What To Do If Your Jeep Stalls In Reverse

Jeep vehicles are one of the most popular in the world. Their owners love the ability to go anywhere and modify their vehicle to get anything done that they want.

However, when things go wrong, it can create an extremely unfortunate situation for Jeep owners. No one wants to hear a bad noise when it comes to their vehicle. One thing that can be said for Jeep owners is that they are very persistent and they want to solve all kinds of problems on their own.

One common problem that has caught the eye of many Jeep owners is when their vehicle starts to stall, but only in reverse. This is a complicated problem that doesn’t seem to be the obvious fault of any one component in a Jeep. However, keep reading on and we will help you get to the bottom of this situation.

Why Does My Jeep Stall In Reverse?

It can be tough to figure out why your Jeep vehicle is stalling but only in reverse. Often when a vehicle stalls it is caused by a bad o2 sensor, faulty idle control valve or possibly a clogged fuel injector.

These are some of the most common problems that may be causing your issue:

• You need a new ignition coil
• Crankshaft position sensor may be bad
• You may have an issue with your wiring system
• You may need to replace your Torque converter

While it is difficult to understand that there may not be one issue that affects all Jeep vehicles in the same way, unfortunately you will probably have to do some in-depth research on the vehicle in front of you to really get a good idea of what’s going on.

If you have an experienced mechanic in your life that you trust, consider taking your Jeep vehicle to them because they may have seen these issues before and should be able to help you pinpoint a better exact cause about what is going on here.

In general, a stalling engine is a pretty big problem. Keep reading on to find out what you should do if your engine stalls in your Jeep.

What To Do If Your Engine Quits

One important thing to realize is that you need a certain amount of knowledge once the engine in your vehicle dies.

If you are driving a Jeep and the engine is completely dead, you should be aware that the brakes and the power steering systems are going to lose a lot of their ability. That’s a big deal as it significantly affects the way that you use your Jeep.

Specifically, what happens when your engine is completely dead is that the brake pedal is going to be significantly hard to push down. That means your braking distance increases and it’s going to be harder to stop your Jeep – you’ll need to plan out on having a larger stopping distance.

On top of that, it is going to be harder to move and rotate the steering wheel. It is not necessarily dangerous in and of itself, but you definitely need to take precaution and make sure that you can keep your vehicle in control with these new inputs causing problems.

It is also possible that other “lesser” systems in your vehicle may not be working like your airbag system. This will depend a lot on what has caused the problem and if any other areas are impacted by the outage.

The first thing you should do when you realize you have a problem like this is to turn on your emergency flashing lights. Turning on your emergency hazard lights makes both of your turn indicators flash which is important for visibility.

To find your emergency hazard button, look for a red triangle button which should be larger than others and should be in a prominent place.

The reason that you want to get this button pushed as soon as possible is that it will alert other drivers that your vehicle may be having performance issues.

Once you have alerted other vehicles that you are having problems, you should try to put your Jeep in Neutral if you can and coast your vehicle to the side of the road, away from traffic. You want your Jeep to be as far away from traffic so that you and any passengers stay safe.

After you get your Jeep stopped, you can try starting the engine again. If you have an automatic, you should be in Park. If you have a manual, you should be in Neutral.

Hopefully your Jeep will start up again and you should be able to put your vehicle in a more safe location that you can call a Roadside Assistance number.

If you do get the Jeep running again, you should probably let it run for a bit to make sure that the system is working reliably before trying to get back into traffic.

If the engine is completely dead and doesn’t start at all, you want to stay in the vehicle because you will be more safe there instead of being out in traffic.

You should call 911 if you are stranded in traffic to alert the police to your issues and to help you get your vehicle to the side of the road for safety – at that point also calling a Roadside Assistance number.

Common Jeep Problems

The Jeep vehicle is one that has a lot of durability and reliability. However, there are certain problems that do pop up from time to time. A Jeep that stalls in reverse is definitely one of the more complicated issues.

However, there are other issues that can plague Jeep owners as well. Here are some of the few common ones:

Death Wobble

Although there are no indications that anyone has actually died of this issue, the “Death Wobble” is one of the most infamous issues that a Jeep owner can have.

Some of the biggest Jeep models like the Grand Cherokee have owners that have reported a shaking steering wheel and a heavily vibrating vehicle when traveling at high speeds.

Usually, slowing down is enough to make the problem go away so the problem isn’t necessarily a huge concern. Generally this happens when using a solid front axle that makes both wheels vibrate if one is having an issue.

The biggest thing you can do to prevent the Death Wobble issue from happening is to make sure that your steering and suspension never get loose.

You should also monitor and replace any steering parts that start to get worn. While it may be a bit more work, it is definitely something to stay on top of so you don’t have problems down the road.

Exhaust Leaks

There are a lot of Jeep issues that have had history of exhaust leaks in the past. After a lot of cycles of heat and then cooling and then heat and cooling – the exhaust manifold could start to develop cracks which would end up leading to more leaks.

While this is a common Jeep vehicle problem, it has been handled by offering a lot of replacement manifolds that are much better at holding up to these temperature changes.

The best thing to do is monitor your vehicle regularly so that you don’t have any issue with your exhaust that cause performance drops.

Water Leaks

When looking at the Jeep Wrangler or the Jeep Cherokee, you will often see some amount of water leaking into the cabin. This happens most frequently around the areas that you would think it would, including the doors or windows.

While wind noise seems like an independent problem, it can actually indicate a problem that will have future water leaks.

These are both related because your door seals or window seals may not be working properly. This can happen somewhat normally over time and you may need to replace your seals as they start to wear out.

This isn’t very difficult, but you should be careful when working on your Jeep to make sure that it doesn’t develop these issues.

The Jeep Wrangler has trouble with its top when trying to remove it. If you have a hard top Wrangler, you should make sure your panels are installed correctly.

If leaks are still happening, it is likely that seals are the problem. If you have a soft top Wrangler, you just want to keep everything well maintained.

Be cautious when removing and putting your soft top on. Your soft top will probably need to be replaced within a few years to make sure that everything is still working as it is supposed to be. If you try to stretch past that time period, you may be pushing it when it comes to your Jeep.

Conclusion

A Jeep vehicle can have a stalling problem when in Reverse for a number of different reasons. You may need to check with a mechanic to see what issue your Jeep vehicle has.

If your engine is experiencing problems and shutting down completely, make sure that you are safe before taking any other action or trying to work on your Jeep.