Mass Air Flow Sensor
On every vehicle there are a variety of sensors that are designed to relay information back to the computer. These various sensors then work together with the computer to make sure that the vehicle runs as it should. One of these information gathering parts is the mass air flow sensor, which is a component of a vehicle which works to make sure that it can determine the mass of air which is being run through the fuel injected engine. While the mass air flow sensor may be something that you may not have heard of before, it can cause problems when it malfunctions because of the breakdown in communication between the sensor and the computer that governs the car.
The mass air flow sensor works together with the computer unit to make sure that there is the correct amount of fuel mass that is running through the engine. This can be important because the mass of air that runs through the engine will change depending on the heat and the circumstances that are occurring at the exact moment that the air and fuel mixture is being run through the engine. In fact, if you are driving through a variety of terrains you can instead expect another change in the air density of the fuel because of the alterations in temperatures and altitude. If your mass air flow sensor isn't working correctly, when your car goes through these changes in climate it will not function properly because the air mass will change and will not be properly catalogued and the amount of fuel running through the engine will not be compensated by the computer.
Sometimes people who are experiencing problems with the mass air flow sensor will report that the vehicle's engine is idling rough or dying at different times. This is usually because the mass air flow sensor is sending back false information to the vehicle's computing unit and it is not working the way that it should. If you have experienced some of these problems and you have already run a lot of the common diagnostic checks, then you might consider looking into the possibility of the mass air flow sensor being bad. Usually when the sensor goes bad it will show up with a Check Engine warning, but this is not always the case. Sometimes the computer is receiving such odd information that it does not put the mass air flow sensor into the malfunctioning category and therefore the light never comes on to warn you.
If you think that you are having problems with the mass air flow sensor, then this is a part that is not that difficult to repair and can be done by even some of the more rudimentary mechanics. Plus, it would be relatively easy for you to pick up the parts from the neighborhood auto parts stores. If you cannot find it in the store then you can try to look it up online as there are a lot of different auto parts places available, and some of these can even be cheaper than buying it at a traditional store. However, if you do this make sure that the site you are buying from can be vouched for and that it has a high customer satisfaction rating. After you find the part, all that you will need to put the mass air flow sensor into place is a diagram of the vehicle's engine so that you know exactly where to place the sensor. If you do not have this information you could waste hours looking for the mass air flow sensor.
