96 2.7L has trouble idling

I have 1996 Tacoma with the 2.7L 4 cylinder engine and 4wd. Now that it's been getting colder here in the mountains in Colorado, she's having trouble idling and staying running on a cold start, first thing in the morning. The OBDII scanner gave me the p0100 and p0101 codes, which both indicate a faulty MAF sensor. I've tried cleaning the MAF sensor with MAF sensor cleaner with no success. My question is, does this mean I definitely need a new MAF sensor, or could there be another problem, like a leak in the vacuum hoses, and how would I know for sure? And, if I do need a new MAF sensor, how do I know I'm getting a good one? I've seen them range in price from 50 - 800 dollars, and I obviously want to buy one that works while not spending my next three paychecks on one part. Please help.

 

Not sure about the MAF sensor, but I had some luck running seafoam top engine clean through my vacuum hoses. seemed to clean 'er up a bit and the idle is much more smoother. could potentially help you pinpoint any leaks in the hoses as well.. since it's colder out, double check all the rubber and make sure nothing has cracked.

 

I would start by replacing all your vacuum lines. It's cheap and there really aren't that many. At least not on my 2000 6cyl.

Hows your breaking? can you easily push the break pedal down all the way to the floor when idling? If not, you may have a bad booster which can easily cause intake leaks as well. But change the booster hose along with vacuum tubing first.

If you do want to change your maf, get one from napa. They Commonly stand behind their products better than a dealer does.

Hows your air intake? Your air filter may be really dirty.

And check the intake boot and other intake parts. They can also go bad after 100k miles or so. They may be cracked or broken.

Done a tune-up recently? Fuel filter? Or how about a rat nesting in your air filter box? Quite possible.

Good luck!

 

try cleaning the throttle body,(where that metal flapper is)