what is wrong with my car? Please help me ASAP

[97eclipseRS]

almost 3 weeks ago, my car died on me when i tried to start it and go to work. i had it towed to a shop around here for them to look at it. they cleanend out my tb and my iac as well as replacing the wires and plugs. last night, it started doing the same thing. it hasnt died on me yet but the annoying idle surge is back. im thinking either the iac needs to be replaced or i have an exhaust leak. i also kind of thought it could be the air filter which hasnt been cleaned in over a year so im thinking that could be causing it to lose vacuum and do what it is doing. if anyone has any ideas as to what could be causing it, please post and let me know asap because im planning on taking the car in again.

 

[dr1665]

Sounds familiar... Greg.

Like I said elsewhere, I would yank that filter after you've made sure all your vac lines and sensors are plugged in on the manifold. If it's got spark and fuel, the issue has to be either compression- or airflow-related. If everything checks out on the manifold, pull the filter and take a spin around the block. If the problem goes away, clean off that filter (clean it anyways) and see how she runs over the next couple days.

If you know something in particular is wrong, get it fixed while you wait for more replies.

 

[eclipse13]

I would make sure all of the vac lines are secure. I have had some come loose and it scared the shit out of me.