I have had a stuttering Maxima for about 4 months now. Amongst the quick fixes(that did not solve anything)were: PCV valve, 2 fuel injectors, fuel filter, throttle body cleaning. All of those were probably helpful in their own ways, but my car still has a jumpy RPM needle at idle, jerking engine(for the 1st 10 minutes or so), and a smell of gasoline. I switched mechanics, and this guy is telling me that the problem is my Air Flow Sensor. He says the dealer one is about $500, but a nice rebuilt Cardone is just under $200. Anyway, it's in the shop now, and I'll know Monday when I get the car back. The mechanic is also replacing all spark plug wires, distributor cap.
Anyway, has anyone here replaced their Air Flow Sensor? & what kind of change have they you seen?

90SE 174k

 

Have you tried adjusting your Idle air screw? I am experiencing similar probles, but Computer diagnostics came up empty. Air screw adjustment helped a bit for me but was a band-aid solution. Let me know how it goes.

 

When getting those injectors replaced you should have had the other cleaned and new seals installed on them.
Your engine has a lot of miles on it....... It's hard to suggest anything b/c I dont know how well its been maintained. I know the MAFS (mass air flow sensor) had trouble with the connector that it did not make a good connection, and the termainals should all be cleaned and then the connector (female side) should be pinched down so that it will grab the tabs better. I know that damn MAFS is expensive, so good luck.

 

...Feels like a new car. The combination of all new plug wires + the rebuilt Air Flow Sensor did the trick. The mechanic say the wires were a good idea to change, but it was the air flow sensor that was causing my periodic 'check engine' light, sputtering exhaust, and unstable RPM at idle+crappy fuel consumption. He also told me that the throttle body was pretty dirty, and good idea to change the air filter soon.

 

often the plug wires are culprit on those symptoms too...

it may have been your MAFS, but 80% of the time, those are caused by bad plug wires... that's the case on my GF's Altima right now.. 60k miles and it's been through TWO sets of plug wires.
you can disconnect the plug wire on #4 cylinder, and the engine doesn't change the way it's running.. pull any other wire and it turns into a lawnmower.
replaced the #4 wire with one off my parts car, and it purred like a kitten.

sooo, we're sending the "new" plug wires back for warranty replacement and cursing the day we bought that car.