Engine stalls out during idling or low speeds.

lordgratius

I have a 2004 Mazda 6 that has been giving me issues. When at a stop light or idling my car's oil light will blink for a few seconds before my engine stalls and I have to turn it off and turn it back on to continue moving. Also have been having issues accelerating. Any suggestions on what could be the issue?

Things I've currently done already "just had all the spark plugs replaced, Changed the coolant with brand new coolant, (had some over heating problems) and I've just had the oil changed last week.

I've taken my car to 2 mechanics so far which have not impressed me at all honestly.
First mechanic: "changed my oil" then wanted $600 to change my spark plugs. Paid for the oil change and left it at that. (waaaay to much money for spark plugs.)
Second mechanic: I asked to change my spark plugs and to check the coolant to my car because it's been over heating.
He charged me $285 for the spark plugs and said he checked the coolant and it was fine. Paid the guy and went home. on my way home I noticed it was still over heating so I figured it wasn't the coolant, well I took off the cap and the coolant tank was just about empty. He never checked it at all. I went to auto zone asked for coolant for a 2004 Mazda 6 and did it myself.. (no more heating issues so far.) But my car is still stalling out and I'd like to know what some underlining issues could be so I can address them as promptly as possible given my poor experience with mechanics the next mechanic I want to talk to I'd like to ask them about the issues I think it may be. (I'm not 100% car savvy which is why I'm on here asking for help.. please and thankyou!)

thecardoc3

lordgratius said:

But my car is still stalling out and I'd like to know what some underlining issues could be so I can address them as promptly as possible given my poor experience with mechanics the next mechanic I want to talk to I'd like to ask them about the issues I think it may be. (I'm not 100% car savvy which is why I'm on here asking for help.. please and thankyou!)

I think I see why you are having trouble getting this solved. The worst thing you can do is to go into a shop and tell them what you think is wrong and want to have done. If you convince them that you know what it is and ask for something in particular to be done and that doesn't correct the problem that isn't their fault. For example, spark plug problems will cause misfires and do need to be replaced as part of regular maintenance, but replacing them to try and fix a stalling at stops was a bad choice and that's not based on just this outcome. Even the overheating issue and coolant replaced (or was it just added?) as described leaves too many gaps.

In order to solve the stalling issue, the first thing that must be done is diagnostics to prove why the engine is cutting off. Just getting a list of what it "could be" from people who aren't testing it or even experiencing the failure first hand won't help and is far more likely to be misleading than it is to help.

Another issue is the pricing for replacing the spark plugs. There are too few details here to know exactly what was quoted. Is this the V6? Was the one shop recommending replacing some the coils as well as the spark plugs? I ask this because there is some logic to the idea of replacing at least the rear three coils that are underneath the intake in the rear cylinder head. Meanwhile the ones in the front cylinder head should one of them happen to fail in the future are easily accessible.