Van

I may have royally screwed up this time. I was attempting to install a POP charger. In order to get the socket wrench behind the top right bolt on the Mass Air Flow Sensor, I unscrewed the 4 small screws holding the electrical plug that's extruding from the small flat black box that sits on top of the sensor and removed the electrical receptacle. (I guess that IS the sensor). Anyway, when I put it all back together, the car dies immediately when I step on the gas. This is the only electrical component I messed with, aside from the air temp sensor, so I'm assuming that's the problem. I tried leaving the electrical plug unplugged, but it still dies when gas is added. The dealer wants $488.19 for the part. Tell me that it's not the sensor and that I didn't screw it up and I'll thank you, or if you know of a way I can make the sensor work again, I'd be grateful.

Thanks,
Van

1MAX2NV

iTrader: (5)

What else did you do after you removed the 4 little screws on the top? What's inside the box? Did you mess with it? Anyway, plug the electrical plug back because it will never run without it.

Van

Once the screws were out, I pulled out the plastic electrical plug that the other end attached to the car plugs into. There were 3 small wires with what looks like solder at the ends of each lead sticking up. I just pushed the receptacle back in when I was through, and screwed the screws back in, and plugged the connection back in again. That's when my car didn't run right anymore. The check engine light is on now. Maybe if I reset the ECU this problem will correct itself. Do you think that may fix it?

Van

Daniel B. Martin

You meant no harm, but you opened a sensor which contains no serviceable components. There's no telling what harm may have been done. Please reset the Engine Control Module to see if that helps. If not, you may have to replace the Mass Air Flow Sensor. You might save money if you can get one from an auto parts recycler (that's the new name for junkyard). Remanufactured sensors are available. PartsAmerica.com lists A1 Cardone #74-10035 for $280 + s/h.

Van

Daniel,

As always, thanks for the info. I'll try resetting the ECU this evening (the check engine light did come on by the way)and hopefully that will work. If not, I'll spend Saturday trying to track down a MAS on a wrecked Max in a junkyard.

Van

MardiGrasMax

iTrader: (14)

Open it back up to see if a solder joint came loose. If so solder it back.

$0.02

Daniel B. Martin

This is a good idea. If you don't have electronics skills, seek help from a friend who does or perhaps a TV repair person. If this sensor is "dead" you have little to lose... Good luck!

ereet

Well Van, I'm in the exact same boat .. However, I've fixed the problem. I did the same thing afew months back when installing my CAI, and for the first few days, it would not rev past 2k without cutting out, and it sounded really sick. I reopened the sensor, and bent the 3 prongs so that they would sit better on the 3 little rivets on the inside of the sensor. With proper contact between the prongs and the rivets, you should have no problems, so you may want to open it back up and see if you bent any of them when initially taking the sensor apart. Hope you get it working, that's really an annoying part.

FLmax

i did the same thing when i first install my cone air intake. i bent the prongs back but there wasn't enough contact to the original solder. so what i did was put some more solder on the prongs so there would be more contact area. my car is working fine now.

Van

ereet,

Now that's good news! You've given me a glimpse of hope. I'll check out those 3 prongs. I'll bet like you, when I pushed the electrical recepticle back in, they didn't get seated correctly within the sensor box.

Thanks for the tip.
Van

Van

ereet,

I got my car working again thanks to yours and FLMax's post. I had to increase the amount of solder on the prongs to make contact. Now I just hope that it won't suddenly stop making contact one day and strand me somewhere. By the way, my engine light is on, the diagnostic code it's throwing is MAF sensor (of course). I reset the ECU twice, but the light is still on throwing the MAF sensor code. Did you have that problem and were you able to clear the code from the ECU so that your enging light goes out for good?

Thanks,
Van

emax02

iTrader: (1)

I recommend you just get a new MAF sensor, even though your car seems to run good again I still suspect there is a problem since your check engine light is still on. Check this site out www.car-part.com , they have tons of MAF sensors from all around the US for real cheap. I just ordered a MAF sensor for $55 out of a 98 Maxima.

shirtboy

Hello Van,

I'm waiting for the CAI coming from the the group buy which is going on now, I plan to install it myself when it comes, so I hope everything is going fine with out any problem, but just in the bad case happened that the ENGINE LIGHT is ON, that I have to RESET the ECU (or ECM?), correct me if I'm wrong ... so would you kind to show me what I have to do to RESET the ECU or the ENGINE LIGHT? Any helps would greatly appreciated. Warm Regards.

Thai Hoang.

Daniel B. Martin

You will find instructions to do a Diagnostic Trouble Code readout and reset the Check Engine light at:
http://vbxmaxima.8m.com/ecu.html

The DTC "translations" are found at:
http://vbxmaxima.8m.com/ecudecoder.html

FLmax

After I resetted my ECU, everything was working fine. So i guess just double check your solder to make sure that all 3 prongs are contacting evenly. Make sure that one prong does not have more solder than the other. And you might have to bend the prongs a wee bit too.

good luck

shirtboy

As always, greatly appreciated for all the informations that you have beem giving us, Dr. Daniel B. Martin. Once again, thanks for everything.

Thai Hoang.

ereet

After I fixed the original problem, and made the engine stop fizzling after 2k RPM, the engine light stayed on about a week afterwards. I was messing with my dash lights and left the battery off overnight. When I reconnected it the next morning, it was gone. If your car is no longer stalling and hasn't given any indication of a problem, it should do the same, however, if you've reset the ECU properly and it's still giving you MAF sensor stuff, something still might not be making contact properly.

In a worse case scenario, you may be able to shift where the MAF connections are sitting with a screwdriver, fixing the problem if you ever got stranded somewhere. My connection loosened in the first 3 days and I had to do that on a highway. Not the greatest of scenario's, but I obviously fixed it right that time because it hasn't given me a problem since.