SUPER DUPER annoying MAF high reading
 

The car started stumbling a bit and I was thinking it was my A/C bogging the engine for a tick when the compressor started. Except that it wasn't.



Random high readings from the MAF sensor. Like full-scale off the charts high. normal range is 2-30ish g/s and it jumps in the time from one reading to the next to or from 156g/s. Completely bad reading. The wiring checks out so the troubleshooting diagram says MAFS. Changed it for a "remanufactured" sensor that worked half an hour and the car was worse because instead of a nearly-constant bad signal it was 50% of the time, from seconds to minutes at a time, either good or bad at random. Every time it changes to bad, the car stumbles, so it stumbles more often. Changed that for another "remanufactured" sensor and this one stays high for much longer, only dipping down into normal readings occasionally. The car has been holding onto a P0103 (MAFS high output) for a week now and I'm off to the junkyard to try a FOURTH MAFS and a computer while I'm at it. After the wiring, the troubleshooting diagram says it's a MAF sensor or the ECM so here I go to spend $50 on parts.





19 years is a decent service life but I wish stuff would just stay working forever.

Junkyard MAFS was the 4th one and it was either that or the junkyard ECM. Probably it was the MAFS though. What a hassle, but at least it's fixed thank God

Glad you got it fixed!

FYI, it's not just junk yard sensors. I've sometimes went through 2 and 3 brand new sensors from the local parts store before finding a good one. The age of EFI is wonderful until sensors start failing haphazardly!

I found a "new" sensor for $500 and like heck I"m paying that . . . $180 with a core fee for a "reman" sensor and it was bad and the next one was bad too. The age of EFI indeed . . . I told my wife it makes me want to drive a rock so there's nothing to break!

LOL! That's hilarious! Yeah, even a horse gets sick and breaks down eventually! Haha!

You know what's extra hilarious? Hilarious in a "let me shove this car right off a mountainside" kind of way? Gigantic misfire, running on 3 cylinders flashing check engine light action on my way home today. That was great.

During the time I was messing with this airflow sensor I made a bracket to hold my PCV catch can, and mounted it on the side of the head right next to the ignition coils. Previously the can was zip-tied to the MAF sensor I changed out a bunch of times and I got tired of dealing with it so I made this bracket. Turns out, that's empty air space for a reason. I didn't feel like messing with the car on the road so I went ahead and drove home, bucking and barely-accelerating the whole way. When I got home I popped the hood and there was a 3mm long orange spark just dancing away from the coil to my fancy new bracket. Oh well.