Hi all, new here, love all the good info.

I searched around but still don't know where to go with this.

I have a 2003 XL, 2.3 5 speed manual. 43,000 miles.

Earlier today, I started a drive down the street and all of a sudden, at about 25 mph, my rpm's shot up to 3000. I came to a stop, and they dropped to around 1200 (still high). It did this a few more times (both while driving and at a stop) and I decided to bring it back home.

Here's what I've done. I pulled the plug from the MAFS, started the truck, and it idled at about 600, but sputtered and died after about a minute. Plugged it back in, idled high. Pulled the plug from the IAC and saw no difference. Walked down to Auto zone, and the guy was baffled. So from reading threads here, I guess I can narrow it down to the IAC, MAFS, or TPS, but I'm not an engine guy by any means, so I'm just looking for some advice from some of you experts. Any help would be much appreciated.