Stalling at stop lights

[Detector195]

1995 SW2, automatic, roughly 66k miles. EGR valve temporarily disabled while I try to diagnose this problem. It stalls at stop lights -- car slows down, tachometer goes below 1000, gradually drops over the space of a few seconds to zero. It does not matter whether the engine is cold or warm.

I can keep the engine going by braking with the left foot and holding the tacho at 1000 with the right foot, like I did on my 1975 Dodge van.

This car has been reliable in the past.

 

[Ned Forrester]

|> 1995 SW2, automatic, roughly 66k miles. EGR valve temporarily disabled |> while I try to diagnose this problem. It stalls at stop lights -- car |> slows down, tachometer goes below 1000, gradually drops over the space |> of a few seconds to zero. It does not matter whether the engine is |> cold or warm. |> |> I can keep the engine going by braking with the left foot and holding |> the tacho at 1000 with the right foot, like I did on my 1975 Dodge |> van.

Like the Dodge Van (or mine, at least), this may be caused by a gummy deposit between the throttle body and the throttle plate. This reduces the non-zero air flow that should exist at idle, causing the engine to stall. While your problem may have some other cause, it should be easy to remove the air duct and check the throttle plate. Do not spray cleaners into the throttle area, as they may damage non-metallic parts; just clean with solvent on a cloth.

 

[Detector195]

|> 1995 SW2, automatic, roughly 66k miles. EGR valve temporarily disabled |> while I try to diagnose this problem. It stalls at stop lights -- car |> slows down, tachometer goes below 1000, gradually drops over the space |> of a few seconds to zero. It does not matter whether the engine is |> cold or warm. |> |> I can keep the engine going by braking with the left foot and holding |> the tacho at 1000 with the right foot, like I did on my 1975 Dodge |> van.

Like the Dodge Van (or mine, at least), this may be caused by a gummy deposit between the throttle body and the throttle plate. This reduces the non-zero air flow that should exist at idle, causing the engine to stall. While your problem may have some other cause, it should be easy to remove the air duct and check the throttle plate. Do not spray cleaners into the throttle area, as they may damage non-metallic parts; just clean with solvent on a cloth.

Aha, you cleared up a mystery for me. I once looked for these gummy deposits, and concluded that they could be doing no harm, since they were not causing the throttle plate to get stuck. I was not thinking about the problem of non zero air flow. I will definitely look for this.

And hopefully it will help!