I'm about to give up on this one, but I thought maybe there's a chance of saving the car. I had a lot of trouble with this car stalling over the summer, nasty exhaust smell, power loss while accelerating, stalling when coming to a stop. I put new spark plugs, wires, and a rotor on it which didn't seem to change symptoms. It finally died on me in August. It sat in my driveway for a few months while I decided what to do with it. Then I threw a new battery in her and she started right up, despite the heavy soot coming out of the exhaust. Drove it for a few days around town and then the symptoms came back: stalling, weakening and dropping out of power. I made it back to my driveway but now I'm wondering if the 275,000 miles have finally caught up with her. I'd be willing to throw a new alternator in if i thought that would solve the power problems. Otherwise, with the soot coming out of the exhaust I guess I could be looking at a bad valve, blown seal or something pretty serious. Any ideas?