I have a 1997 volvo 960 and for a couple months the car's engine has been shaking with a rough idle when started in the morning(note:check engine light has been on since i bought car a year ago). After a few minutes the car stops shaking but still drives a little rough for a few miles. One day after i jumped my brothers truck i stop by the store and when i started the car again the car's idle was pretty rough and drove pretty rough below 40 mph. So i replaced the spark plugs with champion platinum power spark plugs. No change except that it seemed to drive a little better than it did before over 40 mph. So then i checked the coil packs and they all seem to be working properly. Then I cleaned the MAF, ICV, and throttle body(i reset the car after this). And now the car runs even worse and I think the MAF still works because car does not run any better when unplugged. Now the car idles very badly with the engine shaking at about 900 RPMs. After a couple minutes of idling in park the check engine light starts flashing. I did notice though when car is in park if you get up to about 2000 RPMs for a little bit the light stops flashing sometimes. I really need help with this. I have a code reader coming on tuesday because i dont want to drive the car. I have read that a blinking check engine light is really bad for the cat and that i should not drive the car.

 

Read the codes and post back. It sounds like MAF is shot. Not uncommon.