I have a 2003 Mercury Sable with about 80,000 miles on it. Just took a 900 mile road trip across the desert and 10 miles away from my destination the car stalled. At the time the engine temperature was totally normal and there was more than enough fuel in the tank. The next day I got the oil changed (it was about 1,000 miles overdue…) and also got the fuel filter changed (my mechanic told me that whoever changed it last put it in BACKWARDS! So happens it was the DEALERSHIP! Ugh). Still the engine is acting funny. At very low speeds the engine will sort of hiccough and jerk just for a moment. In super slow stop and go traffic the engine JERKS when I go from a standstill to a low speed. What could be the problem? I need to drive this thing another 900 miles in about 7 weeks and I’d like to have this figured out before then. Thanks for your help!
It stalled. Then what? Was it towed? Was the car idling when it stalled? Were you thinking good thoughts when it stalled?
I was braking from about 60mph and it stalled. Luckily I was at a stop light. Turned the car off, turned it back on and it started up again. It hasn’t stalled since except the weird sputtery problems with the engine at low speeds.
Check the Idle Air Control (IAC). It’s supposed to stop it from stalling when it hits low RPM’s. Such as when you decelerate rapidly, the A/C kicks on, that kind of thing.