What could be wrong with my car?

(2011-02-01 15:20:39)

1. Mirielle Says: I have a little old Ford Mercury that's been acting pretty terrible these past few days. It used to always shake when you started it, and occassionally at a stop light or stop sign, but now when I step on the brakes, the battery and water light come on, (I checked, it has water) and my car completely dies while it's still in drive, and I have to shift it back into park, and ATTEMPT to restart it, sometimes it takes four or five tries. But this happens everytime I come to a complete stop! It's super unreliable, and I have to drive far to get to the places I need to be, but I cannot trust this car, and I don't have the money at the moment to buy a new vehicle. Any ideas as to what could possibly be wrong with it? And it's not getting hot either.

Thanks.

P.S.
Im an idiot when it comes to cars.

2. Albert D Says: It sounds like your Mercury might have a partial clog in your exhaust system. To identify this problem do the following. With the engine running at an idle in neutral fold an old rag into your hand and cover the tail pipe as it comes out at the rear of your car. If you feel pressure build up and is hard to keep the rag on then it is not the exhaust, but could be ignition timing or leaking air intake
manifold/gaskets/loose fuel system components. etc, etc. If however the pressure doesn't build up and/or the engine dies look for a plugged exhaust or tail pipe also could be (If new enough) catalytic converter is plugged. If your exhaust is to blame then have your local muffler shop do the repairs and have them weld the system together. There are people out there stealing the converters for their contents. Good Luck
Albert D.

3. Amy Bergman Says: It could be a couple of things but I am going to put my money on the idle control valve. It could possibly be clogged up with soot. When the idle control valve is clogged, it will misread and cause the behavior you described.