My 91 did that and it was the mass air sensor. That thing is around $ 500 or more. Took the car to a dealer after I had replaced the simple things such as plugs, wires, coil and fuel filter. They replaced two other sensors for about $ 100 each before trying that MAF sensor. Think it was around $
1100 or $ 1200 by the time I got it back 3 weeks later. I sure hope I don't take another car there. I had written Toyota an e-mail about them after two weeks and got a nice responce back from them.
A nice response, you say? Did they give you back ANY of your $1200?
My email was to the Toyota headquarters and not the dealer while I was waiting for the car to be repaired. The $ 1200 was what the dealer charged after they finally got the car repaired. Headquarters never knew what the charge was. I did get a break if you want to call it one in that there are several prices for the sensors (list, what the dealer pays and what they may charge you). They told me the list price and a price they said they payed for the sensor. They said they were just going to charge me their price. Doubt it was true, but acted like it was ok.
I hate that dealership, but the others are over 20 miles away and doubt they are any beter. I used to have a mechanic that I relied on in his own business,but he retired. Now I have to find another if there are any around. Just a good thing I now have almost new Toyotas and hope they don't give any problems. The others I have had had over 150,000 before any work was done on them other than the standard maintence and brakes.
Before you go for the expensive parts, try changing the engine coolant sensor. 3-wire thingie, not the 2-wire one (which just goes to the temp gauge on your dashboard, and which I had changed by mistake, not realizing.) ECT sensor is cheap enough at any auto parts store - I paid around $30 or so for it from Napa Auto. I had the stalling at a red light problem, and after various dead-ends, this finally fixed it. (Does the engine stay alive a little longer if you throw the trans into neutral and tap the gas pedal?)
Michael
The first thing you should check is your ignition system - pull the plugs and replace them if they look funny. Check the wires too. Ah heck, just replace them both if they haven't been changed in a while.
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