Car Shuts Down At Red Lights/Stop Signs/IDLE, Help Car Shuts Down... Options

[themanjsq]

Does it only happen when the car is hot? In my car 2 of the rod bearings spun. When they would heat up there was so much resistance on the rods from expansion it would literally shut the car off.

Also once it shuts off does it turnover immediately when you go to start it again? I went through the same crap trying to diagnose it, didnt actually figure it out until i got rod knock.

actually, i have to drive it for a bit to warm up, but once its been driven for a bit, then the shutting down on idle occurs, it actually happens when im on reverse too when trying to parallel park lol. i've taken it to the mechanic today i told him what i thought it could be (idle air control valve needs cleaning) but when i got back to him, he said he fixed it, he said adjusted the timing belt and a wire that was bad which wasnt giving enough power (idk), but when i got home after driving for a bit, i sat there with my foot on the brake and the car on drive, and eventually the problem occurred again =(. I contacted the mechanic and he said he'll check it again, maybe he'll listen to me this time and clean it. UGH! thanks again for everyones help i really appreciate it!

Let it heat up, then drive it hard for like 5 minutes, (high RPM). Get back in your driveway, shut the car off and in 30 seconds try to restart it. Does it start, or just keep trying to start.

I know I killed a battery because i was on the starter so long trying to get it start after I drove it hard for a little.

I tried that and the car starts fine... i don't think that's the problem now, but thanks for your tip/help though, appreciate it a lot.

[themanjsq]

Idle air control valve. Guaranteed. I drove a maxims that would not run atall unless my foot was in the gas. Clutch in, stall, not moving stall, foot to the floor it ram like our always should. Iac should be.around 100. Just look it up at on auto zone . Com and get an aftermarket one or try to clean and refurbish yours

the idle air control valve at autozone is pretty cheap compared to others, duralast for $124.99 or should i get STANDARD for which ranges from $200-300. do you get what you paid for? or it doesn't matter the brand?

its a used car. 5s or 7a I'm assuming. If it can't be cleaned to where it operates reliably then get a new one. As to which one, I would ABSOLUTELY not get the "standard" one. It's an iac. At that price you could buy two before you made the cost of the other one. i've never had a problem with autozone/napa/advanced auto parts on my DD. If you raced this thing it would be one thing. Easy life of DD, get the cheaper one. It'll work fine.... but that's just my .02

thanks for that info, really helped me a lot making my decision, so i went on and bought the duralast iacv from autozone for 124.99 and my mechanic said he'll install it for 60.00, the part comes within a few days 2-day free shipping w/ shoprunner 30day trial which im going to cancel immediately lol. i'll post update when it's installed and HOPEFULLY this will solve this very annoying problem. I can't thank everyone enough for their tips/help, this is a really good forum site with quick and helpful responses.

[themanjsq]

Hello, i've got the Idle air control valve installed today and i got my car back, and the problem is still there! i'm getting really frustrated with this car, if anyone else can help would be really appreciate it, or should i take it to toyota dealer for a complete diagnostic for $110.00/hr

[ricochet1490]

wow... i have to say, I did not expect to read that. When your mechanic installed it, was that all he did? he didn't do any of his own trouble shooting? Did he agree or disagree with your diagnosis? i thought for sure that would have licked it because your symptoms were exactly what mine were. That's weird.