# Car steering wheel stuff and brakes stiff and no acceleration **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** chevrolet, cavalier\ **Created:** [September 14, 2018, 5:49pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-steering-wheel-stuff-and-brakes-stiff-and-no-acceleration/124987 "2018-09-14T17:49:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cwalker30427\_142134](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@cwalker30427\_142134](https://community.cartalk.com/u/cwalker30427_142134)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 5:49pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-steering-wheel-stuff-and-brakes-stiff-and-no-acceleration/124987/1 "2018-09-14T17:49:29Z")
So one day my car just stalled and wouldn’t accelerate but a quick restart got it working. Then later now I backed out then put it in drive and all my dash lights came on, steering wheel was stiff, brakes were stiff, and I couldn’t accelerate. I restarted the car and it just worked fine after that. Another day the same thing happened right in the middle of driving and I coasted it to someone’s driveway and I restarted and it just started working. Just wanna get some answers on what my problem might be here. I have a 1997 Chevrolet cavalier. ---
**Author:** ![Rod-Knox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Rod-Knox](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Rod-Knox)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 6:13pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-steering-wheel-stuff-and-brakes-stiff-and-no-acceleration/124987/2 "2018-09-14T18:13:06Z")
Did the engine stall-go dead? When the engine stops running the steering wheel will become difficult to turn the the brake pedal will be high and hard. ---
**Author:** ![cwalker30427\_142134](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@cwalker30427\_142134](https://community.cartalk.com/u/cwalker30427_142134)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 6:33pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-steering-wheel-stuff-and-brakes-stiff-and-no-acceleration/124987/3 "2018-09-14T18:33:02Z")
I think so I am not really sure but the first time it wouldn’t accelerate the check engine light was on. I would say it did because that’s exactly how the brake pedal felt ---
**Author:** ![oldtimer-11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e79b87/32.png) [@oldtimer-11](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldtimer-11)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2018, 2:28am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-steering-wheel-stuff-and-brakes-stiff-and-no-acceleration/124987/4 "2018-09-15T02:28:37Z")
Yes, if the engine stall, the car won’t accelerate, the check engine and other dash lights will be on, the brakes and steering will be stiff. These are all normal when the engine stalls. The only thing you need to fix is the stalling engine. ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2018, 3:49am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-steering-wheel-stuff-and-brakes-stiff-and-no-acceleration/124987/5 "2018-09-15T03:49:25Z")
My guess is a problematic idle air control valve. ---
**Author:** ![cwalker30427\_142134](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@cwalker30427\_142134](https://community.cartalk.com/u/cwalker30427_142134)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2018, 4:27am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-steering-wheel-stuff-and-brakes-stiff-and-no-acceleration/124987/6 "2018-09-15T04:27:00Z")
Yes that’s the problem ---
**Author:** ![cwalker30427\_142134](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@cwalker30427\_142134](https://community.cartalk.com/u/cwalker30427_142134)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2018, 4:30am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-steering-wheel-stuff-and-brakes-stiff-and-no-acceleration/124987/7 "2018-09-15T04:30:01Z")
Is that an easy fix or a more complicated one ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2018, 11:05pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-steering-wheel-stuff-and-brakes-stiff-and-no-acceleration/124987/8 "2018-09-15T23:05:45Z")
> [@cwalker30427\_142134](#): > > Is that an easy fix or a more complicated one Correcting an idle air control valve problem isn’t overly complex. If a new iac is required the part might be a little expensive. Often however they can be de-gunked as part of a throttle body cleaning and will resume normal operation.