1997 3.5 dodge intrepid

After replacing the water pump in my dodge intrepid and retiming the engine the car stalls whenever approaching a stop. the car idles fine in neutral or park but misfires and stalles in gear. I have scanned the car and replaced parts suchs the ignition coil, O2 sensors (both sides), throttle postion sensor and the Manifold Absolute Pressure Sensor (MAP sensor). All without success in fixing the car. If anybody has expierienced this problem i could use a little help!~jim

Does the car run great in park or Nuetral?
Are you getting any codes from the computer?
When you shift it into drive or reverse, does it act like a manual transmission choking at idle speed with the clutch out?
When it stalled before while driving, did it act like it was a manual tranny dying due to not depressing the clutch?

yes the car runs fine in park and neutral, but when it is put into gear it puts a strain on the engine and drops rpms lower. the car dosnt stall until you stop and a light or stop sign.... the rpms drop to like around 300 to 400 then stalls... the check engine light came on and said that the o2 sensor and the ingnition coil were bad but never changed anything after they were replaced.... i could really use some help here, so any ideas would be greatly appreciated,
many thanks,
Jim

Save yourself a lot of time.....................

refer back in this forum dated February 13, 2005 to this thread:

: Re: Help! 96 ES dies when shift into gear.

I have a feeling your problem will be the same as mine was but I think we did everything we could to rule out items case by case.

I have a gut feeling you're looking at a torque convertor. The is no other reason for your car to be running perfectly fine in park or neutral and then die when you put it in gear. The funny thing about my trouble last year, i said that to start with and everybody told me no. I would have saved myself a lot of choice words!!!

PS - After a new torque convertor last year, car has (and continues to) run great! 175K miles

PS - After a new torque convertor last year, car has (and continues to) run great! 175K miles

alright ill check it out but thank you for your help it is greatly appreiciated

If you put it in gear and it feels like something's "dragging the engine down" It probably is. Mine didn't start off by shutting down. It started off by running really rough and gradually got worse. i just didn't know what it was at the time. That was when i replaced just about every sensor and ignition component on the car only to end-up with a car that ran great at idle, but still would cut off when put in gear!

If the torque convertor is locking-up due to an electrical problem, it would either be locked or unlocked! no middle ground if it IS an electrical problem, you'll be getting to know your wiring harness too well! That's a pain in the butt chasing down all of the wires in that car because they are a lot of them. I would say that "I hope I am wrong and it isn't the torque convertor" (even though I think it is) but in the end, I spent a lot less having the Torque Convertor replaced than i spent on electrical components that weren't necessary! Not to mention the hours spent on it!!!

Good Luck!

Ernie

OTC7999......Did you use this tool (two piece) to align your cams/crankshaft ??? If you did, ignore me. If you didn't, it's cheaper to do the check with the tool here BEFORE the torque converter change-out! You've spent too much already, right? IF your pedal is further to the floor than before the water pump change, get ready to replace exhaust manifold(s)! I completely rebuilt my 3.5, after THE CAM BELT BROKE, found burnt wire harness. Put it all back together, turned the key and it fired on the first turn. I forget what the engine looks like except for oil changes and routines, love it, it runs new...VVVRRRRAAHHHHmmm!!