Bad Mass Air Flow Sensor Symptoms
The easiest way to detect the fault is to disconnect the air flow sensor. If the car runs better with the air flow sensor deactivated, the air flow sensor has a fault and needs to be replaced.
What is Air Flow Sensor?
The task of this part, which comes with different names such as air flow meter, flow meter, MAF sensor, is basically to measure the mass and temperature of the air fed to the combustion chamber of the engine after passing through the air filter. It has a 4-pin or 5-pin structure depending on the type of vehicle and sends a different signal from each pin and transmits the quality of the air drawn to the ECU (Electronic Control Unit). The ECU, on the other hand, adjusts the combustion conditions according to the incoming information, allowing the engine to run efficiently, smoothly and without any problems. Therefore, the resulting inconsistency in the MAF sensor data will also cause the engine to run unstable. When the sensor is deactivated, the engine will continue to operate with the default settings and will operate more stably than with faulty data. In this way, sensor failure can be detected.
What Causes a Bad MAF Sensor?
If the car’s MAF sensor is malfunctioning, the following situations occur when the engine is running;
- When the car is idling, there is a fluctuation in speed,
- Increases rpm continuously when the car is idling,
- The engine may run as if it will stop jerkily,
- An increase in fuel consumption is observed,
- The car may fall out of traction, the engine becomes weak,
- The car may stop while driving,
- Notifications such as check engine light and Air Flow Sensor Malfunction may appear.
If there are several of these and similar symptoms, the MAF sensor may have failed. Although some malfunctions are completely corrected after cleaning the MAF sensor with pad spray, sometimes it is necessary to replace the sensor.
