yep - had this problem too....you can check out the following :
1) your fuel intake (where you put in the gas) has a leak or there is a leak somewhere in the fuel system allowing air to enter your tank. when it does, water condenses inside your tank...and it gets sucked up your fuel filter. (kia pride's fuel filters are very small. i modified mine so that now i use a nissan sentra's fuel filter which is 10 times bigger). water sucked up the fuel filter clogs it up and so the engine dies when left in idle.
also a leak in the fuel system causes a failure to build up pressure. This pressure must be maintained in order for the fuel pump to work properly. Failure to build up pressure can causes the engine to die because not enough fuel is being sucked up by the fuel pump / carburator.
b) your idling / fuel and air mixture settings in the carburator is all wrong. suggest you get a better mechanic to deal with this.
c) have your timing checked. although it is automatic - its still worth checking out.
hope this helps. you can e mail me at
hanzel371@yahoo.com if you have further inquiries.