stalling out

The wife's 2000 zx2 started idling rough last week. Then service engine light came on. Now the car stalls at stops unless she puts it in neutral and keeps rpms up, doesn't just die real quick, but starts stumbling at stop, then dies. Car has about 55,000 miles on it. Anyone have any input, I'm old school(carbs and points),this new stuff has me baffled. Thanks.

The wife's 2000 zx2 started idling rough last week. Then service engine light came on. Now the car stalls at stops unless she puts it in neutral and keeps rpms up, doesn't just die real quick, but starts stumbling at stop, then dies. Car has about 55,000 miles on it. Anyone have any input, I'm old school(carbs and points),this new stuff has me baffled. Thanks.

I'm having the same exact problem but it doesn't happen all the time for me. When I slow down or do anything that requires more power, i.e. braking, headlights, sound system, the idle gets worse. I'm thinking it's my alternator, it either needs cleaning or replacing. That's the first thing I'm going to try, if it doesn't work, then I'm going to check plugs, wires, distributor, etc. Any other help would be great.

Sounds like your IAC, (Idle Air Control valve).

If it has been clogged or failed it will stumble at idle and die most of the time.

Putting it in park/neutral just takes the load off of the engine.

It could also be a trans problem if its a automatic. This is the worse case scenerio.

Shadowman its not the Alternator, trust me on this one. Tell me how would the alternator affect the idle condition of a car? Its only charges the battery thats it. You can run your car for about 1 hour without it, or as the life of your battery dictates. Plus if that died you would get a Battery light on the dash.

Well, to me it sounds like the muffler bearings. If your car still has the stock exhaust on it, there should be 3 bearings in the front end of the muffler. Once they wear out, the air is not able to flow through as well, so it runs rough.

Hope that helps

Stalling is usually related to an over lean condition, too much air because of a vacuum leak, or as the other stated, a malfunctioning IAC. Check all vacuum lines for integrity, and check that the throttle plate is able to close fully. If all checks out, try removing and cleaning the IAC.

P.S. A loaded alternator does increase the load on the engine, especially at idle, but I agree that is not your problem, most likely.

check everything... vacuum lines, IAC, go to an auto parts store and have your alt. tested just to make sure... check the engine compartment and make sure everything LOOKS right.

and there are no bearings in the muffler.

the alternator does not just charge the battery. it controls spark to your coil something that the battery cannot do for most of the time... more than 15 mins. initially you don't even need a battery once the car is started. a quick way to test your alternator (just for shits and giggles) is to start your car and unplug the battery. if it stays running then your alt. is good.

think your problem might be a crank shaft positioning sensor. thats what happened to mine. It would start dieing when i would stop at a stop sign then all of a sudden i was going 70mph down the interstate and the car shut down just like you turned the switch off. so i got it towed home and figured out it was that sensor. the car would crank just fine but it would never get any spark at the plugs and it wouldnt turn over. I tried replacing the coil pack and everthing before i figured out it was the crank shaft sensor. However i have a 2000 zx2 and its a hard puppy to get to. Its about $20 at autozone and its located kindof near the middle of the engine up under the exaust headers. on the right side. the haynes manual sugessted dropping off the headers to get to it. But i was able to take the fan off of the radiator and the heat sheild off of the headers and use a small torx bit with a very low profile ratchet to get it off. Its a tight place to get into and the olny way you can see it is with a mirror. and there is some tubing that makes it hard to get to the one bolt. now if you dont have a zx2 its pretty easy to get to. just my luck though always the hard way.