i am starting to think that the extreme cold has something to do with the failure or more likely failure of the maf. i know this problem existed before and guys in cali and temps never droping below 60F have it too, but it really seams lately a lot of us in the NE and colder climates have had the most failures lately. anyone seem to feel the same? nissan for making crappy MAFs for us!

 

is there a previous post that addresses this? no one has any input?

 

I feel the same way... My MAF went about 2 weeks ago. Luckily I was able to get it from a junk yard for $125. I'm contemplating putting my stock air box back on till March.

 

richp23: a new one from daveb is $108

iwntmorhp: your theory makes some sense cause if the air is colder, the MAF sensor will send more electricity to compensate for the colder air that its reading while adjusting during driving. I believe thats how maf sensors work.... adjusting the electricity to the sensor heating up/cooling down due to warm/cold air coming into the engine

 

Does anyone know how cold is too cold. It hasnt been below 17 degrees here but I am starting to exp. some problems with mine. It seems like my car doesnt start running well until about 45 minutes after I leave home. I installed the frankencar a little over a week ago. Should I take it back off until it warms up.

 

thanks for the insight on the maf...i never knew how it worked. one of those "it just does" things. there are some real techies here that maybe would be willing to explain in more detail how it works? thanks again

 

Haha...Sorry. It's been below 10 the last few days & w/ the wind chill it's been around -5!

 

I beleive it's the other way around. The MAF always sends the same amount of electricity to the sensor which should heat it up a known certain amount. That's how the MAF measures air, it measures how much the temp drops on sensor, or more exeactly the temp differential between the MAF sensor and the built in temp senor that sits out of the air stream+ barometer.

 

thanks for the clarification. makes sense.

 

just talked to bur**** nissan in syracuse on maf price just for comparrison...$488.19 i asked if they just sold the sensor and not the whole housing, and they said that is the only way to get it. daveb...i am sure i will have to call him. 108 vs 488??? i am not sure which one i should do?

 

I'm pretty sure he was right the first time. The voltage increases.

 

i've blown 3 so far this year and come to think of it it was in march and december, the tempeture was about 50-60F when they went out in houston but tempeture fluctuates dramatically from one day to the next here. it is a big inconvenience so i put my box back in until after march for me...

 

I was wrong, I had it bass akwards, I lifted this from a corvette site, but I think it's universal:

"As the air travels past the heated wire enroute to the intake manifold, it will cool the wire and additional current is added to again heat the wire to the design temperature. Since the amount of air moving past the sensor is directly related to the amount of cooling experienced by the heated wire, a feedback condition is established whereby the exact amount of moving air is directly related to the amount of current passing through the wire and the intake air is therefore precisely measured.

Once the amount of air is known, the computer controlling the engine can add or subtract fuel as required to maintain the magic 14.7:1 air-fuel mixture resulting in the cleanest burn possible from an emissions (pollution) standpoint."

from http://www.c4vettes.com/maf.htm


Larrio's idea stands to reason.

 

you guys rock! it makes a lot of sense when you know how it works. thanks a bunch guys!

 

thanks for finding that... i remember reading it somewhere and having a discussion with local org members about how the MAF works. Unfortunately 5th gens can't run the 300zx MAF, otherwise i'd thrown one of those in already.

of course i've never really had MAF problems so far out here in cali

 

Do you have a Frankencar midpipe on your car right now? When I had mine installed last winter, I almost killed the maf and the car would loose a lot of power and sometimes wouldnt rev over 2-3000rpm.

This winter it dropped down to -23 degrees celcius and -30 with the windchill and without the Frankencar, only a JWT pop, the car drives fine.

 

Hey just thought I'd chime in here, I had a MAF failure not to long ago ANYONE who pays more than $110 with tax is getting ripped off. There are a few different part # going around some are priced in the $500s area and this one....

22680-2Y001 is ~$108

Go to a dealer give him this part number tell him another dealer doesn't have it but the price he had was $108. It includes the tube and sensor!

Hope this helps!

 

noo. no mods other than the obx exhaust i put on saturday am. i bought it when my stock rusted out on my 2k and figured i spent the $ so why not swap it out. stripped the 2k of anything useful that was better or could be used for the 2k2.

