A couple weeks ago the car ran fine, then suddenly when stopped in a parking lot, it started to lope really bad. Luckily I was only a mile or two from home and was able to get it back home. It wanted to stall at every stop light unless I gave it gas.

I have inspected the ignition coil, the cap/rotor, as well as the plugs and wires and they are all functional.

I have discovered that if I start the car in the morning when the engine is not at temp, it will idle perfect until it reaches operating temperature then it lopes again. So the next time I cold started it, I unplugged the MAF and it ran like crap until it reached operating temp (the exact opposite)... My first thoughts; either it's sucking in air somewhere after the MAF, or the EGR valve is shot... or worst case, the MAF is bad. But it was fine last fall, cleaned it, and re-installed it looking brand new.

I am able to drive the car without any issues so long as the MAF is not plugged in, however it's running pretty rich and I get terrible mileage. I'm not in any danger of fuel-washing the rings am I? This car is just my daily while the "show" car sits in the garage on the crappy weather days.

 

I'd make sure the idle switch on the throttle body is working even when its hot, that the hoses to/from the idle air control valve are solid, and that the IAC itself is working well.

also check the ECT (engine cool temperature sensor), that has two seperate thermistors in it, one is connected to the ECU and the other to the ICU.