rsp169

I got my 1993 SC400 a year and a half ago and I haven't had any big problems with it. Recently though, my car has been acting a little weird on start up and idling. I had a problem a few weeks ago where my car was turning off randomly while stopped, not all the way, but the engine would shut off and the dash would stay on. Eventually I couldn't get my engine to start, but the lights still came on, and I got a new battery.

When I first put in the battery, the engine started weird and would turn off. It stopped doing that for a few weeks until today. I drove it back and forth, approximately 8 miles each way with a 3 hour gap, with no problem. Then when I got back in my car to drive it after leaving it off for an hour, the car would start and run fine for a few seconds, but it would then idle very slowly and start to shake and then it would stop. It kept doing this for 5-6 times, and I left it for another hour or so and went back out to it and it works fine again, with no noticeable problems. I read through many similar threads in the forum but I didn't see anything that was directly related to mine. Some of the similar threads that i've seen suggest spark plugs, any other ideas? I am really strapped for cash right now, so I can't try out everything. I am afraid to take it to a mechanic and have them charge me more than the value of my car to fix it.