 

That's total bull ****....I bought a "backup" MAF to keep in my trunk...it's the black housing and the sensor, and it cost me just over 100 dollars at Alexandria Nissan (virginia)....I went in with the part number and the guy pulled the part out and gave it to me....I can't remember the part number, but if someone has access to search function, search my thread on MAF prices in D.C. area (I shopped around)....or maybe you can search under my profile (won't let me do it for some reasion).....that thread has the part number, at least for the 2k, but I think it's similar for 5.5th gen...

 

i took in the part number that i found on another thread and they have 2 in stock. it is obviously different than what they are replacing on my car today, because they have had them for a while. they had to wait for the part for my car and it just got here today, so i asked them to hold the part so i could see what it looked like. i am curious to find out what they are replacing...they said it was $488, but the part he showed me today was the black housing, and it was $110. he wanted to sell them both to me this issue should be taken care of by this afternoon. i cant wait to have my car back to 100%

 

why do our maxima's have souch a problem with this? its annoying, ive replaced three of them. is there any other car that is this bad on maf's?

 

Clean it and save yourself $108.

 

one of my maf went out during summer

 

cleaning will help if its dirty, not if its blown and will not rev over 2.5k rpms. i cleaned mine and got rid of a little bit of stumbling but there is no way cleaning it can bring back a dead maf.

 

I think it has been hypothesised that it has something to do not with the MAF itself but with the ECU. This would explain why a lot of people are blowing multiple MAFS while some people never blow one.

Basically if the ECU is a bit messed up and is sending too much voltage to the MAF for a given temperature the MAF will consistently run hot. Just like a light bulb (It works in a similar principle, running current through a resistive metal element to produce heat) it will burn out if run too hot.

This explination has always made the most sense to me. I'm curious if anyone who has blown multiple MAFS has tried replacing the ECU to see if that might fix the problem.

 

seems like you have a 2k2 or a 5.5 gen. The maf from a 3.0L/5th gen is different. Im wondering what part you got for 110. If you took the partnumber listed above
22680-2Y001 is ~$108
That is for a 2k/2k1 maf sensor. Im using one in my 2002 and it works just fine, throws a CEL code. Which part did you get for 110?? Please let me know on your invoice what part number they installed. I need a 2k2 maf.

 

I love the term "blown MAF"....like it exploded and can never work again. I know that some of them are not repairable, but saying that the stumbling and low revs is because of a broken maf is like replacing tires because the car is hard to turn.

You have to clean it first to rule out that possibility. All MAFs will cause stumbling/low revs whether they are dirty or broken. IMO, I would try to clean it...THEN if that didn't work replace it.

 

well after i updated the software on MAF, it blew several months later

 

just think about it, when the maf is blown or dead, the car will not rev over 2.5k. when they are dirty or oily, it can cause the car to stumble or hesistate. i have never heard of an instance where a maf would not rev over 2.5k and then it was cleaned and boom it came back to life. cleaning is a good idea if its stumbling but if it will not rev over 2.5k whether in gear then buy a replacement.

 

I have a 2003 se 6sp with the good maf "am60 something or other", and i live up north in canada, i have a weapon r intake on and keept it on this winter, it got down to -50 and average was -35 celcius, my car ran fine, no problems with maf ,8000kms with intake on so far not one blown yet. so i think cold weather has nothing to do with it, id guess the ecu

 

But did you replace the actual ECU unit? I'm thinkin perhaps there is a flaw in the circuitry.

 

Last year I replaced my maf because my engine idle would drop down to 200rpm or so then come back up to ~600 when coming out of gear... This year everything was fine... I live in Canada as well, -35 degrees for a couple weeks here to..

 

Doesn't mean it can't happen. I've seen other makes have idleing/hesitation/rpm problems associated with a dirty MAF. It all depends on how the ECU interprets the problem...the MAF is not the thing limiting engine control...it is the ECU's interpretation of the error from the sensor (MAF) and handling that error (reduced rpm/stumble/hesitation/etc).