stalling and breakes not working

The las few days when i stop at a light or idle for any length of time my car tries to stall...any ideas what this might be. Also today when i go to press the brake the peddle doesn't go down very far and it takes a long time to stop. I am in western ny and it is very cold could this be the reason for teh brakes not working....when i stop at a light the lights dim adn the car starts to sputter...please help

Welcome to the forum!

What year is your Taurus and which engine does it have? Is your check engine light on? Sounds like you have a large vacuum leak somewhere. I assume the car idles pretty rough when you're at a stop before the car stalls too, right? Is your air intake tubing connected properly? Was any work recently performed just prior to the issues?

-Rod

Shorod- It is a 1999 Taurus and yes it does all the things that you say it does so I will check for the leak in the hose....would that have anything to do with the brakes not working. When you try to push the brake pedal in to stop the pedal is real hard and doesn't depress at all and stops you very slowly. Is that connected to the hose leak or a totally different issue all together..please help

Check the vacuum booster for the master cyclinder for a vacuum leak. the engine performance sounds like a vacuum leak and the brake symptoms sounds like you are not getting very much if any power assist from your booster.

any idea what that might run me if that is the problem to get it fixed at a local shop....it is someone i have used a few times but like to have a ball park of what it should cost before i go

would that have anything to do with the brakes not working. When you try to push the brake pedal in to stop the pedal is real hard and doesn't depress at all and stops you very slowly. Is that connected to the hose leak or a totally different issue all together..please help

To address your question and expand a bit on discnik's comments, the brake booster, which is what provides the power assist for the brakes, provides the assist from engine vacuum. As discnik pointed out, if your engine vacuum is low, the brake power assist will be minimal, causing the hard brake pedal when the engine is running.

-Rod

well got it fixed today cost 102.09 to fix both problems a 5.09 part and 90.00 in labor i guess it was just an insert for a vacuum hose that fixed the issue i guess you all were right thanks for the advice...i probably could of done it myself