Engine surge when I step on the brakes!

[fpiantini]

This has happened to me 4x - the first time last April. When I step on the brake, when I have had to slow down for a STOP sign or red light, the engine surges. I step on the brake and the car accelerates. I have used the emergency brake to help stop the car and pump the brake. No, it's not my foot on the brake and pedal at the same time; it's not the carpet. I have driven the car for about 16-17 months and have stepped on the rakes thousands of times. It's a rare occurrence but it's a huge problem. The first time it happened (and I was filled with self-doubt) was through an intersection that was, thankfully, empty. It has happened a couple more times and then again last night with my wife and daughter in the car. Scary. I have an appointment next week to have it looked at but if it doesn't happen for them, I'm afraid they will never find it.

Anyone else ever experience this?

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[SlicksWifesJL]

Surging engine and hard to brake sounds like a vacuum leak. There is a TSB related to hard brake pedal which involves a vacuum hose.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...-booster-vacuum-hose-september-21-2018.15740/

 

[Ricardowelch]

This has happened to me 4x - the first time last April. When I step on the brake, when I have had to slow down for a STOP sign or red light, the engine surges. I step on the brake and the car accelerates. I have used the emergency brake to help stop the car and pump the brake. What should we do when car wont go into gear? Visit Autoguysland to find the answer if you concern. No, it's not my foot on the brake and pedal at the same time; it's not the carpet. I have driven the car for about 16-17 months and have stepped on the rakes thousands of times. It's a rare occurrence but it's a huge problem. The first time it happened (and I was filled with self-doubt) was through an intersection that was, thankfully, empty. It has happened a couple more times and then again last night with my wife and daughter in the car. Scary. I have an appointment next week to have it looked at but if it doesn't happen for them, I'm afraid they will never find it.

Anyone else ever experience this?

I think your problem is related to throttle position sensor. Just take a look at this.

 

[IndustrialAction]

Are you turning off ESS? That'll do it

 

[fpiantini]

Are you turning off ESS? That'll do it

I am taking the car in for review on Thursday. But I will try that.

 

[IndustrialAction]

I am taking the car in for review on Thursday. But I will try that.

Sorry, what I mean is, if you're turning off ESS, you'll get an engine surge when stopping. Leave ESS on and it won't happen. If it is an ESS related thing

 

[TheAwesomeEr]

I had the same thing happen and was recently in an accident. Rolling slow into a red light with plenty of room to stop I depress the break and the Jeep's RPM's go up similar to when you downshift into 1st gear and it keeps pulling me forward. I pump the break, no luck, keeps doing it, then finally slam it and the antilock kicks in and its clicking, the front end us up and the back end is down as it's breaking and trying to move forward. I ended up hitting the car in front of me. I've had the 2016 Wrangler for less than a year and it's happened maybe 4 times. The dealership says there are no codes, no recreate, nothing they can do. I'm tempted to sell the damn thing and be under water on it. Did you ever find a fix? What did you do? Grabbing at straws for help, it's utterly frightening.

 

[Matt8141]

I had the same thing happen and was recently in an accident. Rolling slow into a red light with plenty of room to stop I depress the break and the Jeep's RPM's go up similar to when you downshift into 1st gear and it keeps pulling me forward. I pump the break, no luck, keeps doing it, then finally slam it and the antilock kicks in and its clicking, the front end us up and the back end is down as it's breaking and trying to move forward. I ended up hitting the car in front of me. I've had the 2016 Wrangler for less than a year and it's happened maybe 4 times. The dealership says there are no codes, no recreate, nothing they can do. I'm tempted to sell the damn thing and be under water on it. Did you ever find a fix? What did you do? Grabbing at straws for help, it's utterly frightening.

Did you ever find out what the issue was? I have a 2015 JKU (~40k miles) and the same thing happened to me last week. Rolling into a stop sign first thing in the morning and when I pressed on the brakes it felt like it accelerated and I hit the car in front of me.

I just had the rear brakes completely replaced along with the front brake lines. Pulling out of the auto shop the same thing happened again. Luckily I didn't hit anything this time. They're looking at the possibility of air in the brake lines now. Very scary.

 

[TheAwesomeEr]

Did you ever find out what the issue was? I have a 2015 JKU (~40k miles) and the same thing happened to me last week. Rolling into a stop sign first thing in the morning and when I pressed on the brakes it felt like it accelerated and I hit the car in front of me.

I just had the rear brakes completely replaced along with the front brake lines. Pulling out of the auto shop the same thing happened again. Luckily I didn't hit anything this time. They're looking at the possibility of air in the brake lines now. Very scary.

Still unresolved.

Got it towed to my mechanic, he found a number of articles on what it *might* be, but recommended I take it to the Jeep dealership. So got it towed there.

