I have been having a problem when I start my car. I turn the ignition and the needle on my rpm gauge goes up to 1000 rpm and loses strength, making the rpm go down to 0 and the car shutting off. Then, I turn the ignition again the rpm keeps fluctuating from 1000 rpm to 1500 rpm, going up and down. I was thinking spark plugs was the problem but the car's an '01 and has 68000 miles on it. It doesn't always do this when I start the car though. Sometimes the car starts fine; it seems to happen when I drive the car around, I turn the engine off, and come back to start the car in 15 minutes to an hour. I have no idea what the problem is and what to do to fix it before it becomes a problem. PLEASE HELP!!!

 

run that by once more. you DO and DON'T have a problem?

you know, that sounds similar to the problem i had with my cars IACV (idle air control valve). so that just might be it. do you have any lights flashing in your face?

 

an idle air control valve or any vacuum leak

 

Sounds Idle air control valvish to me