1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera stalls when it's hot out.

[kn4n]

Hi All:

New to this site. And very much a newbie at maintaining cars, so I don't know anything about trouble codes and the like.

I am the proud owner of a 1986 oldsmobile cutlass ciera, handed down to me from other family members. Love it. 2.5 liter 4 cylinder engine as far as I know. A rebuilt engine was installed I think in 1999.

I've noticed that it stalls when it's hot and humid out. It happened once last year, and twice this year (both in the last month.) The first time, it stalled after a 1 hour drive in hot summer weather (90s or so). It stalled briefly when I was stopped, but it restarted immediately (which was good as I was on a bridge.) Today, it did the same thing. I had driven it to a town an hour north of where I live. 10 minutes into the drive home it sputtered and stalled while driving. After about 20 minutes by the side of the road it started fine and ran beautifully all the way back.

I've been hunting around online, and it seems there are a number of possibilities. IAC valve, MAP sensor in particular come to mind.

Any ideas? ANY help would be appreciated.

[Prospeeder]

Clean the idle control valve, disconnect the battery to allow an idle relearn, and double check for any vacuum leaks

[Pontiac6ksteawd]

Does it die while in gear? And seem to keep wanting to drive foward no matter how hard you press on the brake pedal? That would be a TCC Solenoid. Easy fix too.

If it dies without and surging power (not that the 2.5 has power to begin with), I would probly say the CPS which can be quite the pain in the ass on the 2.5 to replace.

[kn4n]

Does it die while in gear? And seem to keep wanting to drive foward no matter how hard you press on the brake pedal? That would be a TCC Solenoid. Easy fix too.

If it dies without and surging power (not that the 2.5 has power to begin with), I would probly say the CPS which can be quite the pain in the ass on the 2.5 to replace.

Hi:

There's no power surge when it dies. TCC Solenoid? Will have to have a look. Thanks!

[kn4n]

Clean the idle control valve, disconnect the battery to allow an idle relearn, and double check for any vacuum leaks

Prospeeder:

Thanks! Will look at that this week.

kn4n

[Prospeeder]

also if its dying for awhile, the Igntion control module, and Crank sensor like to die hot

[kn4n]

Hi All:

I finally got around to cleaning the IAC valve this last weekend. My attempt ended with complete FAIL. I took it for a test drive (with the AC running intentionally), made it 13 miles, and when it stalled out the second time I called for a tow home. (I live in New York City. Most of the highways on either side of the island are places you would not want to stall out, so I decided not to risk it.)

I've ordered a new IAC valve, so I will put that in when it arrives.

In the meantime, I noticed that when I started it, the engine is idling really weirdly. It's probably done this since I first got the vehicle but I did not really do anything about it since the car was, well, not stalling. When I start, it seems to idle high, but then will go up and down. And when I turn on the A/C, it immediately runs much rougher.

I am thinking that the next step is to check for a vacuum leak (as suggested previously.) However, I don't really know the best way to do this. Any tips or other ideas? I might take it to my local mechanic but I was hoping to look at it myself before doing so.

Thanks in advance for any tips.

kn4n