1994 Corsica Dies

my 1994 Chevy Corisca dies at stop signs or stop lights and sometimes when you put it in reverse..or try to slow down to park.but when you are on the highway at steady speeds its fine...Any Ideas?

Can be several things, but sounds a bit like TCC solenoid. When this causes stalling it acts OK until you drive a while, then the car shakes and jerks when you slow down and acts like a standard shift car stuck in high gear. It stalls and will start right away, but stalls as soon as put into gear. Won't work right until it cools down, although you can sometimes get it moving again. "If" this is what is happening to you try unhooking the 4 prong plug under your air filter assy, this controls the TCC. Have to remove the whole filter assy to see it. Costs about 150-250 bucks to fix as Corsicas are hard to repair due to the location of the TCC. Most people drive with it unhooked, but your gas milage will drop slightly.
Now, if you are just having general stalling issues, where the car idles rough, slow, or just shuts down it can be a lot of things from dirty IAC valve, vaccuum leaks, MAP sensor, or other things. Would be helpful if the check engine light had come on sometime, and you can check for stored trouble codes to start with. A lot of time it is a combination of a needed tune-up, dirty IAC(Idle air control), and old vacuum lines.

my 1990 corsica is dying at some lights or stops. ses light comes on for few seconds before it does, sometimes it takes a few tries to get it started could it be the same problem?

Does not sound likely. If your SES light is coming on it may be the EGR valve, MAP sensor, or any number of other things. The TCC is quite distinctive in that it will start up right away but stalls as soon as out in gear until it cools down. If yours is simply stalling you need to get the codes checked for the problem. May just be your O2 sensor is bad, causing poor idle, or, again certain other items.

Jsgold, I just bought a 94 corsica and that exact problem is happening.

I took a peek at the airbox and there didn't appear that anything would be underneath it.

Did you mean the airbox itself has to be removed to just remove the sensor? Can it be unplugged with the airbox still inside?

If you have a pic of it I would be very greatful!

I will look around for a pic but, what you are looking to do is remove the air filter assy, and then a single bolt should be holding down the air box "base" or box. Then you can see the transaxle a bit better and there should be a 4-prong plug that you can unhook to check for TCC failure. Replacing the unit is difficult, as it is hard to get to. All you are looking at would be the plug going to top of transaxle, not the TCC itself. I am assuming you have a 3.1 V6 motor of course. The key is, top of transaxle, 4-prong plug. Unplug it and if it no longer stalls then you know what the trouble is. On the chance yours is a 4 cyl. motor or possibly different design, say a throttle body design instead of mutil port fuel injection you can get a Haynes manual pretty cheap and look at it there. I will see what I can find.

I will look around for a pic but, what you are looking to do is remove the air filter assy, and then a single bolt should be holding down the air box "base" or box. Then you can see the transaxle a bit better and there should be a 4-prong plug that you can unhook to check for TCC failure. Replacing the unit is difficult, as it is hard to get to. All you are looking at would be the plug going to top of transaxle, not the TCC itself. I am assuming you have a 3.1 V6 motor of course. The key is, top of transaxle, 4-prong plug. Unplug it and if it no longer stalls then you know what the trouble is. On the chance yours is a 4 cyl. motor or possibly different design you can get a Haynes manual pretty cheap and look at it there. I will see what I can find.

Actually, yes I do have the 4 cyl version of the motor. I'm trying to pickup said hayes manual on ebay actually.

Thanks for replying.

see if this helps. It will give you general location. You can pick up a haynes manual at Advance Auto, should be less than 15 bucks. Just click on pics, they will expand to show you better.

http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker?ForwardPage=/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/14/7f/ed/0900823d80147fed.jsp

I also have a 94 Corsica with a 6 banger. It stalls and will not retart without a jump. Its like the battery is dead. I took it to the shop and had them run diagnostics. They cannot find anything wrong. The battery is good and so is the alternater. This is crazy as it is doing this daily!

Some shops do not have the proper equipment to check these things. Most small shops just have a multimeter etc. if the car is stalling and the battery is dead, then the alternator is shot. Causes the battery to drain off power to keep car running and then it dies. here is what I suggest. Charge the battery for 2-3 hours with a charger. take it to Advance Auto or Autozone and have them use their testers on BOTH. Their testers can test drain and load etc. properly. Maybe have a bad voltage regulator on the alternator. Corsicas are BAD on alternators, too much heat and they tend to last 2-3 years at best. Do this soon,as you risk ruining the battery and even your starter if you do not get this resolved. starters can fail with voltage less then 9 volts...

I took it in as you suggested and it appears to be the alternator. I bought a new one. I cannot figure out which nut loosens the belt. LOL! I haven't worked on a car myself in 20 years. Oh well, the engine needs to cool for a while. Maybe someone can tell me how to loosen the belt.

Update: I just took it into a garage. It cost $75 labor and it is done. I spent a couple hours messing around it just wasn't worth it to me. I did give it the ole college try! I dropped a 16mm socket into a deep, almost unreachable area. I managed to fish it out after about 1/2 hour. LOL! I should know better.

Sorry I could not get back to you sooner, way too much going on. The belt has to be released by taking pressure off the tensioner pulley, by either a tensioner tool, or, a large crescent wrench or vice grips hooked onto the end of the tensioner. It has a squared off area at the top which is easily the best place to hold on to. Take the pressure off the belt and slide the belt off the alternatpor. then remove the wire, any hoses, etc. in the way. The overflow tank is first thing to remove on ours. I have had to remove ours three times in since Feb. due to a bad alternator, a bad heater fan, then the replacement alternator failing under warranty. The only pain is putting the belt back on if it falls off the pulleys. Would advise a Haynes manual, as these alternators only last 2-3 years at best. Note, on some Berettas (similar car, uses same service manual) it is best to take it to a shop as the belt runs thru the engine mounts, a real PAIN. Not sure if any Corsica's do this but they might...

Jsgold, I just bought a 94 corsica and that exact problem is happening.

I took a peek at the airbox and there didn't appear that anything would be underneath it.

Did you mean the airbox itself has to be removed to just remove the sensor? Can it be unplugged with the airbox still inside?

If you have a pic of it I would be very greatful!


on the trans theres a plug unplug it

I had the same problem with my 93 and all i had to do was replace the throttle position sensor and it fixed the problem right away :)