Toyota Repair: 97 Camry Engine Speed Problem, air control valve, toyota camry

Question
Hello Ted,

I have a 1997 Toyota Camry (automatic transmission) with 117K miles on it.  

I recently found the following problem with the car:

The car is stop on brake (not on parking gear, but Drive gear) with AC turned on. I found that sometimes its engine has  trouble maintaing its speed.  The engine seems "choke" a little bit, as if the engine will completely stop. Therefore,  I would have to switch to Nutual, step on the brake and give it a little gas, so that the engine won't stop.

How can I fix this problem?

I live in the South, and never had trouble with the car in the winter.  I have been doing regular oil change on the car, and replaced its timing belts when it reached 60,000 miles.  I don't know whether an engine tune-up will help.  This car has never had an engine tune-up.

Many thanks for your advice in advance!

Tony

Answer
The best way to fix this problem is to replace the idle air control valve, it's located on the throttle body, the T/B has to be removed from the intake system so the IAC valve can be replaced, while it is off clean the throttle body with some T/B cleaner and a stiff brush on the inside.