Jeep engine problems

[old golfer guy]

Have a 2011 Jeep Liberty with 80000 miles. Yesterday when I gave it a little gas to climb a hill it had a little cough and hic up before it started to gain speed. Did that the rest of the way home. Every time I wanted a little more throttle it sort or coughed and hesitated a split second before smoothing out.
Fuel pump or filter??
Any ideas?
Thanks

[KanzKran]

Originally Posted by old golfer guy

Have a 2011 Jeep Liberty with 80000 miles. Yesterday when I gave it a little gas to climb a hill it had a little cough and hic up before it started to gain speed. Did that the rest of the way home. Every time I wanted a little more throttle it sort or coughed and hesitated a split second before smoothing out.
Fuel pump or filter??
Any ideas?
Thanks

I'm old-school, and in the old-school way of thinking, that sounds like a bad acceleration pump in the carburetor. Does the 2011 Liberty even have a carbureted engine? I kind of doubt it, but that sure is what the symptom sounds like. (insert Rip Van Winkle smilie here)

[old golfer guy]

Thanks K, I'll check into that.

[8.3Oilbuner]

Good morning Old Golfer Guy from snowy Wa. state this morning. Your Liberty should have the 3.7 V-6 and does not have a carburetor. Just have to ask, with those symptoms, did you get a check engine light that come on? I would guess you did. With everything computerized nowadays, I would think it would kick out a code. It could be a number of things that would cause the situation you described, but since everything is electronically controlled, I would be doing a lot of guessing! If you don't get a check engine light, just for the fun of it, unhook your negative battery cable from the battery for about 2+ minutes or more. Then reconnect the battery and see what happens. It is worth a try and is easy. Keep us posted.

[twinboat]

There hasn't been a carburator on any auto, made since the mid 80s.

Try some dry gas in the tank, water in it can cause stumble like your experiencing.

[Skiddy]

why not start with the simple stuff, fuel filter

[old golfer guy]

8.30, No check engine light.
Twinboat, dry gas?? Is that something special? Or just fresh gas?
Sone as it stops raining here I will check the fuel filter.
Thanks guys

[twinboat]

Originally Posted by old golfer guy

8.30, No check engine light.
Twinboat, dry gas?? Is that something special? Or just fresh gas?
Sone as it stops raining here I will check the fuel filter.
Thanks guys

Dry gas us probably an old brand name for gas tank water absorber.

[Darwin]

I would try fuel injector cleaner in a tank of gas.

[zmotorsports]

Originally Posted by KanzKran

I'm old-school, and in the old-school way of thinking, that sounds like a bad acceleration pump in the carburetor. Does the 2011 Liberty even have a carbureted engine? I kind of doubt it, but that sure is what the symptom sounds like. (insert Rip Van Winkle smilie here)

No offense but there hasn't been a carburetor on a gasoline powered automobile for over 3 decades from any of the OEM's.


To the OP, very first thing to check is to see if there are any codes stored. Was the MIL on? This will at least inform you of what the ECM/PCM is seeing that it isn't liking.

If no codes are present then you need to determine whether it is fuel or ignition related. Breaking it down to sub-systems will minimize wasted time troubleshooting and help to discover the issue.

Also check fuel pressure if no codes are present. Checking fuel pressure on these engines is simple as there is a shrader valve right on the fuel rail in which to install a fuel pressure gauge. If memory serves you should see around 58 psi +/- 2 psi.

[old golfer guy]

You guys are FAN ------G TASTIC!! I ask a question and the next day poof the car is fixed!! Have not done anything to the Jeep, but I started it today and drove it around a little and no problems!! All those good vibes from you guys fixed the problem. Or maybe it was something in the fuel filter, lines or tank.
Any way it is fine now.

Thanks

[Toribk]

Old golfer guy,

If it hasn't been serviced, you may want to clean the throttle body.

[1st-tt2018]

We had similar problems in our liberty and it was intermittent. It ended up being a throttle position sensor. Just in case it comes back.

[AE Wanderer]

All my experience is with straight sixes in Jeeps. If my six did that, the first thing I would check is the fuel filter, then the air mass flow sensor.