Questions and Answers

Eagle Summit Has Very Low Idle Speed Q. Howdy. In dire need of some insight before I trust a mechanic to spend my money. I have a 1994 Eagle Summit ES, 1.8 liter 16 valve, manual transmission, 77,000 miles. The problem is the vehicle idles okay in the cool mornings, but as soon as the engine heats up the idle dips to about 200 rpms.

Then when I start driving it will intermittently stall only when I come to a stop, especially on an incline. When I park the car and the motor is still warm I try to start it and it fires right up but dies right away. This will happen continuously unless I keep my foot on the gas. The kicker is this problem only happens about 75% of the time. Sometimes the car seems to run fine and I start scratching my head again. Could the problem be the Throttle Positioning Sensor?

A. Usually this kind of problem is caused by either a vacuum leak or bad Coolant Temperature Sensor. Before going too deep into the electronics, I would check all my vacuum lines and the air intake hoses. Especially the large black hose from the Air Flow Meter to the intake. They develop cracks in the valleys and are difficult to see.