I have taken the MAF sensor of and cleaned it.

I have tried running the engine without the MAF sensor at all. It didn't seem to make a huge difference.

I have tried cleaning the air filter. It actually seemed to make a difference, but it might have just been a fluke, tho??

At crank, it's always rough. But no matter what I do, the only thing that seems to make a difference is letting it idle for a couple minutes.

I have tried clearing the codes, and that didn't help. I've already disconnected the battery from both ends and will let it wait 30 min or so, press the brake pedal to clear any residual power, then hook it back up and crank.

My only question is... when I hook the battery back up, should I keep the MAF sensor disconnected?? I'm thinking YES as of right now.

 

What ULTIMATELY solved the problem was cleaning out the throttle body and idle air control "motor".

It was too easy, and it brought my car to not having an erratic surge anywhere from 1000 to 2000 rpm.

Altho, there was still a "tick" in the idle... I just got the MAF sensor from ebay for $42 shipped and it looks brand new. It solved the tick, which likely wouldn't have come about had I not tried cleaning it when I got this P0103 MAF code.

I rubbed a q-tip dipped in alcohol all over the filament and chip board doo-hickey, and I shouldn't have done any of that. They make MAF-specific cleaner at the parts store that I will maybe try next time. But $42 for a working sensor with guarantee sure ain't bad.