@Blackarrow98GP: i tightened up the cable and nothing changed. thanks for the tip and pic, tho.

last night i replaced the PCV and MAP. this morning i cleared off the codes and drove it for a bit but nothing popped up. not even the o2 sensor code. drove around with a scanner getting real-time info.

MAP at idle ("Hg) 10.6-10.9
MAP at 3k rpms ("Hg) ~27
MAF (not MAP) at it's height was 9.x
the rest i cant remember b/c we couldnt save it

i drove the car for about 5 miles and restarted the car about 4 times during that time. the restarts during the test drive were hard starts meaning the car didnt start as quickly as it would normally and when it did start it would really thunk hard.

question: how long will it take for my car to throw a code if replacing the PCV and MAP didnt change anything?