Six Signs the Mass Airflow Sensor Is Bad

The mass airflow (MAF) sensor is responsible for keeping track of the air that flows into the engine. It sends the air quantity information to your vehicle’s engine control unit (ECU). The ECU uses this information to control the amount of air and fuel that is sent to the combustion chamber. Auto Solutions advises that if the MAF sensor readings are incorrect, you may experience some or all of the following engine problems.

1. Acceleration Hesitation

If the MAF sensor tricks the ECU into sending too much air into the combustion chamber, your vehicle will become fuel-starved and your acceleration will hesitate. You may get a lagging response when you press down on the accelerator or no response at all.

2. Black Engine Exhaust

If the MAF sensor tricks the ECU into sending too much fuel into the combustion chamber, you’ll end up with black exhaust pouring out of your tailpipe. This is because the engine burns away the excess fuel because it cannot use it.

3. Check Engine Warning

Either of these conditions will cause the ECU to turn on the check engine light because what’s going on in the combustion chamber is not right. Another cause of a check engine light warning is an error code that the mass airflow sensor might send to the ECU.

4. Engine Hesitation/Surging

Depending on whether you have too much air or fuel in your engine, your engine will hesitate or surge, respectively. This is definitely a sign that the air and fuel mixture in the combustion chamber is off. Your engine should always run smoothly.

5. Poor Gas Mileage

You may also notice a reduction in your vehicle’s gas mileage because the engine is either burning away excess fuel or it is struggling and burning through the fuel more quickly. If you keep track of your gas mileage, this reduction will get worse the more the mass airflow sensor fails.

6. Rough Idling

Finally, when the engine doesn’t have enough gasoline in it, it will idle roughly. As you can imagine, this is the engine trying not to stall. In severe cases, it may stall or you may find it difficult to get your engine started. In really severe cases, you may not be able to get your engine started at all.

Stop by Hondanis Auto Repair in Orlando, FL, for a mass airflow sensor check. We will inspect the sensor to make sure it isn’t dirty and run a diagnostic check to ensure it hasn’t returned any error codes to the engine control unit.