Car behaving badly, the computer?

Factual Questions
1

A few weeks ago my car cut out whilst driving and gave some rapid clicking noises coming from the left hand side(passenger side here in Oz) I took it into the auto shop cause it wouldnt start anymore and they said it was the computer, so i got it replaced at a considerable cost, which was good it starts again now.

Could it have been the computer?
The other thing now though is that after you start it it revs real high (its an auto) and the revs bounce, you put it in drive and it starts reving over the 1000 mark, which means when you try to brake or stop it struggles to change down through the gears. I turned down the revs with a trusty screwdriver and the whateever it is on the engine, and it worked only for a little while then the revs picked up. What could be causing it, could it be the accellerator cable?

heeeeeeeeellllppp
I cant afford to do too much more work on it.

Zaphod

2

I strongly suggest that you tell us what make and model of vehicle, what year, and which engine available in that vehicle you actually have.

3

Yes, it could have been the computer. It could have been any of several different items, but it could have been the computer.

Among its other duties, the computer controls the idle speed. It may have needed an “idle re-learn” procedure, or it may have re-learned its idle settings once driven enough. Whatever screw you turned was not meant to be used for idle adjustment. It may have been a base idle setting, in which case it’s now out of whack and may prevent the computer from properly learning its idle function.

Other possible causes of the excessive idle speed include a sticking throttle plate and a faulty idle speed controller. While a throttle cable problem is not impossible, it’s very unlikely to cause that symptom.

My suggestions:
Get the screw you turned reset to its proper position.
Have an idle re-learn procedure performed, if applicable.
If the high idling problem is then still present, have it evaluated.

4

I had a '94 Olds Cutlass, and the damned computer went haywire. Stupid sunnabitch would turn off the fan when the engine heated up (crosswise mounted engine; fan didn’t run off of a fan belt).

It started doing other weird things, and after several false starts (and considerable shekels), they figured out that it was the $300 computer.

Computers don’t belong in cars.