'97 Q45T Stalling/Hesitating

[danialtycholaz]

Hey guys,

I'm new to the forum here and I have a few questions. I have done a search and I have found a few different answers.
I have a 1997 Q45T, 166,000 miles, and it stalls every so often, mostly when I'm sitting at a light, but it's also stalled while its been moving. Fires up no problem after, like nothing happened. I've also had it hesitate, like if I push the gas pedal in, it'll drop in rpm's, or it won't move at all. Usually the "TCS Off" and "Slip" lights come on after it. I've searched and came up from things like bad ignition coils, to having a gunk built up in the transmission. I don't really have a lot of funds to play with so I'd like to see if you guys could help diagnose what's wrong with my car. Any help is greatly appreciated.

I'm going to try cleaning my MAF, getting a transmission fluid change to see if any of these help.

Danial

[maxnix]

Welcome to the Forum.

First off, a luxury imported V8 sedan is not a good thing to have if you don't have the funds to maintain it. You really should be in something like a Mazda 3, Civic, Yaris, or Elantra. I know they are not as cool, but they demand a lot less cash to keep running.

While your ideas are good (how will you "change" the ATF? Is there and Auxiliary cooler installed?), you should probably spend more time reading the previous posts. Without some knowledge of your car's maintenance history, we can only guess blindly. Cleaning the MAF probably has more risk than success unless air filter change intervals were abused or after market (like the dreaded K&N) filters were used.

I can about guarantee that at the minimum you will have to replace your coil packs (and plugs?). Neither is that difficult with the correct tools, but the former will cost you about $600 minimum for the parts, and the latter about $100. If these sums give you pause, sell the car and put your funds into something less expensive to maintain.

[qship96]

Lucky for you, the car is modern enough to include OBD2 diagnostics.....which greatly eliminates the expensive guessing game of earlier vehicles- hook up a obd2 code reader and report your findings.

[Lokim]

Another thing to try, being that it is cheap and easy and it likely needs it anyway, is buy a can of throttle body cleaner (I like 3M's, around $5) and grab an old toothbrush and a rag. Take the intake hose off and spray the throttle plate liberally, open the throttle and spray the throat liberally as well. Scrub with your old toothbrush, spray a bit more to rinse, and wipe clean with the rag. Repeat until shiny and spotless (or you run out of cleaner.) Do this to BOTH throttle plates, TCS and and accelerator pedal-linked. See the FSM.

I'm not a subscriber to maxnix's school of thought. I respect his opinion, but I think you can drive whatever you want, as long as you're willing to learn how to fix it and equip yourself accordingly if you can't afford for someone else to. Parts for these are pricey. If you're willing to make the necessary sacrifices, by all means, keep your Q alive! If you are unable or unwilling to learn about and fix your Q, than I do think you should consider more "user-friendly" wheels. Just my 2 cents.

[maxnix]

I'm not a subscriber to maxnix's school of thought. I respect his opinion, but I think you can drive whatever you want, as long as you're willing to learn how to fix it and equip yourself accordingly if you can't afford for someone else to. Parts for these are pricey. If you're willing to make the necessary sacrifices, by all means, keep your Q alive! If you are unable or unwilling to learn about and fix your Q, than I do think you should consider more "user-friendly" wheels. Just my 2 cents.

That's pretty much what I said. Note I made no mention of labor costs. Most young'ns don't wrench these days, though.

[Lokim]

I'm not a subscriber to maxnix's school of thought. I respect his opinion, but I think you can drive whatever you want, as long as you're willing to learn how to fix it and equip yourself accordingly if you can't afford for someone else to. Parts for these are pricey. If you're willing to make the necessary sacrifices, by all means, keep your Q alive! If you are unable or unwilling to learn about and fix your Q, than I do think you should consider more "user-friendly" wheels. Just my 2 cents.

That's pretty much what I said. Note I made no mention of labor costs. Most young'ns don't wrench these days, though.

Now that I re-read your post, you're right. Sorry Brian. I guess I just misunderstood your "tone of voice" so to speak...