Okay, I have a 1988 240 DL with over 250 thou I guess, as the odometer broke three years ago at 215 thou. So last summer this problem started showing up where once the car had warmed up a bit that it started trying to stall when in neutral, and if I tapped the gas, it almost choked the engine off entirely unless I pumped the gas pedal. When trying to start from idle after sitting at a traffic light, say, the problem was even worse. Also, once in a while the engine would just quit while I was driving, but in an odd manner. The engine would still be running as long as the car was in gear, but as soon as I stopped and/or took the car out of gear, the engine would die. I would then be unable to start the car for anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour. The odd part was the engine would still be running, but the gas pedal would do nothing, almost like it just wasn't there. Anyway, the weirdest part is that when the cold michigan winter came along, both problems went away entirely. Now that spring has arrived, the sputtering and choking off problem has returned. I heard that this is possible a mass air flow sensor issue. True? and is there an easy, cheap fix? I am a starving artist/actor type, so money is definitely an issue.
Sorry for the long explanation. Any and all advice will be hugely appreciated.
-C
p.s. as a side note, roughly how much is it to fix or replace tie rods in a car like mine?