1988 Dodge Aries stalling or dying while idleing

The best suspect is a failing distributor pickup assembly. Loss of signal from that will kill the spark and injector pulses, then the fuel pump will turn off one second later. Normally we do not approve of throwing random parts at a problem as a means of diagnosing it, but these pickup assemblies caused so much trouble that a lot of people had spares in the glove box. If the new assembly doesn't solve the problem, just keep the old one on hand.

You can also check for a diagnostic fault code although often the engine stops rotating too quickly for the defect to be detected. Chrysler makes reading codes yourself real easy. Cycle the ignition switch from "off" to "run" three times within five seconds without cranking the engine, leave it in "run" then count the flashes of the Check Engine light. The first series of flashes is the first digit of the code. After a short pause the second series will flash for the second digit. After a longer pause, the next code will flash the same way. Code 55 will be the last one. That just means it's done.

I might be interpreting your description of the symptoms incorrectly. If it never stalls while driving, it's not a sensor problem. The fuel spray that you saw stopping might be the result of the stalling, and is not the cause of it. Since this only happens at idle, it's more likely it's being caused by a very common problem. If the battery was recently disconnected or run dead, the Engine Computer lost its memory and has to relearn "minimum throttle" before it will know when it has to be in control of idle speed. Until that relearn takes place, the engine can be hard to start unless you hold the accelerator pedal down 1/4", you won't get the nice "idle flare-up" to 1500 rpm at engine start-up, and it will tend to stall at stop signs.

To meet the conditions for the relearn to take place, drive at highway speed with the engine warmed up, then coast for at least seven seconds without touching the pedals.