[admiralcorncob]

i have a 1992 thunderbird with the auto 5.0. it has 65,000 miles. however it is unfit to drive right now.

if i do not warm the car up for about 15 minutes (until temperature guage is about 2/3rds of the way up), the car can not be driven. it will go for a minute or so, a few blocks, and then it will start stalling uncontrollably whenever i touch the gas pedal after coming to a stop. i can usually fend off the first few stalls by giving it an obscene amount of gas while releasing the brakes. once it finally stalls the first time, i can start it up again by holding the gas and turning the key, revving again with an obscene amount of gas. however it will stall immediately after this once i touch the gas pedal, and this stall is nearly unavoidable. it will continue to start and stall until i have pulled over to the side of the road (needless to say i'm not driving the car anymore...).

if i do warm up the car, it does not stall and there are no problems. although, one time after the car stalled and it was pulled over to the side of the road, i let it run and warm up so that i could take it home and park it (last time i drove it). when fully warmed up and just idling on the side of the road, it stalled. i let it cool down for about 15 minutes then drove it straight home. there was also a strange smell, *possibly* a burning/hot rubber/plastic type smell... i'm not sure, i could not identify it, i don't want this part to be misleading (in the past there was a strange 'burning water' smell and i had to replace a hose, if this is relevent i don't know).

the problems began after a rod connecting the front left wheel to the steering collumn snapped and the car was inactive for about three weeks, during which time i turned it on a few times to keep it from sitting and doing nothing. the car first stalled when i was going in reverse the first minute or so after turning it on after replacing the rod. in the past i have had a problem with reverse once or twice, where the car would not respond when in reverse. going forward it was a bit less responsive at times, and i would have to give it plenty of gas to get everythign working properly. sort of the same deal as with when it stalls - it was only until the car was warmed up fully that it was less responsive.

also the brakes have just now begun to be less responsive. normally when i even tap the brakes, i can feel them working. now, there is a hissing noise and far less resistence in the pedal when i press it down, and it starts to work only after i have it pressed down an inch or two.

my car has been suddenly attacked by all these problems, i hope that it is not totalled. i have heard that it may be the transmission, vacuum, etc etc etc, but no thunderbird experts have given me any input. thank you for your time, i appreciate any help that i can get.

zac