Q: The car will start fine may run for 20 miles then shut down stopping at a light, but will restart.

asked by on July 11, 2016

When starting my car, it will start with no problem. I will drive the car maybe 14 miles or I can drive 42 miles, then all of a sudden it will shut down when slowing down for a light or going around a curve. The car will restart when you put it in neutral, but today it was harder to get the car restarted had to let the car set for about five minutes to get it restarted. There are no codes at this time but the last time it shut down it gave me a po122 code which is TPS BREAKE DOWN. Now the question is can this be the trouble.

My car has 233458 miles.

Throttle Position Sensor Replacement $144.21 - $717.44 Get a Quote

The code listed usually points to a malfunction in the throttle position sensor circuit. It makes sense the vehicle will shut down as the vehicle cannot operate safely if the control system cannot properly calculate the correct throttle position. As a safety protocol, the vehicle shuts down to prevent the possibility of a wide open throttle situation where the driver has not commanded a wide open throttle which can be very dangerous. Hire an experienced automotive technician like the ones here at YourMechanic to come by and perform a diagnostic check on your stalling issue to get down to the bottom of the problem.

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