I wrote to you guys a couple of months ago, but I guess my problem doesn't rate, because you haven't answered it yet. Here it is again. My '88 Olds 88 stalls on my wife and me once or twice a month. It just stops running and we pull over to the side of the road and wait a minute, and it starts up again. Our mechanic has put in a new computer, alternator, battery, fuel pump, fuel filter and water pump, and none of those things has stopped the trouble. Do you have any other suggestions for us? -- Ray

Tom: Well, the only thing you haven't changed is the air freshener, Ray. So I'd swap that out next.

Ray: Actually, you've already tried a lot of the stuff we would have tried. But if you're still in an experimenting mood, the next things on my list would be a new ignition module and new coils. So I'd give those a try.

Tom: And sorry about not answering your question sooner (and this goes for everyone who writes to us), but we just can't answer every piece of mail and e-mail we receive. We're overwhelmed by the amount of correspondence we get. We get thousands of letters a week -- OK, hundreds if you subtract the ones that come from the IRS. But even hundreds is a lot. So thanks for bearing with us!

Wait! Don't buy another car without the mechanic's checklist that's included in Tom and Ray's pamphlet "How to Buy a Great Used Car: Secrets Only Your Mechanic Knows." It will help you get a good used car and avoid the clunkers. To order, send (check or money order) to Ruin, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. You can also order online.

© 1997 by Tom and Ray Magliozzi and Doug Berman Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

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