Q: car starts and immediately dies

asked by on December 28, 2017

my car recently began to give me problems starting after sitting for more than 30 minutes and sometimes even after five minutes it all started with losing power going uphill or while passing someone even on flat ground I replaced the fuel pump and fuel filter and a mass airflow sensor and that seemed to fix the problem a little bit but it will still come back randomly when I’m driving on the freeway it seems fine but once I’m back in town and I stop at a stop light or stop sign for too long or if I’m in traffic for too long problem comes back I try to accelerate the RPMs Only go up to 2000 in the car stalls and dies and when I go to start it you’ll start up and run fine for a little bit and the problem will come back and if the car sits for too long and I try to start it I have to try cranking it to her three times and it will start hesitantly but stay started but recently it’s been starting and just dying right away within five seconds

My car has 206000 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.

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A scan tool, which can read out short and long term fuel trim for example, would give you an indication of what is going on. Apart from what you already replaced, the slate of components that can cause what you are describing includes faulty camshaft or crankshaft position sensors, worn spark plugs, wires or defective ignition coil(s), inadequate fuel delivery or pressure due to clogged fuel injectors, contaminated or old gasoline, defective throttle position sensor, faulty idle air control valve, leaks in the EGR system, intake vacuum leaks, and so forth. Based on what you are describing the issue is probably "limited" and thus fairly easy to resolve and so the actual engine operating parameters should simply be evaluated on a scan tool. If you request an engine stalling diagnostic the responding certified mechanic will get this resolved for you promptly. If you have further questions or concerns, do not hesitate to re-contact YourMechanic as we are always here to help you.

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