95 JGC, stalls in Drive while cold, idles at 300rpm... Help?

[gorim]

I am the proud owner of a 95 Jeep Grand Cherokee. I take care of my vehicles the best I can with my limited knowledge in maintenance and repairs. I've never had any severe problems with this vehicle until now. I've read dozens of posts on this site and others, many of which are similar to my problem, but none seem to be quite the same. I'll try to explain this in as much detail as I can.

When I cold-start my Jeep in Park, it starts fine on the first try without giving it any gas, and runs at 1000 rpm in Park until it warms up. The temperature gauge eventually climbs to over 200, just under the red mark, then drops back down to 110-130 range and stays there. Once it drops back down to 110, it idles at approximately 300rpm and will run in drive, reverse, etc.

If the engine is warm, it runs fine (despite the low idle range). If I try to shift into Drive or Park before I let it warm up, it stalls immediately and will not restart for 5-10 minutes, then it starts and runs fine until I put it in Drive. When it stalls, I am able to start it immediately IF I push the gas pedal to the floor, resulting in a rough choke-start, shuddering, and black exhaust (not surprisingly). I then have to keep the accelerator pushed slightly to keep giving it gas until it warms up, then it's fine again.

Similarly, I can cold-start it and drive it cold, as long as I make sure to keep giving it a little gas when I idle in Drive.

The fact that it dies and won't start unless I let it sit a few minutes leads me to believe it's flooding, but I tried holding the gas pedal down for 30 seconds while the car was off to let the gasoline drain out, and it still wouldn't start until I floored the accelerator.

I've tried cold-starting it in park and playing with the power steering and AC compressor, neither of which affect the idle at all.

From the other posts I've read on stalling and idle issues, I'm thinking it may be the IAC, Ignition Coil, or Fuel Pump. I took it to the dealer, they couldn't find anything wrong with it. They did a full tune up, changed plugs and wires, Air Filter and Fuel Filter, and some Fuel Injection maintenance.

Summary:
-Idles at a constant 300rpm while warm
-Stalls in Park or Drive while cold
-Doesn't restart for 10 minutes after stalling

Thanks very much for any help anyone is willing to give in this matter, I can't wait to be one of the people who say "I replaced [the doohickie] and it runs like new!!!"

-David

[collegejeep]

Sounds like it could be the IAC Valve. I've had them colged or completly fail on vehicles before. The dealership told me several times that there was nothing wrong with my car, or that they couldn't reproduce the problem. Have you had the dealership keep the car overnight to try and reproduce the problem when the engine is cold as well? You could also ask them about the possibility of the valve being clogged or dirty which a simple cleaning would take care of, or the motor for the IAC could be going out and need replacement also.

[gorim]

Yes, they had the vehicle for over a week. I also had a trusted local mechanic hold it for a weekend and see if he could find anything. Both said there was nothing wrong with it.

[Cam7]

Sounds like it is the IAC Motor quite common on Jeeps. Sometimes you can clean them If not part is about $60.When they go bad the usually don throw a code so it can be harder to find. Dealer should have caught it if that is the problem.