battery
  • Mass Airflow Sensor
  • Fuel Pump
  • Failing Fuel Injector
  • Throttle Position Sensor
  • Clogged Fuel Filter
  • A faulty Crank position sensor

To function correctly, most traditional gas-powered vehicles, including Jeep Wranglers, require 3 components. Those three components are a precise blend of air, fuel, and electrical spark. If any of those three pieces are missing or out of spec, the car will jerk, stall, and run badly.

Stick around because this article will go through those factors in greater depth, including the most prevalent causes for your Jeep Wrangler to jerk when accelerating.

As I already mentioned to function efficiently, a gas or diesel engine requires a precise combination of fuel and air. If this mixture is thrown off in any manner, the engine may run too lean (not enough air) or too rich (too much air) (not enough fuel). An engine that struggles to accelerate is most likely suffering from a low fuel/air combination.

Engines that are operating inefficiently will start to show symptoms such as hesitation, which will only become worse over time. If you detect any indications have your car inspected right away.

1. Faulty Alternator

We can’t see a faulty alternator and tell whether it’s broken just by looking at it.

Unless it’s fully burned out, in which case you could observe some black traces around the exterior casing, but the only signals we have are those generated by your Jeep’s behavior and the information is shown on the instrument panel.

If your alternator fails, your instrument panel should display a battery icon indicating a problem and a “Battery Charging Condition” message. Electrical sensors will be confused by a faulty battery with low charging voltage from the alternator, which might cause hesitation when accelerating.

How to fix:

You have the option of repairing it yourself or having it repaired by a professional. The alternator isn’t difficult to replace, but you’ll need a serpentine belt diagram to put it back on correctly.

For further details watch the video How to repair your alternator.

2. Upstream Oxygen Sensors

The Oxygen Sensors (O2S) are directly attached to the exhaust system of the Jeep. The car may employ two or four sensors, depending on the engine or emission package.

The PCM receives a voltage signal inversely proportional to the quantity of oxygen in the exhaust from an O2 sensor, which is a galvanic battery.

In other words, the voltage output is high if the oxygen content is low, which might be produced by a blocked or clogged air filter.

When the oxygen concentration is high, however, the output voltage is low. This information is used by the PCM to modify injector pulse width to achieve the 14.7–to–1 air/fuel ratio required for proper engine running and emission management. Any ratio less than or greater than this mixing ratio will cause your vehicle to underperform and hesitate under load.

How to fix:

To fix this problem you need a mechanic. If the mechanic believes the Oxygen sensor has gone bad or failing, he or she will first examine the sensors. Then the mechanic will also check that the sensor is properly wired and that the wire harness has not been damaged.

After that, the technician should remove the mass airflow sensor and, if required, replace it with a new one.

To hire a mechanic to house, you can trust Your Mechanic

3. Fuel Issue

If you often fill up at shady gas stations, your gasoline tank will ultimately become clogged with silt sucked up from the station’s tanks.

Over time, this builds up, and the waste in the gasoline filter might cause the car to hesitate.

One of the most common causes of a hesitating car is a blocked fuel filter. When you take your Jeep in for routine maintenance, make sure only high-quality gasoline filters are used to prevent rust and silt from entering your engine and clogging injectors, causing even more costly damage.

When driving up an incline or when the car is accelerating, the vehicle will hesitate, cut out, or lose power, which is another indicator of a broken fuel filter.

Bad fuel pumps also cause the problem. Running your tank too low too often, or simply old age, might produce a defective fuel pump.

The gears inside the gasoline pump gradually wear down, causing a loud buzzing sound to be generated from the back near the fuel tank. Because it won’t be able to provide enough fuel pressure to supply your injectors, a malfunctioning fuel pump can cause your car to jerk when accelerating or driving up an incline.

How to fix:

To fix the issue you will have to remove the fuel tank to examine the pump. You’ll have to replace the pump if it has truly failed.

If the gasoline tank is beginning to show symptoms of wear, replacing the pump and tank at the same time may be more convenient.

4. Throttle position sensor

A throttle position sensor alerts the vehicle’s computer about how wide the throttle is opened and how forcefully the accelerator is pressed. The computer may then alter the fuel/air mixture that goes to the engine to keep it at the proper amount.

The throttle position sensor may be delivering inaccurate information to the vehicle’s computer if it is not operating properly. The computer may thus fail to give the necessary quantity of air to the engine when accelerating, resulting in a hesitation sense.

How to fix:

Check to determine if the throttle position sensor and its wires are in good working order. If it isn’t, replace the throttle positioning sensor as well as the wiring.

Take advantage of this opportunity between removing the old sensor and installing the new one to clean the throttle body.

Conclusion

Whatever the cause of your Jeep Wrangler hesitating when accelerating, if you follow the rules I have mentioned, you should be able to figure out which component is responsible and how to fix it.

Start with the most frequent culprits, such as the alternator, battery, and sensors, while troubleshooting. Knowing how your Jeep Wrangler works is always beneficial.

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