Car Dies and idles sporadically

Tiny
ANITA DOPLE
  • MEMBER
  • 2002 SATURN L300
  • 3.0L
  • 6 CYL
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 144,000 MILES
Had problem with car stalling, most of the time if the air conditioner was on it would not stall as long as you did not stop quickly, then the belt was squealing for about two weeks before I finally had it replaced. But air conditioner stopped blowing cold air right before replacing the belt. Once belt was replaced and check engine light reset and checked the air conditioner and he said it was over charged, but I do not think he checked both the high and the low readings and it had ran ice cold just a week before. It ran fine actually great for about fifteen to twenty miles then at a stop light died and check engine light came back on, now during the day it stalls immediately right after starting. I took it to auto parts to put it on the code reader and it has codes P0102 MAF sensor circuit frequency and P0050 HO2S-21 (bank 2 sensor 1) heater circuit malfunction, my question is would either of those things cause the air conditioner to stop working? Also while running and air conditioner on highest setting, the small fan in front of the radiator did not come on maybe this is the air conditioner problem.
Tuesday, June 7th, 2016 AT 7:26 PM

3 Replies

Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 42,895 POSTS
Hi ANITA

The check engine light will not make the air conditioner not work, please check out this guide for the air conditioner problem.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/car-air-conditioner-not-working-or-is-weak

For the engine stalling problem it could be one of the following problems which are shown in these articles.

First a vacuum leak.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-use-an-engine-vacuum-gauge

then stalls at idle.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/stall-at-idle

next is the mass air flow problem which can be fixed here.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-replace-a-mass-air-flow-sensor-maf

or the MAF can be cleaned here.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/mass-air-flow-service

Let me know what you find so I can help you.

Best, Ken

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Saturday, June 11th, 2016 AT 1:27 PM
Tiny
ANITA DOPLE
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
Hi Ken, I put a new maf sensor on and it no longer stalls so far. The info on the a/c is a little overwhelming for me and I dont know where to start. I went to go purchase the R134a and the guy in the parts store said that if I had someone hook up the gauge and it was in the red (overcharged) then it has a problem in the system somewherr and I would need to get that fixed and that refrigerant wouldnt do any good. What I dont understand is that if the a/c was blowing cold then suddenly stopped blowing cold and no refrigerant was ever added then how could the system get overcharged?
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Sunday, June 12th, 2016 AT 4:52 PM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 42,895 POSTS
It probably is not over charged so don't worry about that, its good to hear the stalling problem is fixed though. Look to see if the compressor get unplugged somehow or if the fuse is blown.
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Sunday, June 12th, 2016 AT 5:41 PM

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