I have a 92 Acura with 170,000 miles and recently after I have driven the car about 30 minutes, or enough for the engine to be warm, if I park the car and shift into reverse or sometimes even drive, but more often in reverse, the engine cuts off. The engine always starts but immediately when I place the car in gear it shuts off again. This seems to only happen after I have driven the car for some time never when the car/engine is cold. One mechanic quickly told me without any examination of the car that I needed a new transmission. I am hoping to get feedback from others as to what is happening with my Acura.
Frustrated.
The next time this happens, step on the brake firmly and slightly step on the accelerator so the RPM’s come up slightly. Now try shifting it into gear. If the engine doesn’t stall, there’s a problem with the Idle Air Control valve.
Tester
(Tester you beat me by 5 seconds, good idea) Where is your shift lever located? I ask because if it is on the steering column it might be a wiring issue, action of shifting causing a problem shorting wires or aggravating loose connections etc., YOU NEED a second opinion from another mechanic on the transmission condition, and hopefully a mechanic that can isolate the problem during failure mode. There are many possibilities but my first thought is not to rebuild or replace the transmission. (after reading your post we both jumped to the conclusion that proper mainenance has been done, like air filter gas filter etc.)
Cleaning the internal passages of the idle air control valve (iac), and the throttle plate and bore, with Throttle Body Cleaner, could help a lot. Picture: http://www.autozone.com/autozone/catalog/parts/partsShelf.jsp?categoryDisplayName=Engine+Management&fromType=parts&fromString=search&parentId=cat10014¤tPage=1&filterByKeyWord=idle+air+control+valve&isSearchByPartNumber=false&navValue=15900207&categoryNValue=15999999&fromWhere=&itemId=prod10894&displayName=Idle+Air+Control+Valve&searchText=idle+air+control+valve