Chrysler Repair: 98 Dodge Intrepid hard starting, poor idle after recent shut off, side exhaust manifold, exhaust gas recirculation valve

Question
My dodge intrepid runs great.  But if you have it running for awhile and stop it to go in somewhere and come back out and try to start it again it will diesel and then it wont go above four hundred Rpm it will do that for about twenty minutes worth of trying. I took it to a place where I live and they looked at it and said that the computer system needed updated. Because there computer said that the vapor lock needed updated. So then they took it to a Chrysler dealership to put it on there computer to update my system. When I got my car back the other night it was fine. Then I did some shopping today and at the last place I stopped it did it again. I have talked to a few other people I know and they suggest that it might be the fuel pump or the fuel filter. I don't know where the fuel filter is located. please give me a answer back soon I am so confused and frustrated...

Answer
Hi Kayla,
The fuel filter is always under the car just in front of the fuel tank that is located to the rear of the car. If you look under the car on the passenger side you will see fuel lines running along the inside of the chassis that go from the front of the tank all the way to the engine. At the fuel tank end of those lines you will find the fuel filter. But I doubt very much that this has anything to do with your problem.
If the Chrysler dealer checked the computer and read it out for fault codes and didn't find anything that would explain your problem, my suspicion is that your exhaust gas recirculation valve has a sticky movement of the valve stem which is causing it to remain ajar at the time you shut it off. Then when you come back to start it that valve being ajar makes it hard to start and idle.
It is mounted in a pipe that runs between passenger side exhaust manifold and the air intake manifold. The valve is mounted horizontally and has a valve stem between its round vacuum actuator top and the body of the valve attached to the pipe, inside the flange that connects the two parts. The stem has a slot into which you can insert the tip of a flat-bladed screwdriver so as to lever the stem back and forth against spring action which should move freely and close tightly. If the stem seems to be sticky so that stem doesn't close all the way by spring action, then you can try spraying some penetrating solvent like WD-40 on the valve stem to freeup its motion.
If the valve is sticking slightly ajar it will make for a rough idle and poor acceleration such as you describe because the mixture is too dilute. It is one of the most common causes of this symptom. So see if you can find the valve and check/lubricate the stem. To check it in motion you can rev the engine from idle to 2500 rpm and back to idle and watch to see if the valve stem moves freely in both directions to the extreme open and closed positions. It may be that the interior of the valve is cruddy so that might require that it be unbolted from the pipe where it it attached and cleaned. But chances are good it will only be a sticky stem. Feel free to write back with the results and other questions you might have.
I can't be sure this is your answer, but assuming there are no other fault codes it is the most likely reason because it is a part that can fail in this way and not set a code.
Roland