After a recent head gasket change I got the infamous honda surging idle with cel on. Before the head gasket change, this would sometimes happen at first start up on super cold mornings but no ce . The car does the exact same thing (idles up and down) with or without the MAP sensor plugged up. This is what led me to believe this is culprit. Just ran the codes and got three short cel blinks confirming the MAP sensor. Before I purchase a MAP sensor is there any other things that could throw this code without it actually being the sensor?

Thanks

 

I would check the wiring before you get a MAP sensor. Matter of fact, get one from the junkyard. You could get it for free if you know what I mean; since, it's so small. They rarely go bad, so I'd start with the wiring at the ECU connector and at the sensor connector for any loose pins.