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Diagnosing your Mass Air Flow Meter:

The purpose of the Mass Air Flow(MAF) meter directly measures the mass of air flowing into the engine. It is located between the air filter and the throttle body assembly. The MAF operates on the principle that if a mass is maintained at a constant temperature above ambient, the thermal loss is proportional to the mass flow of the cooling medium it is subjected to.

The sensor output is a DC(analog) signal ranging from 0.5 to 5.0 volts used by the Electronic Control Assembly(ECA) to calculate fuel injector pulse width for stoichiometry (14.7 to 1). The "Hot Wire" is maintained at 392° F (200° C) above ambient temperature as measured by a constant "Cold Wire".

The first indication of a MAF failure is the "Check Engine" light on the dash will come on and stay on.

Some symptoms of Mass Air Flow(MAF) meter failure is a rich or lean mixture depending on what is happening in the unit. The Oxygen Sensor will try to compensate for some of the activity through the computer but once the system goes out of preset bounds the "Check Engine" light will turn on. If the Throttle Position Sensor(TPS) is failing you may notice a flat spot while accelerating lightly away from traffic light and at cruising speeds. The check engine light may or may not come on depending on the programming in the ECM. If the Air Temperature switch fails the check engine light will turn on.

If the check engine light is not on and you are experiencing hesitation, flooding, hard starting, or the smell of gas, check the air filter, fuel filter, and plugs & wires. There are no sensors built in to the system that will tell if these parts are failing. If a cylinder is not firing as caused by a shorting plug wire the system goes full rich. It gives you great power but it greatly reduces your fuel economy of your vehicle and the converter gets very hot and can become damaged.