I've been experience rough cold starts in the mornings. And a rough idle - often making the steering wheel shake a lot at stop lights. The car also didn't seem to run as smooth. My CEL is on, but for my thermostat (new green sensor was put in 2 weeks ago)...

Anyways - Tonight I unplugged the MAF and drove around. The car ran better, and the rough idle was gone. BUT - when I would come to a stop light, the RPM's would drop down to the 500? mark - and then bounce up to the 600?, 750? mark - It would hold pretty strong there with a little bounce. The bounce from 500 to 600 (or 750, whatever normal idle is) got less severe as I drove. Put about 8 miles on it, and it did this consistantly. Leaving it unplugged to see if it starts better in the AM...

Long story short, does this still mean my MAF is bad...I have searched and know that if the MAF is bad and you unplug it, the ECU will adapt a stock MAP...but does that include the "bounce" i'm experiencing??

Sorry for another MAF thread, but I didn't find this description in any other ones...TIA

edit: i did clean the MAF a few weeks ago...

 

clean it first, if that doesnt work then you need a new one. Hope you dont have a oiled filter, the oil gets on the maf element and it cant read accuratly.

 

Whoops - should have added that I cleaned it a few weeks ago...

I should also add that before I unplugged the MAF tonight that I took off the engine covers and sprayed starter fluid on every line in sight and didn't find a change in idle, so i'm assuming i'm leak free...

 

there ya go....WE HAVE A WINNER!!! YEAH!!!

 

Hahaha - that's awesome.

I hate when finding a broken part is good news...

But I'm really glad that the "bounce" is normal, and the MAF is bad.

 

anyone find anywhere cheaper to buy it than ECS?

 

all you need is some maf cleaner from the auto store. steve xcel8tt has posted how to clean a maf a few times on here.

 

wait, so now you think i don't need anew one? just need to clean it again?

 

Try cleaning it once more, but it may be bad and need replacing. You should also do a pressure test, the flucuating idle is not normal, 100 or so RPM change is okay, but 200-300 like you've described is not. Unplugging the MAF would have stabilized the idle if that were trully the only cause.

 

double teamin the forums

I'll clean it this weekend, and look into the pressure test...I'd love to nip this rough idle crap in the butt asap...I want to have the idle fixed, thermostat replaced, horns installed, perch bearings replaced, and oil changed before i leave for bike week in may - i've got work to do

Thanks for putting up with my lame annoying n00bish questions, but i always seem to find the exception to what the search brings up