Now at the dealership - they check it over, no error codes, no ideas. They did suggest a road test with a mechanic - we drove around for at least an hour on back roads where there was no traffic stopping at stop signs, no luck. It's happened maybe 4 times since I've owned the vehicle (about a year) and the other 3 times were at random dead times with no traffic where it didn't cause an issue. I always assumed maybe my foot was sort of on the gas still somehow but I've come to terms with it wasn't. So - since the dealership couldn't find anything, they couldn't and wouldn't fix anything. I asked questions - can they see if anyone else has reported this and what was done - the service guy just stared at me. I asked again - when issues like this happen, they get recorded somewhere, and when enough are recorded there is a recall, right? Service guy stared at me as if I was talking another language. I told him other people had reported it happening and you can find those reports several places online and he said they don't look at that stuff.

I've now not driven my Jeep since this happened, not once. I'm scared to death of the thing. I've been hoping to find someone, like you, who has the same issue and maybe you have access to better service folk who can actually find a solution - otherwise I've been sadly looking into selling it.

 

[Matt8141]

Still unresolved.

Got it towed to my mechanic, he found a number of articles on what it *might* be, but recommended I take it to the Jeep dealership. So got it towed there.

Now at the dealership - they check it over, no error codes, no ideas. They did suggest a road test with a mechanic - we drove around for at least an hour on back roads where there was no traffic stopping at stop signs, no luck. It's happened maybe 4 times since I've owned the vehicle (about a year) and the other 3 times were at random dead times with no traffic where it didn't cause an issue. I always assumed maybe my foot was sort of on the gas still somehow but I've come to terms with it wasn't. So - since the dealership couldn't find anything, they couldn't and wouldn't fix anything. I asked questions - can they see if anyone else has reported this and what was done - the service guy just stared at me. I asked again - when issues like this happen, they get recorded somewhere, and when enough are recorded there is a recall, right? Service guy stared at me as if I was talking another language. I told him other people had reported it happening and you can find those reports several places online and he said they don't look at that stuff.

I've now not driven my Jeep since this happened, not once. I'm scared to death of the thing. I've been hoping to find someone, like you, who has the same issue and maybe you have access to better service folk who can actually find a solution - otherwise I've been sadly looking into selling it.

Thanks for the update.

I just heard back from my mechanic. They bled the brakes yesterday and there was air back in there this morning. They believe it's a bad master cylinder and are going to replace it. Keeping my fingers crossed that this resolves the issue.

 

[TheAwesomeEr]

Thanks for the update.

I just heard back from my mechanic. They bled the brakes yesterday and there was air back in there this morning. They believe it's a bad master cylinder and are going to replace it. Keeping my fingers crossed that this resolves the issue.

Any word on whether this fixed the issue for you?

 

[Matt8141]

So far so good. New OEM master brake cylinder seemed to do the trick. Although I still have a little PTSD every time I come to a stop sign.

 

[JeepinPete]

If you folks have this happen again, pop the transmission into neutral. You will at least be able to stop, probably with increased effort if the engine revs away.

 

[Bubsjeep]

This has happened to me 4x - the first time last April. When I step on the brake, when I have had to slow down for a STOP sign or red light, the engine surges. I step on the brake and the car accelerates. I have used the emergency brake to help stop the car and pump the brake. No, it's not my foot on the brake and pedal at the same time; it's not the carpet. I have driven the car for about 16-17 months and have stepped on the rakes thousands of times. It's a rare occurrence but it's a huge problem. The first time it happened (and I was filled with self-doubt) was through an intersection that was, thankfully, empty. It has happened a couple more times and then again last night with my wife and daughter in the car. Scary. I have an appointment next week to have it looked at but if it doesn't happen for them, I'm afraid they will never find it.

Anyone else ever experience this?

This just happened to me. I was leaving a parking lot and stepped on the brake and the engine surged and pushed me out into traffic. At first I thought I slid on the ice but I could feel the jeep surge forward and hear the engine rev. Luckily the pickup coming down the street swerved and miss me.

 

[rac5419]

If you folks have this happen again, pop the transmission into neutral. You will at least be able to stop, probably with increased effort if the engine revs away.

That's exactly what I've been doing all week. My 2025 Sahara with 2200 miles was sideswiped by pickup just before a left turn into rest area. Pickup crossed a double yellow line on 2 lane highway to pass and would have t-boned me a second later. The service ESC message came on with the dash icon but both went off after a couple days. Just got the estimate for repairs and hoping the fix to ESC also corrects the self accelation which has happened twice since hit. The steering wheel is no longer centered, now at about 11:30 and recentering is suppose to fix ESC. I put the auto transmission in neutral everytime I stop.

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