'95 Geo Prizm sputters and stalls out when stopped in gear

UNCLEG22

MEMBER
1995 GEO PRIZM

1995 Geo Prizm - 4 cyl - 145,000 miles

Out of the blue yesterday, I was in drive and the car was fine. As soon as I pulled up to the next traffic light and came to a stop, the car started to sputter and shake. When I went to accelerate, the car hesitated and felt like it was going to stall out. I floored it and the engine got some gas and the car ran fine. Up until the next traffic light, where it did the same thing as I came to a stop. This time when I accelerated, it sputtered and hesitated again, but eventually stalled out in the middle of the road. I started it up and had the same problem. The car starts up fine and as long as it is in park, it runs exactly the way it always has. But when I put it into gear (either drive or reverse), it begins to sputter again and will eventually stall out. Last time this happened was right after a tune-up and my mechanic told me that one of the spark plugs was not tightened completely. Could this be the problem again? It seems like the same symptoms. Thanks for your help.

2 Replies

COSMOKREMER

MEMBER
4 POSTS

It sounds like your sparks are in fact loose, or dirty - if they are still good (you had them changed, right?)
You might also have abd spark plug wires.

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Thursday, November 29th, 2007 AT 2:15 PM

MMPRINCE4000

MECHANIC
8,549 POSTS

Make sure the tank has gasoline in it. The gauge may be reading incorrectly.
Change the fuel filter. If it still does it, it may be a bad fuel pump or a clogged CAT.
You can check the fuel pump with a mechanical fuel pressure gauge, and disconnect the exhaust from the header to check for a clogged CAT (just don't run the engine very long).