Car has low idle - intermittently dies at idle - rough starting again

[joeykrim]

Searched through here and read a bunch of different threads. Due to my lack of experience I'm having a hard time identifying what is useful and what isnt from the other threads.
Hopefully somebody can help me clarify.
I don't know a whole lot so I'm gonna start basic here.
90 Camry, 4 cylinder, auto transmission, 190k miles. Three things are needed for the engine, air, fuel, and spark.

My car is parked in a garage with valet, no other choice in Manhattan, so I'm not sure what happens when the car is first started cold.

I pick up my car already running from the garage. Drive around the city. Parked at a stop light, engine idle sounds very low, no tach to see exact numbers. The engine just dies. No noise, nothing, just as if I had turned the key to off.

Attempting to restart it, it cranks/starts for as long as .5 secs to 2 seconds, always struggling and then dies. Takes between 2 and 10 minutes of attempting to start multiple times before it starts back up. When it starts back up successfully, it sounds completely normal, no stuttering or anything, although the idle sounds normal to low.

Driving on the highway, everything feels great, anything other than idle, everything feels perfect! Would never know there was an issue unless idling.

When the car is being started after it has died, hitting the gas during start doesn't effect it. It seems to die quicker than I can pump the gas.

I've tried to give all the details I can. Back to fuel, air and spark. Ive had spark plug problems between and it was through the whole spectrum of 5-60 mph. The distributor was replaced brand new 9-10 months ago.
Fuel, first time it happened I thought it might be some bad fuel but its happened multiple times since then. Would think if its injectors, fuel line or bad fuel it would be consistent and not an intermittent problem?

I'm sure my logic and knowledge is flawed and incomplete. Please let me know any ideas. I'm probably going to have to take this to a shop, so it would be best to know as much as possible to sound intelligent with any new york mechanic!

[Mike Gerber]

The most common cause of this problem is a dirty idle air control valve. I would start by clening the throttle body, paying particular attention to spraying the cleaner liberally down in to the square or diamond shaped port in the base of the throttle body. That port leads to your idle air control vlave, where your problem may exist. Spray the cleaner liberally down that hole and let it soak for 15 or 20 minutes while you go on to clean the rest of the throttle body. Here's a DIY on the later generation 4 cylinder 5SFE engine. Your 3SFE engine should be almost identical.

How to: Cleaning Throttle Body -4 Cylinder Engines- With Pictures

One more bit of advice. Don't do this in an enclosed garage. Do it outside. The car will smoke a bit when you first restart it.

Mike

[mcx]

i had similar problems..like the above post mentions,clean your TB...I used Seafoam and had excellent results. ..smooth idle and better MPG.

[joeykrim]

i took the great advise provided on here and my own intuition which was to clean the throttle body. i followed the guide linked to above and i had done it once before in an auto mechanic class.
cleaned out the throttle body, nothing unusual. went to start the car, it cranked and sputtered a few times before it completely started but seemed normal. let it idle and was a little rough at first but after 10 min it seemed to be back to normal. i turned the car off.
24 hrs later, the next day, today, i got back into the car and started it up. it cranked a sputtered a few times like it did the day before after cleaning the TB but started up fine. idle was a little rough but calmed down within 1-2 minutes of idling.
took it out for a drive to make sure everything was good. was out driving for probably 20 minutes when turning a corner, the engine turned off and all the dash lights came up like it does when first putting the key to the ON position. when the engine shut off the car didnt shutter, no noises, it just silently died.
trying to start it again, it would crank and attempt to start but couldnt, the engine would start but it sputters and dies. tried it a few times, a few minutes apart then gave up and decided to wait. 10 min later, it started up, drove about a mile and same thing happened, the engine just silently dies and all the dash lights come on. i dont have a tach so no idea about the RPMs, only have a voltmeter I added a few yrs ago. as soon as the engine cuts, the voltage starts dropping, thats the only way i could notice because the city/road noise is so loud i couldn't hear the engine cut out and it seems to do it very quietly.
attempted to start it, it sputters and dies. after 5 min of waiting, it finally started, drove it literally 50 feet and the engine cut out again.
waited 10 minutes, started it again, let it idle and as soon as i hit the gas it died.
called a tow truck, paid $85 to have it towed to a garage on 38th between 9th and 10th (for those of you in NYC). ive never been to the garage before, they specialize in VW and Audi.

ill be hearing from the mechanics tomorrow (9-10 hrs from now) with their diagnosis. the original guy on the phone was thinking its fuel filter and/or fuel pump. i changed the fuel filter probably 5 years ago, but i suppose a bad batch of fuel in NYC isnt unheard of... what do you guys think could be all of the possible issues? what can i expect to hear? any and all feedback is appreciated! thanks!

[joeykrim]

going to drop by the shop this morning. any feedback would be really helpful on the type of issues/repairs to expect them to make?