While I was driving home yesterday my car just completely shut off out of no where just 1 minute away from my house. Luckily I had enough momentum to let the car roll to the front of my house but I tried to start the car back on but was very difficult. It turns on but does not want to idle and seems like it is chocking on itself. Eventually it idles but 10 seconds later it dies and the engine studders to a halt. I left it alone for about 5 hours and tried to start it and it turned on flawlessly and ran normal with out turning off which is throwing me off. I have had problems before with the car turning on before but never had the car shut off on me. Whenever the car was still hot from previous driving and I would start it sometimes it would not turn on smooth and the rpm's would jump up and down erratically until it settled down and idled. Right now the car turns on normal and runs but I dont want the problem to surface it's ugly little head so what kind of problem do you think it is? Complete tune up was don not too long ago and the fuel filter was also changed.

I might suspect a CTS

I'd agree with mike. Are there any CEL's?

I had a small leak from the upper radiator hose that would drip on the temp sensor. It was causing the exact same problem. You might want to check it out. :shrug

No cel's at all and not not a leak from the radiator. I started it this morning and it turned on just fine and ran normal, but Im just worried it will happen again. Car has been accelerating kinda slowly lately starting to think its fuel related.

Originally posted by FunkDocta
No cel's at all and not not a leak from the radiator. I started it this morning and it turned on just fine and ran normal, but Im just worried it will happen again. Car has been accelerating kinda slowly lately starting to think its fuel related.

Could be. Also, check the TPS and IAC.

http://nawdu.de/files/97-99ECB.PDF

Coolant Temp Sensor - pg. 509 (also http://www.2gnt.com/?d=CLT)
you can measure this by dipping the sensor in hot/cold water and ohming them out. Sorta like the picture on pg. 661 on http://nawdu.de/files/97-99ECB.PDF

Idle Air Control motor (IAC) - pg. 512 (also http://www.2gnt.com/?d=IAC)

Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) - pg. 509 (also http://www.2gnt.com/index.php?d=TPS)

I'd suggest saving the top link to your computer and bookmarking this: http://www.2gnt.com/view_all_pages.php

all the info you'll ever need for your 2gnt

Well the TPS was changed not too long ago along with the IAC so I'll check the CTS tomorrow. Car has not shut off on me yet since drving it the whole day today lets just hope it stays that way.

Once again thanks guys nothing but good help comes from this forum.

My problem when mine did this was that the relays were going out and needed replaced, which is a cheap and easy fix that you can check before looking into possible bigger issues. Luckily, yours did that when you were near your house. I was on the interstate. =P

I had a similar problem. The 5V reference wire that all the sensors use was grounded out in the speedo sensor. The computer will see every, or random sensors as bad because it can't tell the difference. The 5V reference wire is common to all sensors, so if it grounds out, they all go bad and your car dies. I would recommend unplugging one sensor at a time and see how your car reacts. If it finally runs with one unplugged then you have found your bad sensor.
At least that was my problem.
I had CEL's, and the devil tell me that it was my IAC and Cam sensor, but neither was bad. It was just that 5V reference grounded in the speedo that threw all the other sensors off.

This is a cheap, rather quick, test that could save you time and headache. It's worth a shot.

Let me know how it goes.

Once again car runs fine now dont know why it shut off out of no where and kept shutting off 10 seconds after starting but it doesnt do it anymore. I have tried unplugging some sensors to see if the car would react to the change and all sensors are working. While driving home from work today I floored it to make it through before the light turned red (not enough time to stop had to run it :)) and it accelerated soooo slooooowwwwww. I was in third gear at the time and it felt as if I was in my mom's 120hp piece o' shit corolla. Fuel filter was changed last month so im thinking fuel pump not pushing through enough fuel.

Originally posted by FunkDocta
Once again car runs fine now dont know why it shut off out of no where and kept shutting off 10 seconds after starting but it doesnt do it anymore. I have tried unplugging some sensors to see if the car would react to the change and all sensors are working. While driving home from work today I floored it to make it through before the light turned red (not enough time to stop had to run it :)) and it accelerated soooo slooooowwwwww. I was in third gear at the time and it felt as if I was in my mom's 120hp piece o' shit corolla. Fuel filter was changed last month so im thinking fuel pump not pushing through enough fuel.

Possible clogged converter or acting up TPS.