my engine stops at stop signs and lights 92 corolla

[toyotadriver]

The engine in my 92 corolla stops at stop signs and bounces up and down when stopped. Turning on the AC seems to help but i don't know what is wrong, and i don't want to run my AC durning the winter. I'm a busy college student who dosen't know much about cars. I need my car. Can someone help me please!

[trak0r]

does it seem to be loosing power? How many miles are on it?, is it manual?

[toyotadriver]

It's automatic, with 103,000 miles(i drive alot). Well this morning when it died at a stop sign it just turn off after being idle for a second, at that time the car had been on for less than 2 mintues. So i put the car in park and turned it back on and and drove the 2 minutes back home. when i got home i put it in park and sat there for a minute, and the engine seem to get spruts of energy, but i didn't sit there very long cause i had to find a ride to school. P.S. i really appreciate your advice

[trak0r]

how long has this been happening? It sounds like the fuel system isn't supplying enough fuel to the engine. Try replacing the fuel filter (should do every 15000 miles anyways) and see if that fixes it. The fuel filter being clogged up is a common thing to happen to cars and kind of fits with what your describing.

-trak0r

[toyotadriver]

I'll check it out. I just drove from Houston back to my hometown. I was stuck in Houston traffic for 2 hours. During that time i noticed a little bit of steam coming from my hood and the car was kind of bouncy. A cold front had just come through and it was rainy so i didn't think much of the steam because the temperature gauge was reading in the middle. When the car got bouncy in traffic the put the car in Neutral and it stopped. Anyway it took me a total of five hours to make it back to my home town and it drove fine on the highway. I had been home for an hour when i had to go to the store and the car didn't start. The radio and lights came on but the engine didn't. The next morning it started and the engine died at a stop sign in my neighborhood like i said in my first post. I'll check out the filter like you suggested. Once again, I really appreciate your advice. This has just been happening in the past 2 days, but last year it did something kind of similar, but then started acting fine. My dad had fiddle around with it last year but never figured out what was wrong and we stopped worring about it when it ran fine.
-Sara

[trak0r]

It is less likely that it is the filter after you mentioned all of that driving on the highway. I am leaning towards a timing belt slippage now because of the way it is running and won't run! your belt might be old and worn which can cause it to loose grip on the timing gears and slip under pressure. This is really bad in some interference engines (where valves can hit the pistons) which can be extremely expensive to fix. If you have a friend that has a timing light or a little know how, you can take off the covers and inspect the belt to see if it is worn, check the internet for postings relating to your engine to see what positions the cams and crank shaft need to be in - if they are not in the correct position, then your belt has slipped one of the pulleys. I know on subarus, there is a tensioner that keeps the belt tight during normal wear and tear, however, if the belt isn't changed at the 100,000 mile mark or whatever your engine requires, then then tensioner looses effect because the belt is too loose, and then you will have slippage.

MAke sure you replace both the belt and the tensioner when you do the replacement! It isn't worth loosing labor and costs of the belt when you don't replace the tensioner as well.

good luck!

trak0r

[toyotadriver]

My dad is going to look at it today after work and on Saturday. I'll be sure to let him read the reply you sent me because you lost me around the middle of th reply.