Help an idiot out. Car trouble.

[SlitherySOB]

Good day,
I posted this in the lounge, but thought my Durham brethren can help me out as well. You all have in the past. I've recently been having trouble with my car. It starts fine, and runs for a few minutes, but will randomly die. When it dies, it is usually after I use the brake, for example a stop sign or light. Though it occasionally craps out randomly as well. The radio dies as well, but the lights remain, which I find odd. I turn the ignition, the car spits and sputters, and the engine rolls over. I step on the gas, it dies instantly. Repeat the process until it works. When it does work, it can either get me 15-20 feet, or it won't be a problem at all and it'll get me to my destination. I'll be the first to admit that I'm an idiot when it comes to cars. I can change the oil, spark plugs, and that's about it. Once, when it happened, a passerby commented that it was because of moisture on the coils and wires, and to get a can of WD-40 and spray the coils and wires. I did. The car still has the problem, but it's also been damp where I live. Rain and snow. One friend suggested it could be moisture/ice in the gas line, and to get gas line antifreeze. Haven't yet, but will try. However, I don't see how that will affect the radio. BTW, I don't really care if the radio works, just listing that as a symptom. The oil has recently been changed, filters replaced. I know it has a problem with leaking coolant, but the engine isn't overheating. Doesn't have time to. Lately, before this problem occured, I haven't been using my car much. Working more from home, and had no need to. Any other potential problems/causes you can think of, and solutions, would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Slithery

 

[toughb]

I hope you'll take this in the sincerity that it is given...

Good day,
I posted this in the lounge, but thought my Durham brethren can help me out as well. You all have in the past. I've recently been having trouble with my car. It starts fine, and runs for a few minutes, but will randomly die. When it dies, it is usually after I use the brake, for example a stop sign or light. Though it occasionally craps out randomly as well. The radio dies as well, but the lights remain, which I find odd. I turn the ignition, the car spits and sputters, and the engine rolls over. I step on the gas, it dies instantly. Repeat the process until it works. When it does work, it can either get me 15-20 feet, or it won't be a problem at all and it'll get me to my destination. I'll be the first to admit that I'm an idiot when it comes to cars. I can change the oil, spark plugs, and that's about it. Once, when it happened, a passerby commented that it was because of moisture on the coils and wires, and to get a can of WD-40 and spray the coils and wires. I did. The car still has the problem, but it's also been damp where I live. Rain and snow. One friend suggested it could be moisture/ice in the gas line, and to get gas line antifreeze. Haven't yet, but will try. However, I don't see how that will affect the radio. BTW, I don't really care if the radio works, just listing that as a symptom. The oil has recently been changed, filters replaced. I know it has a problem with leaking coolant, but the engine isn't overheating. Doesn't have time to. Lately, before this problem occured, I haven't been using my car much. Working more from home, and had no need to. Any other potential problems/causes you can think of, and solutions, would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Slithery

***************

Buy a new Toyota and forget the (what was the car, make, model and all the pertinent information that was left out)....

 

[SlitherySOB]

If I could, I would. It's a 96 Ford Taurus(ugh). I'm going to stop now, before I go on my domestic vs. import car rant.

 

[toughb]

If I could, I would. It's a 96 Ford Taurus(ugh). I'm going to stop now, before I go on my domestic vs. import car rant.

**************
Most Toyotas' are build in North America and built by North Americans. With the deals available, try a 2009 Corolla. It'll last you from 10 to 15 years with minimal repairs.

I'm serious. Why put money into a car that has serious problems...

 

[turkana]

Friends don't let friends drive Fords

If I could, I would. It's a 96 Ford Taurus(ugh). QUOTE]

I had a 93 Ford Ranger that did something similiar...it would die as soon as I had to stop (red light etc) and then it just wouldn't start. Would have to wait a couple of minutes before it would restart otherwise samething it would just die in the next 15-20 seconds. It only happened first thing in the morning and only during late fall/early winter. Never figured out what the sympton was but to avoid this I would make sure to warm up the car (run on idle for 5-10 minutes) before leaving.

 

[dav12389]

Toyota had more recalls last year than GM and Ford combined. Top it off GM and Ford have triple the models Toyota makes. Good quality, not

 

[toughb]

Toyota had more recalls last year than GM and Ford combined. Top it off GM and Ford have triple the models Toyota makes. Good quality, not

***************

Link? Facts?

"Top it off GM and Ford have triple the models Toyota makes"

You have that right. That is one of the many reasons they're all but bankrupt. Toyota sells more vehicles than GM. Their quality is proven buy the consumer.

