2003 eclipse.. Car starts but won't idle right, it gets to where it should for a few seconds than drops idle than goes back up to normal and after about 15 seconds it shuts off

Check engine light is on, what could this be?

maf sensor.

maf/vacuum leak(if turbo)

If battery died recently try to unplug battery for a few minutes. put battery back in start it up and let it idle for like 10 minutes before touching the gas.

This post was edited by Blargfish on Jan 26 2014 08:13pm

spot on~
Limp mode engage. You hit any real big puddles lately?

Had this issue in my 90's mitsu, took me forever to figure it out. Ended up being faulty solder on the ecu. Most of these I've seen are ecu or maf related. Or the coolant temp sensor.

This post was edited by PeanutButter on Jan 27 2014 08:41am

Like others have said maf take it off and clean it with some brake cleaner. It might work for a cheaper fix

use actual maf cleaner its less harsh on those thin strips of metal. brake cleaner can damage them. maf cleaner is cheap too

True. I've just always used brake cleaner because I have it lol . I really should get a can of maf cleaner one of these days

Why dont you pull the CEL code then go from there...?