Dying

When I first start my car it takes it a second to idle and then will just drop down to 0 and the car will shake and almost shut off...Then if I touch the gas it will go back up but then right back down and sometimes shut off...After I drive it for a while it's not that bad but it has died when I was sitting at a stop sign.. Do I need to set my idle higher? Or can it be a bad alternator?

have you made any modifications to the car lately?

I am having the same problem , so please help us!!! :crying:

car is completely stock

try resetting your ecu by unhooking the battery for about 15 mins. then crank the car, and let it idle for about 10 mins. see if that fixes the problem

i went to advanced auto.. they said it had to do something with my fuel something.. that its clogged

huh
how many miles on your car?

i went to advanced auto.. they said it had to do something with my fuel something.. that its clogged

ehh....we need a better description than that.

do this, go back to autozone, get you SES light scanned, get the code and post it here.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that it is probably his fuel pump. My girlfriends old Contour would pretty much the extact samething that yours is and that is what it was.

When I first start my car it takes it a second to idle and then will just drop down to 0 and the car will shake and almost shut off...Then if I touch the gas it will go back up but then right back down and sometimes shut off...After I drive it for a while it's not that bad but it has died when I was sitting at a stop sign.. Do I need to set my idle higher? Or can it be a bad alternator?

How long has this been going on? Sounds like your battery or alternator.

If you're just doing city driving, run it on the highway a bit to charge the battery and see if that does the trick.

Vacuum leaks can also cause idle problems. :2cents:

How long has this been going on? Sounds like your battery or alternator.

If you're just doing city driving, run it on the highway a bit to charge the battery and see if that does the trick.

That isnt going to do anything...unless you never get your car above 2k rpm in the city. Now, your battery might be going bad, in which case you might need to replace that...but even then...once the car is running, most of the work is done by the alternator...so, if the car is on, and then stalls I doubt its your battery.

That isnt going to do anything...unless you never get your car above 2k rpm in the city. Now, your battery might be going bad, in which case you might need to replace that...but even then...once the car is running, most of the work is done by the alternator...so, if the car is on, and then stalls I doubt its your battery.

Wrong. The city has stop lights and stop signs. Best to check for the cheapest solution first, which is an uncharged battery. Then look to things like a bad battery/alternator or a clogged fuel injector.

Well if you are set on thinking its a battery issue...why go through the trouble of actually driving the car. Hook it up to a charger overnight...and then the next day start it and idle high for like 5 min. Dont waste time driving it places you dont have 2.

ok, so if you want to kno if it is a battery problem or alternator problem your local o'reilly or autozone should have a tester they will test it for you for free, going to a mechanic to have that tested would work but its $$$ expensive

driving on the highway does help the alternator out more, just as long as the engine isn't at idle it'll charge more, but if the alternator is going going gone, it really won't matter

it IS possible to overcharge a battery, my friend did it on his CRX and it was a nearly brand new battery and we had ruined it doing so, we only had it charging for an hour while periodically trying to start it

and let us kno whenever you figure it out!

when i replaced my intake to a k&n cai, it starting doing the exact same thing. when i switched around the different hose clamps and really tightened them all, it seemed to fix the problem. i think it was due to a vacume leak between the mass air sensor and the throttle body. bring it to a shop and get it vacume tested