Chrysler 300M chokes.

Got a 2001 Chrysler 300M with about 66k miles.

During the last few days in January 2006, it choked a couple of times when
stepping on the break pedal.
It litterally died out and the engine light came on. However, I was able to
restart it every time.
It seems like it dies when breaking, and nearing a stop below 40 MPH. So, I
took it to the mechanic.
Of course, the mechanic, first put it on the "computer" and there were no
errors returned. They fired it up right away with no obvious ignition issues.
He claimed that he tested wiring and other "typical diagnostics" such as
sensors and found nothing majorly wrong. As a result, he recommended minor
tune up (spark plugs, etc.) and fuel injector clean up. The Mechanic
recommended, ans we agree to this minor maintainence.

Unfortunately, following pick up, on our way back home, it died again.
I checked Chrysler's website for recalls, but I found nothing on this kind of
problem.
Your tips will be appreciated.

Vikings

 

Be clear, now: It happens *as you step on the brake pedal*? Or it happens
*as you near a stop*, whether or not you are stepping on the brake (not
"break") pedal?

If it is definitely related to brake pedal application, perhaps it is a
vacuum problem with your power brakes. If, on the other hand, it is
related to slowing to a stop regardless of brake application, then the
problem is more likely to be with the vehicle speed sensor and/or AIS
(idle air control).

You need to get the car to a much better diagnostician than the "mechanic"
you took it to.

 

This sounds like what happened to me and it was a sensor although, I could
not start the car again.

I'll reply back and let you know which sensor was replaced.

Also, being a Vikings fan, (Minnesota) please refrain from using Vikings and
Choke in either the same sentence or paragraph ;-)

Ken

 

Thanks for making me reflect on this mechanical problem.
"It happens on and off as I near a stop".
In fact, it happened once or twice while idleing.
However, it did happen at least once while driving about 65m/hr down to
55m/hr while breaking. It just die pretty much as soon as I hit the breaks,
going at high speed (scary!), giving me the impression that hitting the
breaks caused the stumble/misfiring shutting it down. Fortunately, I had
prepared myself to break far in advance. As a result, I avoided a rear-end
collision againts a vehicule in front of me (I turned into a parking lot I
had eyed ball far in advance). Again, I was able to fire it back on without
problems.

I will take it to a different mechanic.
Thanks you.

 

Funny!!!

I can relate to the "Vikings choking" on and off as well.
I will appreciate your information on the sensor fix up.

 

with a scan tool in hand and driving down the road the tech should be looking
at the crank sensor signal to see if it drops out when braking
the second thing to look at it is the battery and connections including the
ground lug on the strut tower and the battery lug under the red cover

 

I had a similar problem on my old Caravan. Here were the symptoms:
1) Engine stalled when I took my foot off the gas, but only after it
had run for awhile. (not when cold).
2) Gas mileage degraded about 10%
3) Heater only blew luke-warm air
4) Code "22" was set (checked using the method posted at ALLPAR -
http://www.allpar.com/fix/80s-codes.html

All these were fixed by replacing the thermostat, it was stuck open.
This caused the computer to feed to much gasoline, which caused the
stalling. As always, YMMV.