Why does my 1998 Toyota Camry tends to die on my on cold days after running 15 minutes.?

Question

It seems to be on dry days (no rain), but that's less certain now. I've been dealing with this problem for about 3 year. It happens about 3 to 6 times in a month period, then I don't have it happen again for a while. Everytime I take it to a machanic they can't replicate the problem. As a result, I either take it home with out fixing it, or they charge me money for guessing at a fixes.

I can feel a jurking in prior to it stalling. Usually it keeps going until I lift my foot off the gas. I can, and have become skilled at, running it with one foot on the gas, one on the break and switching between drive and neutral. Not too safe.

Any guess is as good as my machanics.

Answer 1

This is the most common problem with camrys. there seems to be two main causes of this. #1 is a dirty throttle body. You dont need a mechanic to clean it. Ill post a picture of it at the end.
remove the throttle body, and buy some throttle body cleaner. you will see a flap inside the tb surrounded by black carbon buildup. This is what youre trying to get rid of.spray the crap out of the throttle body, it should all come out without any scrubbing.
#2. Now if this doesnt solve the problem, then its the distributer. Its not the disty cap/rotor, its the distributer itself. This is a fairly expensive part ($170 rebuilt), and is more difficult to replace. It you have a general knowledge of autos, then on a scale of 1-10 (10 being hardest) its a 3.
Here are the numerous complaints:
http://toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8158&st=25
www.automotivehelper.com/cat441
http://www.motorsm.com/AUS/cars/complaints_corner_p.asp
www.tundrasolutions.com/forums/engine-and-drivetrain/2760-dirty-throttle-body/
heres a picture of the throttlebody and plate that need to be cleaned:
http://www.jasongraphix.com/archive/images/gaspedalsticking1.jpg