2000 Sonata - Erratic Acceleration

I've recently been having a problem with my 2000 Sonata GLS V6. Occasionally (and it's been happening more often the past few days), when I come to a complete stop at an intersection, and then do to accelerate, the engine will stutter and then won't rev. past 3000 rpms. In order to fix it, I have to turn off the car, and then restart it several times. It usually won't start smoothly the first few times, and then it'll start up fine and everything will work. Then today, I stopped at an intersection, and saw my tachometer dropping quite low. Suddenly, the engine died altogether. I had to restart several times to get the car working normally. I have already called my local dealer, but they can't work on it until the 11th. Furthermore, the warranty (5 yrs, 60k, because it's a used car) just ended last month. The car only has 56k miles on it, and I've had a bunch of problems already (O2 sensors went, axel hub bearing broke, spark plug wiring needed to be replaced). Luckily, everything has been under warranty. Any suggestions to fix my problem before I spend more money than I have so someone can look at it and tell me it was something simple (I'm only 17 and work for minimum wage, I can barely afford gas anymore now that prices soared).

A few suggestions I got from friends/family were to check the fuel filter, or to add some dry gas/higher octane gas. The last time I filled my tank, I got the cheapest stuff I could. Someone mentioned that I could've just gotten a bad tank of gas, but does that actually happen? Or is it just some random made-up reason?

I had the same problem with my 4-cyl 2000 Sonata this summer. The spark plug wires and the O2 sensor were also replaced, but the problem stayed. I replaced the mass air flow sensor and the problem went away for a while - my check engine light just came back on, so I don't know if I have a new problem or not. If you need a good place to look for used or new parts, try www.uneedapart.com.

I had the same problem with my 4-cyl 2000 Sonata this summer. The spark plug wires and the O2 sensor were also replaced, but the problem stayed. I replaced the mass air flow sensor and the problem went away for a while - my check engine light just came back on, so I don't know if I have a new problem or not. If you need a good place to look for used or new parts, try www.uneedapart.com.

The mass air flor sensor is something listed under one of the recalls, so I think I'll have them check and make sure all of the recalls are up to date. Do you have any idea if recalls "expire" after a certain amount of time, or are they free to have fixed at any time during the life of the car? When this problem started to happen, I was about ready to sell the car. I can't stand the number of times I've had to bring it in for service, and it's not even at the 60k mark yet! I had all of my belts changed at 54k, since the serpentine belt was cracking (cheaper on labor than having the other belt(s) done when I bring it in for the 60k mile service). There's a local garage that does inexpensive work on imports, so I'll bring it there in the future (I also have to have my windshield washer sprayer pump/motor fixed before winter comes). Thanks for the reply.