MAF or masking another culprit?

[zuzuk212]

Hello All,
This is a strange one and only happens below 20 degrees F.
When it's this cold and I start off with a cold engine ... meaning, not letting it warm up to running temp ... at an RPM range of 2-3k, the engine begins to buck - a combination of wide open, then cutting ignition.

After this cycle starts, it take a few bucks before my milage readout disapears ... except for the comma which begins blinking. If I have something in the display or bring it up ... I get all kinds of characters flashing, looking like Japanese.

When the bucking starts and if I am able to turn the engine off for a couple minutes ... fires up, goofy characters gone, milage back and running good.

I stomped tested after a freak out and it gave 1215.
Some additional info:
I ran without my air temp sensor to see if that was part of the problem because of the temp prejuduce ... no change.
Also, I replaced my head gasket about 4 months ago, no issue untill this bitter cold.

I'm going to clean the MAF with the spray cleaner and see what else I can find.

Any ideas, has anyone heard of anything like this? The character freakout concerns me ... hoping it's not the ECU. Would it be possible for the MAF to send an out of range number causing the ECU to crap its pants?

Thanks for any info/ideas!
Ken

[genphreak]

Air leaks perhaps. Dirty injectors maybe/as well? Check the ICV pipes, the connectors to the head and the intake manifold, valve cover gasket, pipes, etc.

Also check the temp senders (according to Bently).