For Daddy Spice.

Your acceleration problem and final engine failure maybe pretty straight forward.

If you did not run out gas then it is unlikely that you have air in your fuel line or fuel injectors. At worst, you might have a little dirt in your fuel line, but that would not cause jerky acceleration or for the engine to "hunt".

Check your idle control valve, ICV. The ICV automatically regulates intake air flow through a controlled by-pass. Most commonly the valve is actuated by vacuum and also by a temperature sensor. Less commonly, a servo motor is used. Both are controlled by the onboard computer.

Quite often the vacuum hoses are either perished and leak, or are blocked with oil and dirt. By the time you notice the symptoms, the blockage is almost complete and the progression from mild to severe can happen quite rapidly. Also the valve itself can become sticky or stuck. Sometimes the temperature sensor can fail.

Before removing the ICV, I would recommend checking all the connecting hoses first. If they are not blocked or cracked and leaky, then you may need to remove the valve to check the temperature sensor and the free movement of the valve itself. (Make sure you have a new replacement gasket.) With the ICV at normal opperating temperature and removed from the engine, when you blow through one pipe, you should not be able to blow any air through the valve. Remove the valve cover plate to check that the valve moves freely as you cool the body of the ICV down. When it has cooled right down, try blowing through it again. This time, air should pass through freely.

If the valve has stuck or is sticky and air is not passing through or is restricted, then soak the valve assembly with carbuerettor cleaning fluid until it moves freely.

If you find no fault, then it is possible that the onboard computer is defective. Unfortunate and expensive!

A defective ICV system does not usually lead to total engine failure. However you did mention that you had replaced the fuel filter and therefore you may have accidently let air into the fuel line and may need to bleed the line or the injectors.

Good luck. I hope this works for you.

Ricki.

PS: Before throwing away your onboard computer, you may also want to check your O2 sensor. The O2 sensor can also cause jerky acceleration, although I am not sure whether it will cause the engine to "hunt". (Ranging RPMs at idle)