Van shuts down when braking – Chevrolet Astro 3.6 L 2002

Hi,

I have a 2002 Chevy Venture minivan (s0rry the pulldown didnt have Venture so I picked “Astro”).

It has 193K miles, and running good, except one problem that popped up recently, that is very mysterious.

So the car first started hesitating a little when accelerating.   But lately, it will shut down when I come to a stop.  It will start right up again, and idle without any issues… but as soon as I go fast, and then hit the brakes, and it comes to a complete stop it sputters and dies.

I’ve experimented quite a bit and here is what I have seen:

• It idles fine.  When I start it, it will idle without any problems so I dont think its an idle speed issue.
• It I drive it and decelerate very very slowly, it sometimes doesn’t stall.
• If I drive it to a good speed and then shift to neutral and let it coast for a long time, until its almost stopped, it wont stall.  But if I put it in neutral, and brake it, it will stall when I come to a stop.
• Seems to be related to how fast I stop….
• It stalls on 2, 3 , D,.. doesnt matter, even on N, when I slow down quickly.

So I have taken it to 2 mechanics.  One changed a part, and had it for a while, testing it, then waived the white flag.  He said he suspects in the PCM.  Another cleaned out the trottle body, but that didnt help.   He didnt think it was the PCM, because he could not read any codes.

So I am not sure what to do.  I dont want to junk the car because the motor is running good. But I dont want to spend a lot of money on it either.

Any suggestions?  From what I have described, is it likely it is the PCM?

I can find PCMs for sale online for $150. They say you give them the VIN and they will program it.  Is that typically easy to change out?

Brand: Chevrolet
Model: Astro
Year: 2002
Engine: 3.6 L