i just read and followed a thread someone posted about fixing their 96 by replacing the maf, but i have a slightly different scenario.

someone else posted there "must" be a CEL in order for it to be a failing maf? well my CEL works fine but doesn't show when the engine is on.

engine was driving like a dream until today going to guard drill, drove for about 6 miles and i felt the first rev/hesitation/buck etc. when i been traveling at 45mph the whole time for about 7-10mins. thought to myself (hmmm... my CV axles are probably coming apart now...) i bought a pair but never put them on so i was kicking my own *** for that..

got to an intersection, yielded.. then felt 3-4 more bucks and rev drop. throttle inconsistent with my foot position on the pedal so i decided to turn in to a burger king only 30 feet away and car died on the entrance/exit ramp/sidewalk to the restaurant.

so ****... now im stalled on an incline... put the car in neutral, started it up (A/T btw). the revs bounce around in neutral and dies by itself sometimes at this point... and also every time i put it in D to attempt to move the damn thing at least into a parking spot, it would just flat out die.

started the car (like the 3rd or 4th re-ignition at this point) just to see if it would rev in neutral, nope. wont rev past 3-4k. bounces around, and dies (sometimes not). but continues to bounce around the revs. like the throttle body is opening and closing sporadically like a kid with a breathing disorder. like its "gasping" for air (reving) itself up and down, up and down to stay alive.

popped the hood, fired her up again (like 6th time) pulled the throttle body. same effect as pushing the pedal. died.

eventually god flicked a tiny little divine booger at me and my car would let me drive it (still running rough) the extra 50 feet i needed to get it to the gas station's parking lot on the other side of burger king... then i payed to tow her home and got a ride to drill.

Fast foward to the end of the day...>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> friend dropped me off at home from drill. started it up. sputtered for a second and stabilized rpms like normal. reved to 4k+ easily, drove it up and down the caldisack(sp?) 3 times, once it warmed up. problems with driving at all started again.

again, no check engine light. but the CEL works because on AAC the test lights are fine. i just want to know if it would be a waste to buy the maf. sounds a little bit different than the church guy's problem.

 

unplug the maf while idling. If the engine doesn't want to stall then the maf is your problem. Also, check the spark plugs. Mine was bucking and stalling and it ended up being a failed spark plug.

 

so if the engine doesn't want to stall while maf IS unplugged, then its maf. but if it still does it, its not?

will do on the sparks after tomorrows drill. thanks man.

 

Start the car, let it idle for a minute. Pop the hood, and while the car is still idling unplug the wiring harness to the MAF sensor. While it's unplugged, if the idle seems to be normal with no chugging or stalling symptoms then the MAF is either dead or dirty. You can pick up a can of CFC Mass air flow cleaner and try cleaning it. After cleaning, if it doesn't return to normal then you need a new one. Get one from eBay, It's costs a lot less then getting one from an auto parts store.

 

except egay mafs blow big ballz

 

ok, so i started the car in N. pulled the plug from the maf and you can hear the revs hesitate(drop) but 2 seconds later it stabilized. SAME thing happens when i plugged the maf back in.

but if i keep playing with it, eventually the action of pulling it out/putting it in (with a few seconds pause in between) will cause it to die.

can't check the spark plugs yet because i'm missing my 3/8 ratchet

 

so after you pull it out nothing changed? After you pull it out, with a good MAF, it should NOTICABLY idle bad. If it is bad dont listen to the ebay idea. Thats about the worst think you could do. Try to find a used OEM one WITH THE STICKER AND "NISSAN" VISIBLE. Alot of rip-offs out there because the el cheapo's are terrible and if you can pass it off as OEM you have made a killer profit

 

no, something does happen. it hesitates when i pull it out. but pulling it out/putting it in doesn't always cause it to die. only when i do it over and over and "agitate" it, it will die.

but it does do something when i pull it out.

 

crap... still need help. can't open the stock airbox to even check the maf. after taking off all 5 screws (4 on box, 1 on bracket), how do i remove it? the latches are also undone btw. i don't want to break anything.

 

getting worried... i have work again on the 14th...

 

I'm going from memory here, but there's a gasket sort of thing inside the collar that can hold it pretty tightly. I always pull the whole snorkel-MAF assembly. Just unhook the 3 air hoses, loosen the hose clamp by the throttle body, unhook the electrical connectors, then you can lift the whole thing up and twist it off at the throttle body. That will give you better access to get the MAF box off.

 

yea take it off from the throttle body back, it makes it easier to get it all apart when its off the car. The car wont all of a sudden die if you unplug the MAF. It will just idle terrible at times and if you leave it running for 5mins or so then it will eventually die out

 

ok all clamps are disconnected, but how do i pick the air box off?

and i noticed my car only drives bad when it gets warm. so is it still the maf?

 

Have you unplugged the connectors, taken off the air hoses, and loosened the hose clamp by the throttle body? And make sure you have all 4 clamps off. It's easy to miss the one on the top right corner. If so, just lift up the air box from the back, and twist if off the throttle body.

 

ok so i didn't have to take anything off except the air box and the maf itself. got the maf off, followed the directions on the mass air flow cleaner spray. sprayed the hot plate 15 times. let it dry, put it all back on. and it didn't help anything.

i'm being quoted 250 bucks for this **** and i dont even know if it will fix the car.

 

bought one off an I30... should come soon. if the new maf doesn't solve the problem... what else should i do?

 

Try checking your wiring harness that connects to the MAF. Had the same stalling issue's you are experiencing, I thought my MAF was going bad on my 95, turned out the wire harness couldn't hold tight any longer. I ended up hard wiring the wire harness straight to the MAF. Problem solved. If I would tap the top of the MAF the engine would stall half the time, if I just touched the harness it would stall every time.

 

thanks for the +1. only 14 more i think? welcome. but i don't think thats it. i can yank on my harness all day and it wont die. but does anyone else know?

 

ok so i didn't have to take anything off except the air box and the maf itself. got the maf off, followed the directions on the mass air flow cleaner spray. sprayed the hot plate 15 times. let it dry, put it all back on. and it didn't help anything.

if anything it got worse. can i rule out the maf?

NOTE: it only runs bad after it warms up. i can go outside right now and start the car and drive it (running good) for about 1 minute cold and then it will act up again.. can that still be the maf?

 

it can still be the MAF, until you test with one you KNOW works.

 

FOLLOW UP REPORT: Just got my I30 maf. and my car now runs. don't wanna say im out of the woods yet because now i need to monitor my MPGs to make sure i didn't get a weird one.

needless to say i do believe it was the maf. as before my car would die quite easily after 2 minutes of driving and now it runs with no sign of falter. going to replace the panel filter, trans and motor oil to prevent anything further happening just in case and hopefully solve why it went bad in the first place.

but as of now, case closed . thank you everyone who helped me. this was a pretty scary gamble. and it turns out it saved me THOUSANDS if not hundreds more. (buying another car / replacing 50 other parts).