Here are the symptoms:
When I start my 1999 Honda CRV, it revs up to about 1000rpm for a second or two then drops to almost nothing, revs back up to about 1300rpm and then falls down to 0 and dies. Sometimes it will just heave from 1300ish rpm to almost 0 rpm and not die. On rare occasions there will be no odd behavior after ignition and will run just fine. The engine will not die If i pump the gas. From time to time it will die after coming to a stop while driving. More commonly it will idle low and rough at stops. All of this was much more severe in cold weather (I’m in New York State) but is still a persistent problem. This has been occurring for almost two years. The check engine light has only come on in the last couple months.
I can be more specific if necessary.
Thanks for any help.
Have you seen why the engine light is on? That is a good place to start. When was the last tune up? Another possible culprit is your idle air control valve. A vacuum leak could also be causing your problem.
There’s a whole host of possibilities. It’d be a big help if we knew what codes were causing the CEL to light up. Take the car to an Autozone, have them do a free code-reading, and post them back here. Should get us pointed in the right direction.
Sounds like the IAC (idle air control) solenoid.