Sputtering, stalling - Please help!

[palacie]

On the way to the market today, I noticed my '93 ES300 running a little rough, not idling smoothly at lights. When I parked, it sounded better.
After shopping, while driving home, it kept running rougher and as I got closer to home, when I needed a little more speed on a very slight incline, I got nothing when I accelerated. It started slowing down. Then, as I approached a stop sign, it suddenly started making loud sputtering noises and the engine died. I was able to start it up again but the sputtering was louder and it died again - it wouldn't restart. Someone told me that he saw smoke coming out of the rear. So, I had AAA tow me home as it was quite late and I had frozen food in the trunk.

Before I put myself at the mercy of a mechanic and since I know they love to take advantage of older ladies like me, I am hoping that you very knowledgeable folks can give me some helpful clues as to what might be causing this problem. The AAA guy said it might be a fuel pump or a fuel filter but, also, said that he was no expert - just his opinion.

Please, any and all advice will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks very much in advance,
Shirley

[morganr01]

Mine starts Sputtering when I give it gas. Anybody know why?

[yoji6365]

Did you guys get it fixed? What was the causes?

[palacie]

Originally Posted by yoji6365

Did you guys get it fixed? What was the causes?

Hi.... My problem turned out to be that mice had eaten through some wires! After that was fixed, on advice of the mechanic, I had my timing belt replaced as a preventive measure. Then, my car started hesitating when it was cold and didn't want to shift into 2nd or 3rd gear. The one who did the timing belt job lied to me and told me that it was a transmission problem and referred me to a transmission shop. So, I went to another mechanic who drove my car and told me to call the mechanic back who replaced the timing belt and that I should tell him that I had gone for a 2nd opinion and the new mechanic said he should recheck his job, that a 'tooth' on the timing belt was probably off. Well, that was it. So, the one who tried to shunt me off to a transmission shop corrected his mistake and my car has been running fine ever since. There are very few mechanics one can trust.... At least, that's what I have found.

Shirley