Have a little more time to spew verbal diarrhea about this problem now that my boss is no longer breathing down my neck...
Most common cause of stalling at a stop: idle too low. This is more likely if your car is old [the automotive internal combustion engine needs to have its idle gradually turned up progressively higher and higher as it ages past 75,000 miles or thereabouts], less likely if you have had it [the car] tuned up recently. As one might intuit, this problem is not serious, and can be corrected with a full tune-up [recommended], or one of your more car-savvy friends coming over with screwdrivers and/or socket wrenches, depending on your make and model [not so recommended]. You say your car stalls about 75% of the time; if it comes "close to stalling" the other 25% (shudders, sputters) but narrowly avoids dying, idle-adjustment/possible replacement of the idle controller are good places to start. Probably an hour or two of labor.
Second most common cause of stalling at a stop: automatic transmission is having difficulty downshifting from a higher [2nd/3rd/4th] gear into the slow/stopped speeds you encounter at a red octagonal sign... now your car is travelling at the lower speed, but couldn't get down into the lower gear, and your car stalls. This can be middling-expensive -- O-rings starting to disintegrate in the transmission column, causing the 'liquid clutch' to slip back and forth differently than it might otherwise, or perhaps a lock-up torque converter which is starting to stick (will correctly lock into place when you accelerate, guaranteeing you optimal gas mileage at high gears/speeds, but is reluctant/slow to 'unlock' when you decelerate), or perhaps the sensor which tells the torque-converter when to "lock up" and when to "release". Probably a few hundred bucks; recommend buying the cheapest rebuilt transmission you can find (not worth getting a new one), or inquire as to a "rebuild kit" if the mechanic thinks he/she can correct your existing tranny.
If the car has a manual transmission or carburetors: All bets are off, the situation is considerably more complicated. ; )
Hope it works out for you -- but defer to the opinion(s) of a certified mechanic [or Justin Brzowski, whichever you can find first] over my amateur Brookline-High-Adult-Ed-Auto-Maintenance education in all cases.
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...automatic transmission, revisited (or why sven is not just pulling this out of his @$$)
Date: 2002-08-01 11:52 am (UTC)Have a little more time to spew verbal diarrhea about this problem now that my boss is no longer breathing down my neck...
Most common cause of stalling at a stop: idle too low. This is more likely if your car is old [the automotive internal combustion engine needs to have its idle gradually turned up progressively higher and higher as it ages past 75,000 miles or thereabouts], less likely if you have had it [the car] tuned up recently. As one might intuit, this problem is not serious, and can be corrected with a full tune-up [recommended], or one of your more car-savvy friends coming over with screwdrivers and/or socket wrenches, depending on your make and model [not so recommended]. You say your car stalls about 75% of the time; if it comes "close to stalling" the other 25% (shudders, sputters) but narrowly avoids dying, idle-adjustment/possible replacement of the idle controller are good places to start. Probably an hour or two of labor.
Second most common cause of stalling at a stop: automatic transmission is having difficulty downshifting from a higher [2nd/3rd/4th] gear into the slow/stopped speeds you encounter at a red octagonal sign... now your car is travelling at the lower speed, but couldn't get down into the lower gear, and your car stalls. This can be middling-expensive -- O-rings starting to disintegrate in the transmission column, causing the 'liquid clutch' to slip back and forth differently than it might otherwise, or perhaps a lock-up torque converter which is starting to stick (will correctly lock into place when you accelerate, guaranteeing you optimal gas mileage at high gears/speeds, but is reluctant/slow to 'unlock' when you decelerate), or perhaps the sensor which tells the torque-converter when to "lock up" and when to "release". Probably a few hundred bucks; recommend buying the cheapest rebuilt transmission you can find (not worth getting a new one), or inquire as to a "rebuild kit" if the mechanic thinks he/she can correct your existing tranny.
If the car has a manual transmission or carburetors: All bets are off, the situation is considerably more complicated. ; )
Hope it works out for you -- but defer to the opinion(s) of a certified mechanic [or Justin Brzowski, whichever you can find first] over my amateur Brookline-High-Adult-Ed-Auto-Maintenance education in all cases.
Sven