First Item:

 

My 1995 Legacy LS AWD wagon (automatic) does this somewhat unpredictable thing where if I come to a quick (or fairly quick) stop, the car dies. I don't mean slam-on-the-brakes kind of situation, but not a slow, gradual stop, either.

 

I can sometimes guess when it'll happen, and sometimes it stutters a little before stalling out, but other times it just shuts off. It's only ever happened while stopping, and has never shown any signs of it happening under load. I don't recally 100%, but I'm pretty sure sure that most of the time it only does it when it's not cold or cold-ish. In other words, on the school run in the morning it's more likely to do it than later in the day when I pick the boy up ... though now that I think of it I'm pretty sure it's done it then once or twice, too.

 

I do have a check engine light on, which FairTax says was due to a simple piece of hose and t-fitting missing (which I have yet to replace). Maybe related?

 

Second item:

 

Just this morning it appears my front passenger exterior door handle ceased to function. I tried a few times, used the manual lock/unlock, used the power lock/unlock -- nothing. Interior works fine, but no-go now on the exterior. How much does this repair suck?

 

Thankfully I rarely have front seat passengers, just kids in the back. Just kind of glad it's not the interior handle...

20 year-old car is expected to need a 'sucky' repair every few months.

 

while warm and idling, try tugging/pulling on some wire harnesses and hoses under the hood - maybe a vacuum hose is cracked (even a vacuum gauge might be useful with this problem) or a ground or other wire/connector is intermittent. Does it feel like the car is 'pulling' when this happens? maybe a Torque Converter issue?

Could be a dirty idle air control valve sticking slighty. If there is a hose disconnected it should be doing it all the time, but it still couldn't hurt to check for vacum leaks

For clarification, does the car turn off electrically when you come to a stop or does just the engine stall out? If it's just the engine I'd suspect a torque converted-related issue. To check that, can you try shifting it into neutral before coming to a stop when the conditions are right for it to quit?

If the whole car is shutting off then I have no idea other than a possible connection in a harness somewhere as was mentioned. Good luck either way.

For clarification, does the car turn off electrically when you come to a stop or does just the engine stall out? If it's just the engine I'd suspect a torque converted-related issue. To check that, can you try shifting it into neutral before coming to a stop when the conditions are right for it to quit?

 

If the whole car is shutting off then I have no idea other than a possible connection in a harness somewhere as was mentioned. Good luck either way.

 

Weird, I replied to this yesterday (or so I thought), but it's not there now...

 

Anyway, yes -- it's a mechanical stalling. All of the electronics are fine. I think you're right on the torque converter front, because I've actually been shifting it into neutral quite regularly because then it won't die.

 

How terrible is dealing with the converter?

I'm no expert on trans work.One of the elders around here will have to chime in for sure but my first instinct would be a trans fluid change.