Corolla '95 stalling/choking at low RMPs

[vladimirec]

Hi,
I have 1995 corolla with 193,000 mi.
Recently I had a problem where the car starts stalling at low RMPs. (the car is manual) so whenever I shift, the car starts choking. As soon as I rev the engine to high RPMs, it works fine. Needless to say, that when this happened, I had to drive home in the second gear non stop, so my car wouldn't stop.
I took it to MIDAS (big mistake, since they charged me $100 just to tell me that I need bunch of new parts before that can tell me the problem) and they told me that the car needs distributor cap, spark plugs, distributor rotor, cables, air filter, PCV valve, battery... SO, I replaced all these parts myself, however, the car is still acting the same. To me it seems like for fuel injection problem, but I am not sure what, and how to go check it out.

Any suggestions???

thanks

v

[badbrakes]

I had a similar problem on my 96 Corolla. The idling was erratic - not to the point where it would stall yet but enough to cause me concerns and do something about it. I simply cleaned up the throttle body and in my case it did help. You can buy a throttle body spray and spray it in the thottle body. I don't know how effective that would be though. In my case I dismantled the throttle body and cleaned it up thoroughly with a tooth brush and that throttle body cleanup spray. Not too hard a job... just be patient to make sure you reconnect all the hoses properly + tork the bolts to right specs. I'd say it takes 45 minutes to dismantle, 20 to clean and 30 minutes to put back together.

With a bit of luck, this may solve your problem... if not at least you will have ruled that possibility out +cleaning the throttle body can only help with proper idling and gas mileage.

good luck

[jdmccright]

Try cleaning out the EGR valve as well. These are notorious for getting clogged or stuck from deposits. Also, remember to gap the plugs correctly. If you bought those fancy "quad electrode" jobbies, yank 'em out & put in the OEM recommended or Autolite platinum. Bosch platinums are not gap adjustable...avoid those. After that, I'd check the timing.

[badbrakes]

very good point on the EGR valve. also note that you should also cleanup the EGR vacuum Modulator (not the same as EGR valve)... you have to take it apart anyways when taking the throttle body out. open it up and blow compressed air in the little filter.
also good point on gapping the plugs properly.