Stalling out

for the fuel filter I would take it in to get done, They have a hoist and that makes this job real easy, As for the IAC valve, sometimes cleaning is ok, but It might be in your best intrest to replace it. If the spring on the IAC is weak, you will just be wasting your time and money. After al the IAC valve is 17 years old. But have you had the TPS (throttle position sensor) checked? and look for Vaccum leaks, Also I would check all the "piping and air tubes" from your intake all the way to the Air filter, If these pieces gets a hole or comes loose, the car will run "rough". Best of luck.

by the way, check the injectors too, the injectors can clog up. See if you can find out which cylinders are not firing by removing the spark plugs while the car is running. Whichever one is not running will not affect how the car is running. It will be the culprit. Then you can narrow down the problems with the cylinder from there. but it will be either, spark plugs, spark plug wires, fuel injectors, or the cylinder itself has no compression. No point in changing the filter when the real problem is the injectors, for they too can clog up.

Also che k the idle control valve. If fouked uo, your car will stall and shut down at idke. Its on the left of the manifold. You can get one from a junkyard until youbcsn buy annew one. Its part 17630_11050. Its quite pricey,bat least $120 for a new one. Best luck