 

[lateforthegate]

Some companies do voluntary recalls after finding out about a common problem..........some wait until they are forced to because of lawsuits, etc. I watched a dateline or 20/20 or something like that a few years ago that said they would have number crunchers calculate what was cheaper.........doing a recall or letting their knowledge of a common problem ride and risk having the odd lawsuit for fatal accidents.

 

[erik99999]

When was the last time your O2 sensor was checked. If it is an O2 sensor your car will fail an emissions test as well. Also wondering when it is running if you accelerate do you notice if the car looses power, meaning you press gas and the car slows down ratter then speed up. If so this is an indication of miss firing. If so usually is a bad spark plug wire or spark plug. I also had a similar problem with my car except for the radio thing. It would stall out for no reason and it happened when slowing down or if I would hit a little bump. It was an intermittent problem, it would happen today couple of times and then not happen for a week. It was driving me nuts, and it turned out to be that the terminal connector to the on board computer was loose and any sudden jerking would cause it to come loose enough to stall out the car and also cause sputtering as well. Also check your throttle position senor. A bad throttle position will cause a stall out at an idle. Do you happen to notice if when sitting at an idle if the cars rpm's fluctuate up and down before stalling out. If so it could very well be your throttle position senor. Sorry I can't say for sure what is exactly wrong, trouble shooting is going to be required because as you say it happens when the car is cold or hot. Usually if you have a problem when the car is cold you check certain areas and when the car is hot you check other things.

 

[krapper1]

check your spark plug wires, they might be cracked and the water is shorting out to the engine block.

 

[Dogma69]

Fuel Filter, my friend had the same problem, it could also be a sensor that is in the fuel tank thats telling the engine that your empty.

 

[JohnLarue]

Take it to a mechanic
Have him tell you whats wrong & pay him for the diagnostics.

You could spend a lot of time & money replacing wires/ plugs, O2 sensors , distributor caps, fuel filters etc and not ever be fixing the problem

If you can repair it yourself & want to save the bucks, tell him you can not afford to pay his estimate
If it involves major work you cant do, determine if you want to get it done or get a new ride

 

[Larry_Fyne]

Buy a mac......


oh sorry wrong thread

 

[dirkd101]

Fuel Filter, my friend had the same problem, it could also be a sensor that is in the fuel tank thats telling the engine that your empty.

I'm with Dogma on this one, fuel filter. It could also be the fuel pump, but start with the filter, an easy fix. Beyond that, find a good mechanic. If you don't know one, pm me and I'll give you a good one.

 

[dirkd101]

Good day,
I posted this in the lounge, but thought my Durham brethren can help me out as well.
Sincerely,
Slithery

heavyweight:

If you had taken time to read, you would have found that he did. Sheesh, it's on the first line

 

[Bearlythere]

A brother hobbiest from the Shwa needs help and this is a place for him to post as far as I am concerned.

Slithery man....just junk it and get another set of wheels. It is most definately something in the engine management system. That means throttle control sensor, O2 sensor or just the ECM in general. The key was losing the radio when everything shuts down. It is a computer issue and on a 12 year old car you don't spend the money tracking that down. It is just not really economical. A good used car would be an option if you didn't want to or afford new.

As for all the squaking about the quality differences between the Big 3 and Imports, last time I looked it was the Big 3 in trouble but I also know as someone who owns two GM products, quality control and design of domestics has improved a ton in the last few years. What the big 3 are paying for is years of stupidity....

 

[SlitherySOB]

Since I'm now working primarily at home, I think it's time I sell/junk the Taurus and save up for something new, or at least new to me. I no longer need it to get back and forth from work, though it is nice to have. Walking home with a few bags full of groceries is a pain, even with the environmental bags. Ahh well. Worse comes to worse, I'll ask if the firing range will let me haul it there and shoot the damn thing. Would be nice to put some .223's through that damn car.

 

[KBear]

Have you tried fuel injector cleaner? My car was running rough, and the injector cleaner worked well.

There is an auto parts store, maybe called “Parts Source”?, that seems to have knowledgeable people that can help sometimes.

 

[hot stuff88]

I would also try checking the fuel pump.A friend of mine just went through that this past week and his car is a plymouth.If it's inside the gas tank it will be costly.

 

[jsquig]

also check vaccuum hoses/lines I had a 95 Camry that used to get pretty sick whenever I would use the brakes, turns out there was a crack in one of the lines and that did it.