Hi Guys: I have a 2003 S2000 with 110,740 current miles. The battery was bought new 3 years ago at 86,000 miles. New plugs were put in 13 months ago at 104,300 miles. After driving about 20 miles yesterday the engine stalled twice coming to stops and restarted fine each time. No problems after that. What’s going on? Thanks for your expertise.

 

Idle air control valve. DIY guys aka Soviet did a great video on how to clean it. When they get sticky the car idles not great, and can stall when coming to a stop.

 

Mine did this when my exhaust valves were dangerously tight. I didn't think this was a problem for early models, but worth looking into.

Idle air is probably more likely.

 

Tight valves are quiet valves. If its sounds all clattery at idle, more evidence its iacv. But if suspiciously quiet, could be valves.

 

Thanks guys: Thanks for the advice. To avoid paying a mechanic, would it be a good idea for me to first replace my old air cleaner element with a new one and see if that eliminates the stalling? If it doesn't, should I take the car to the dealer and tell him what the problem is first, or just ask him to check the idle air control valve? Thanks.

 

This is the perfect car to learn DIY skills on, since anyone you take it to will likely make things worse. ESPECIALLY the dealer. You just need to be methodical and follow the procedures, as a bonus you learn about mechanical systems. This car is simple enough, and everything is just about doable with jack stands and basic hand tools and a handful of special tools..

 

With this car, if you're using ogre strength on anything except the rear axle nut, you're probably doing it wrong.

 

Dealer will not fix a part, they'll only replace it.

Only an Specialist shop will know how to clean the iacv.

Your choices are:

Get ripped off by dealer, and they break something else

Follow the easy YouTube and diy

Ask a diy savvy friend to watch the YouTube, and he diys

 

Hi guys: Thanks for your texts on this subject. I replaced my old air cleaner element with a new one bought from the dealer and haven't had a problem with the car stalling.

 

That's great news, but surprising. Can you share how dirty your old air cleaner element was? Maybe a photo? It would have to be very dirty to cause an intermittent stall, if at all. I don't want to jinx you, but you still might have a problem.