MAF problem
 

I disconnected my mass air while the car was cold this morning and it idled just a little better while it was disconnected...Does this mean my mass air needs to get replaced? After i reconnected it again i let it idle for about three minutes and the car died. I have had this problem for WAY too long and have spent way too much money to fix it. any help is appreciated. thanks.

You can try cleaning the MAF coil. Just be very gentle and use a soft brush or cloth to clean the coil. This helped out on my parents oldsmobile. Hope it works for you too.

Also, you said the car idled just a little better when you disconnected the MAF, right?

Have you checked your TPS voltage? I would do that and you may also want to clean out any grime that may have built up on your IAC valve.

Ive already changed about 15 things that shouldve fixed the problem. Now im lost. i put a new tps on...new iac, egr valve...and a lot of other things. This problem
is an extreme pain. This problem has even made me want to sell my car...thanks for the help.

Have you pulled any codes yet?

Did you get your TPS voltage set right when you installed the new one?

The best way to clean a mass air flow sensor is by using electrical contact cleaner so no residue is left on the hot and cold wires, I wouldn't recommend using anything to actually rub against them although that is better than them being contaminated and not running.
If you have a multimeter you can measure the MAF signal back to the processor, it should be between approximately .8v and 1.0v at idle. If you can disconnect the MAF sensor and it runs fine, it means the processor is substituting it's own value for the MAF instead of reading it, and chances are your MAF is garbage. Another thing you can try that i've seen work occasionally is lightly tap on the MAF sensor while it's running. It should not effect the way it runs when you tap on it, but internally broken MAF sensors will hickup, sputter and/or die when you do that

Yea i got diagnostics on my car, but i dont think the place even hooked the car up to a computer to read the codes. I think they just looked at my symptoms and told me what it "might" be. They gave me a list of about 8 things to change...bought em all and put em on and the car still runs like crap. But ill clean my mass air and try the other test you told me about...thanks

Yea, I would start by cleaning the MAF. You should probably use 84LX89GT's method rather than my "use a rag gently" method:D .

That sucks you have replaced so many parts. It may seem like a pain, but it is always better to figure out what the problem is first. You probably have replaced several things that didn't really need to be replaced.

For future reference, you can buy a scanner to pull codes yourself at any auto parts store for around 20 bucks. Guys on this board can help tell you what each code means when once you get them.

Anyway, try cleaning up the MAF and checking its voltage.

Also, since you said the car ran just a little better when you disconnected the MAF, be careful not to jump to any conclusions. Do you think that if the MAF was left off longer that the car may have died anyways?

if i get a bigger maf would i have to change the intake tubing? I thought just the hole got bigger and not the whole thing but i was told that i would have to change the intake tubing.

What size & type meter are you running now? If you have a volt meter, what volts DC are you seeing across pins C D on the MAF w/car running?

Also try resetting the PCM before putting the MAF back on after running without it.

the measurement is the inside of the MAF meter. I had a 70mm throttle body on the stock air intake tube and my stock mass air flow meter has the same outside diameter as my 70mm ford and the 73mm C&L housing i used to have on it, they all fit the same it's just that the larger diameter housings have thinner walls.