Nissan Repair: stalling and check engine soon, mass air flow sensor, mass air flow

Question
I have a 2001 sentra gxe 1.8 with 94000 mi. the service engine soon light has been on for a while, so to reset it, i disconnected the battery overnight. thr light reset, however, after a short period of driving (the same day) the light came back on. Yesterday, the car suddenly started stalling out while idleing and whenever the gas pedal is released. I had to adjust all of the slack out of the throttle cable (and actually put a little tension on it) to make the car driveable. it runs ok now, but I know I didn't fix the actual problem, just the symptom. Do you have any Idea what the real problem could be?
Thank you,
Shawn

Answer
Shawn,

First take the car to Autozone or the like and get the codes as they will pull them for free.  Second, correct the problems related to the codes.  On your car the Mass air flow sensor is suspect without me having the codes.  This is a common problem for your year.  That would be my best guess without the codes.  After you correct the problem be sure to put a little slack in the throttle cable as it has to have some slack for the computer to control the throttle position and the idle circuit.