What will a car do if the mass airflow sensor is bad?

0 votes
asked Jan 15, 2020 in Repairs/Maintenance by Vokamri (310 points)
What will a car do if the mass airflow sensor is bad?

2 Answers

0 votes
answered Jan 15, 2020 by Essmann (42,860 points)
When a car has a mad mass airflow sensor the cars engine will run rough, idle rough, hesitate upon acceleration, run rich and blow black smoke out the exhaust, use more fuel, loss of engine power etc.

A car will still run even when the MAF "Mass Airflow Sensor" is unplugged.

But if you unplug the MAF sensor on your car then the car will not run correctly and you'll use more fuel and the car may stall, idle rough, run rich etc.

If your car is acting up and you unplug the MAF sensor temporarily and it runs and idles better when the MAF sensor is unplugged then the MAF sensor is bad and needs replaced.

Replacing the MAF sensor is a pretty easy job as long as you have the correct tools and know where it's at.

You can search Google for the location of your MAF sensor on your car and it will show you where the MAF sensor is and how to replace it.

Or if you have a shop replace the MAF sensor it may cost you $50.00 to $150.00 depending on the make and model of car.
0 votes
answered Jul 20, 2022 by Wenja921 (31,000 points)
A bad MAF sensor can cause too much fuel to be left in the combustion chamber, creating untimed detonations.

You'll experience this as poor drivability such as hesitations or sudden jerking motions, particularly during acceleration.

A bad MAF sensor can cause your vehicle to experience poor drivability issues such as engine stalling, jerking or hesitation during acceleration.

This could happen while speeding up on the highway on-ramp or cruising down a city street.

These issues can create dangerous situations causing accidents and injury.

A bad mass air flow sensor can cause problems such as engine hesitation, engine stalling, engine running rich, lack of power, poor accelerating, hard starting or no starting.

The mass air flow sensor controls the fuel to air mixture ratio and lets the computer know how much fuel to send through the injectors when it's needed.

The bad mass air flow sensor may cause too much fuel to get through the injectors and cause the engine to run too rich.

If you unplug the mass air flow sensor and the engine runs better then the mass air flow sensor is likely bad and needs replaced.

You could drive with a bad mass air flow sensor but it's not recommended to do so.

If you drive with a bad mass air flow sensor your car or vehicle will likely stall, run lean under load or run rich at idle and your vehicle will use more fuel and your engine will lose performance.

A proper working mass air flow sensor is essential to a properly running and fuel efficient engine.

Getting your mass air flow sensor replaced will make your car run much better, improve your fuel mileage and your car will have more horsepower as a result.

To clean a mass air flow sensor on your vehicle carefully remove the mass air flow sensor from the throttle body and disconnect the electrical connector the mass air flow sensor as well.

Then spray the mass air flow sensor around 15 times and then let it sit for awhile to allow the Mass Air Flow sensor cleaner to work but don't scrub the mass air flow sensor as it could be damaged.

Then you can put back together and it should run better with a clean mass air flow sensor.

You could drive with a bad mass air flow sensor but it's not recommended to do so.

If you drive with a bad mass air flow sensor your car or vehicle will likely stall, run lean under load or run rich at idle and your vehicle will use more fuel and your engine will lose performance.

A proper working mass air flow sensor is essential to a properly running and fuel efficient engine.

Getting your mass air flow sensor replaced will make your car run much better, improve your fuel mileage and your car will have more horsepower as a result.

104,861 questions

109,511 answers

1,320 comments

7,057,216 users

...