So I was out driving today, and every stop sign that I fully stopped at the car died. To re-start it, I had to put it back in park, turn the key and give it a lot of gas, then take off quickly. Once I was going it seemed normal though.

Only other thing like this that it's done is die on me once or twice before when I've been making u-turns.

Any ideas on what the problem is? It's an all stock base '97 Mark VIII with 105k miles on it.

whats it idling at?

sounds like the idle air control valve, dead center on top of the intake manifold. how does it idle? try tapping on it with a hammer (quick poss fix) if it makes it better just replace it and you should be ok

It idles at a little below 750 in park and right between 750 and 500 in drive. The idle seems a little rough maybe.. it shakes the car a little once your idling, if anybody understands that.

so what happens if you put the car in neutral at a stop, will it stay running?

I'm not sure. I just took it out again, driving like I would normally, and it didn't die at all. This seems to be an intermittent problem.

Earlier today when it was having problems, when I would put it back in park to try to start it again after it died, if I didn't give it any gas it would just die again though.

99% of the time its the IAC, ill go snap a pic

Ok thank you, that would be appreciated.

look up

Ah got it. How much does a replacement cost and is it something I would be able to replace myself?

im not sure 50-ish? 1 connector and 2 bolts, be glad you have a gen 2
here is a gen 1 as looking from the firewall foward :)

You could try not stopping at stop signs... :D

Ok thanks for all the help, I'll replace it. Lol and believe me, after the first two times it died it was california stops all the way home.

You could try not stopping at stop signs... :D

yea that works too, and joey ive seen you drive their just "slow signs"

Nooo.... Didnt you know, the ones with the white border around them are optional?

http://www.automotiveblogger.net/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/stop-sign.jpg

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL sure they are

What is the degree of difficulty of replacing that IAC? My son's car starts up and only idles at 500 rpms

im not sure 50-ish? 1 connector and 2 bolts, be glad you have a gen 2
here is a gen 1 as looking from the firewall foward :)

Ahh... so that where its at. I think my iac is playing up also but i disconnected the wrong harness. (the one other side of the throttle body) Can they be cleaned up ok? Worth a try before replacing.

usually you just wanna replace them, cuz you gotta pull them off to clean it so why do it twice?

Thats a good point but i didnt want to risk replacing it only to find that it hasnt solved the problem so i figured id clean it first and take it from there. I assume the wiper cowling would have to come off to access it easily. ( i have plenty of time on my hands at the mo)

Yeah, and the TB too, hope you have better luck than I did and I still couldn't break one of the nuts loose instead fractured my finger so I just sea foamed the sh*t out of it and keeping my fingers crossed, good luck with yours,:D

Thats a good point but i didnt want to risk replacing it only to find that it hasnt solved the problem so i figured id clean it first and take it from there. I assume the wiper cowling would have to come off to access it easily. ( i have plenty of time on my hands at the mo)

Good luck with that Id rather replace it just for peace of mind cause it SUCKS to change on a gen 1

just another reason why gen 2's rock :headbang:

Thanks for the info guys. Yeah i agree it looks like a nasty job. I will take a look tomorrow, see what happens.