Hey everybody,

Over the past few months the engine on my 2000 Mazda B3000 3.0L automatic has been acting up a bit. Back in June the engine would stall out when it was starting for the first time in a day or two, and would only stay alive if it was given a little gas for a few minutes. After it warmed up it would run fine. We Seafoamed the engine and replaced the fuel filter and it ran like a dream after that. However, in the past month or so it has shown signs of returning to it's old behavior. If I don't drive it for a few days it'll take a while to idle normally. I have to give it some gas for 3-5 minutes before the idle will stabilize. After it's warmed up it'll run fine. It will also run fine if I have driven it in the past day or two. Today I cleaned the IAC sensor (it was covered in carbon bulid-up) and the MAF sensor as well (it was clean).

It still idles a little rough, and I can't feel any improvement after cleaning the sensors. What should my next course of action be? I've looked around the forums and everybody seems to have a similar problem, but nothing exactly like mine. Any ideas are greatly appreciated!

-Chris

Did you disconnect the ground from the battery for a few minutes while cleaning those ?

I disconnected the negative terminal from the battery while cleaning both. It was disconnected for a good hour or more throughout the day.

Have you cleaned the Idle air control?

__________________
2014 F150 xl 3.7 6 speed auto.

Yes, I sprayed it down a good amount with some of the MAF Sensor Cleaner. There was still a little carbon build up when I put it back on, but it was a definite improvement. Should I do a more thorough job and try and get rid of all the build-up? I wasn't sure how intrusive I should have been with the q-tips and paper towel I was using so I didn't get deep down inside of it. Do I need to be careful of breaking anything, or should I just grab an old toothbrush and scrub away?