girl who hopes ya'll can help

[toyotadriver]

Hello ya'll.
ihope i can get helpful info from you guys about my old broken car. If i find this site helpful i will share it with my friends.

[Frood_42]

What Kinda Car Exatly Is It...year Make Model...engine....# Of Doors Etc?

[toyotadriver]

Hey,
It's a Toyota corolla 92 4 door 4cylinder. The engine turns off. I'll be at a red light or stop sign and it will start bouncing and turn off it has 103,000 miles.

[Frood_42]

Well theres a few common possibilities. First off you could have a clogged fuel filter...its about 20 bucks to replace at any jiffy lube or something similar... also it could be a bad spark plug or plug wire...again about 15 bucks for the plugs and 30 or so for good wires. It could be your oxygen sensor...this could cause a lean mixture and cause your car to stall. It is also possibly be your idle settings...check this by starting your car and putting it in nutral...it should idle somewhere around the 1ish on your tachometer if its lower then 500-700 rpm this could cause stalling....it could also be a clogged fuel injector...again jiffy lube could clean them with chemicals for around 50 bucks...its not as good as cleaning them by hand..but it will help.

My suggestion is try the idle test i just described...then try the fuel filter.

one quick question...does the car run rough when your driving...like does it bump and sputter and sound like its dying?

[toyotadriver]

Once the car is out on the highway it runs fine, but when it first starts it's bumpy and thats when i'm afraid it will die. The idle has already been ajusted. Got a new oxygen sensor and the other things you mentioned have been checked. We or my dad is checking the . . . i believe he said cadillac converter, on Monday.

[KustmAce]

Bet you get even more help in the Corolla section.

[93rollaracer]

catalytic converter...that could be it too.

[Frood_42]

Good call....that was one I left out...however if it isnt the cat...another possible could a vac leak of some sort....or even a blown head-gasket. Why the gasket you say...well..if coolant is leaking into your cylinders it will make clean ignition impossible...antifreeze doenst burn like gas...therefore causing your car to run rough at idle speeds...especially when your car is stopped (such as at a traffic light) the car's cooling system has to work overtime to cool your engine because of the lack of airflow that would normally assist in cooling...this leads to more coolant being pumped into your engine to cool it...and therefore more pumped into your cylinders ...causing the misfire...and your stalling problem. This actually is the problem I am facing right now with my 78 caprice, a head gasket is around 30 bucks..but the install takes forever...so you may want to take it to a pro to have it done. An easy way to check if it is a blown gasket is to...
1. Make sure your car is very cool...as in not run for like 2 hours
2. Pop your hood...open the radiator cap...not the overflow container...but the actual radiator cap.
3. Have someone go and start the car for you...while the car is running you carefully look into the radiator.
If you see massive amounts of bubbles...or especially whiteish foam...you have a bad gasket...replace asap.


hope this fixes it...

[90Corolla]

had the same problem with mine once. Check the Distributor cap for any cracks they dont exactly jump out at you so check thoroughly. If it does have a crack they are fairly cheap to replace. If your looking for a little better fuel economy go get a set of Bosch spark plug wires. they cost about $50 and come with a new D cap. takes about 5 minutes to install. Good Luck!