It stalls when approaching intersections, and sometimes in traffic, always can be restarted, have had battery changed, fuel system checks out. have left at the garage and they can never get it to stall, but it still does it and sometimes three or four times during the day. Have not been to dealer, am frustrated and afraid of getting in accident. Does anyone have any suggestions or information on what might e causing this?
It can be hard for a garage or a dealer to diagnose this problem since by the time they get to drive your car it has been sitting for a while and its not always under the same conditions as when you drove it (traffic, temp, driving habits, etc). Most test drives are usually quick and local, mechanics often have a difficult time getting paid for test drive diagnostics and wont always be able to put too much time into it ‘off the clock’ so to speak. How often will you clock out to analyze a project that you still have to figure out and don’t know if you’ll get paid for even if you do? You need to find a shop than can work with you on this without throwing parts at it like darts on a dartboard and be willing to pay for it.
As far as what might be causing this, without any further details provided:
Crank or cam sensor.
Torque converter or lockup switch.
Ignition switch or/and a 3 pound key chain hanging from it. (its not always the cars fault)
Idle air control valve.
Fuel pump or relay.
Wiring to ANY of the above OR elsewhere such as grounds, relays or ecm.
Clogged fuel filter, vacuum leak and then some.
Basically you need air, fuel, and spark all at the right proportion and time. Everything under the hood changes as temp rises, resistance builds up, things flex and shift, and as time goes on that will affect every component in some way, add 15 years of this and you’ll need more time and patience to deal with it.
Right of the bat, this sounds like an IAC that is starting to stick, and that is the first thing that should be checked. The IAC is a computer controlled motor which maintains the idle speed at the correct number of rpm’s, and when it starts to stick, this is what it does.
It is tricky if you have never done it, but there is a way, if you can brake with your left foot, of keeping a bit of throttle on it, not too much, keep it around 700 rpm, if you give it too much throttle you may run into someone. If this keeps it from dying, IAC is probably the problem.
If you have an rpm meter, glance it while keeping an eye on the road. When you let off on the throttle, that rpm meter should not drop below the estimated 700 rpm. If it gets sticky, it may run up and down below that level.