car dies when stopped

sexy_mx3 · Post by **sexy_mx3** » May 15th, 2006, 8:44 am

Okay I'm going to try to paint the picture as best as I can... On Friday evening my car started acting like a piece of sh**... when ever I slowed down or even stopped (so the rpm's got to 1500 or below) the car started REALLY struggling to keep idiling. So I would have to keep revving the car to keep her going... I mean she would just die! You could start to feel her losing it in 2nd... But once I got her going on the 401 and stuff she was fine,

Now I thought it could have been some bad gas or something, so I ran my tank dry and filled her up with Supreme... I put some fuel line cleaner in her too... still doing it on Saturday... Now I'm giong to pick up a new fuel filter today (I dont think ANYTHING on this car has been changed by the other two previous owners) so I hope that's a start...I remember it was a little rough running this time last year when I bought the car b/c of the damp weather... could this be it as well?

If anyone can help me out here... I'd really appreciate it!

Oh and are fuel filters for the V6 a direct 'bolt on' or is it a harder thing to change and should go to the mechanic for this?

bluemx3 · Post by **bluemx3** » May 15th, 2006, 9:14 am

There are several possiblities. Bad gas being one or them. Vacuum leak is another possiblity and I would check and clean the TB. There is a idle control screw on the throttle Body that you might be able to adjust that might keep the idle higher when stopped. Good Luck

gsr-se · Post by **gsr-se** » May 15th, 2006, 3:43 pm

Believe it or not, but Ive found that if you run your FAN in the #2 position or higher, your idle picks up quite a bit.... a simple flick of the FAN switch could fix low idle....Hope this helps!!!

ninjajim4 · Post by **ninjajim4** » May 15th, 2006, 3:44 pm

my vote is for the cracked intake hose again.

this sounds exactly like what happened to me when i first got the MX. if its a small crack, your idle runs high enough on a cold start to keep your car running. after the car gets to running temp, your idle drops down and then your car dies when you stop.

if i'd known all this back then, i wouldnt have had to pay a mechanic 30 bucks to take 10 seconds to look under my hood and tell me what was wrong.

sexy_mx3 · Post by **sexy_mx3** » May 15th, 2006, 7:43 pm

Thanks everyone! I will definately look into all of these options and keep you updated on what it could be...in the end. I really appreciate the help!

hgallegos915 · Post by **hgallegos915** » May 15th, 2006, 9:21 pm

Min e did that yesterday, the iac cable was disconnected.

sexy_mx3 · Post by **sexy_mx3** » May 17th, 2006, 8:43 am

okay.... gonna be honest.... don't know what a lot of these short forms are! lol

i know i know... what a blonde! hahaha

Jay72 · Post by **Jay72** » May 17th, 2006, 12:49 pm

I've had both problems in regards to a dying distributor and a crack in one of the ribs of the intake hose. The hose made my car stall when in idle or coming to a stop. The distributor made my car either stall or had the rpms drop significantly whlile shifting down or slowing down into a turn. Check the hose first cause it's cheaper to take care of.
Hope this helps. Good luck

jschrauwen · Post by **jschrauwen** » May 20th, 2006, 3:14 pm

Jay72 wrote:I've had both problems in regards to a dying distributor and a crack in one of the ribs of the intake hose. The hose made my car stall when in idle or coming to a stop. The distributor made my car either stall or had the rpms drop significantly whlile shifting down or slowing down into a turn. Check the hose first cause it's cheaper to take care of.
Hope this helps. Good luck

I'll second Jay's appraisal. The going around turms or stopping is just enough for the engine to move or shift on it's engine mounts to spread open the rubber intake tubing which will dramatically affect the VAF and volumetric pressure within. Thus the wrong presuure is exerted upon the VAF placing it in a different position which the ECU will recognize the new (incorrect) VAF setting and adjust fuel accordingly.
Another consideration might be to confirm the seal on the disty cap since there is a small gasket betweeen the cap and body. Have alook under the hood with the engine running at night time and try to notice if there is any arcing occuring from the plug wires. If not try using a water misting spray bottle and see if you can generate any arcing. I would never recommend to anyone to let there gas tank run dry. There is going to be a guaranteed amount of crud that has built up over the years that will reside at the bottom of the tank. Letting it go dry just encourages that sludge stuff to be sucked up and quite possibly clog the fuel filter or possibly even worse. Never ever let your gas tank go dramatically low or dry...or have it professionally drained and cleaned.

Tanya, you gotta pry your b/f away from his Cavy to lend you a hand with some of your basic maintenance stuff. I'm sure you could convince him to lend a hand

Lesley · Post by **Lesley** » May 20th, 2006, 6:11 pm

sexy_mx3 wrote:okay.... gonna be honest.... don't know what a lot of these short forms are! lol i know i know... what a blonde! hahaha

TB - throttle body
IAC - idle air control
TPS - throttle position sensor

Gawd, don't sell yourself short! Being blonde is no handicap, just keep asking questions.

I'm a new mx3 owner, but the acronyms and symptoms sound the same as other vehicles I've owned.
Is the TB prone to carbon buildup on these? My dodge needs regular cleaning to run properly, otherwise stalls the same. Six bucks for a can of tolulene, and 20 minutes takes care of that.

hgallegos915 · Post by **hgallegos915** » May 20th, 2006, 7:36 pm

well check the itnake hose for creacks, if nothign is wrong , bump the idle, tehres a screw where the accelerator connects that you can move.

jschrauwen · Post by **jschrauwen** » May 21st, 2006, 1:02 pm

hgallegos915 wrote:well check the itnake hose for creacks, if nothign is wrong , bump the idle, tehres a screw where the accelerator connects that you can move.

Hector, I would not recommend to anyone to just simply adjust the idle via the idle adjust screw. If everything is set right you should never have to adjust it. It will upset the whole balance that it plays with the correct TPS adjustments. And it should never be adjusted without the car in the diagnostic mode.
Using a TB cleaner is a good thing to use occasinally but shouldn't be needed on a reular basis. If it is, than there are other factors that need to be looked at that is creating that problem. Like the PCV valve may need replacing. Or the other valve cover vent lines that feed into the intake tubing. If they are dumping excessive amounts of deposit you may have to look at the type of oil your using or if there is excesive leaks around valve stems ....etc......

hgallegos915 · Post by **hgallegos915** » May 21st, 2006, 1:40 pm

oh dam .. i didnt know that .. i always adjust via there .. lol my bad.

jschrauwen · Post by **jschrauwen** » May 21st, 2006, 2:01 pm

hgallegos915 wrote:oh dam .. i didnt know that .. i always adjust via there .. lol my bad.

At the beginning of the TPS adjustment, it will be artificially set extremely high and later will be adjusted downward to the correct idle setting as per manual etc... This is all done while the car is in diagnostic mode though. Adjusting it after it's out of the diagnostic mode could give some real negative effects.

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