solid snake Posted May 25, 2005 Share Posted May 25, 2005 Hey everyone, I am having trouble with the mass airflow sensor. I recently had it cleaned and it worked fine for a couple of days then the problem I had before happened. Before it was cleaned my tranny was shifting at 4,000 rpms, after it was cleaned it shifted at 3,000 rpms. Now its back to the way it was. I know I have to replace it, but I was wondering it there is any aftermarket performance maf that I can install, or is there any type of customization I can make by getting one from another car. I can get a remanufactured one at autozone for $169.00, but if going to drop that money I might as well get a performance part to get better horsies. all input will be greatly appreciated!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animal Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 A little slow on the response, but I hope not too late. Since cleaning seemed to help, I would question whether it is bad. Perhaps it is the connector. I have a '92 and have notice a loss of tension in the wireharnes side of the connectors. Just repluggin the sensors would clear my problems for a time. Using a small tool to reform the straps fixed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piscator Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 I've heard "talk" that it may be possible to shoehorn in an MAF off a VG3.3 BUT someone needs to find the voltage specs to see if it be comaptable...then someone needs to see if one will actually fit in the space we have or come up w/ an easy fab to install it. Probably easiest to A) put a bunch of electric grease on the connector and see if that helps adn/or pull on in a parts garden and try that one and see what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animal Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 (edited) I've heard "talk" that it may be possible to shoehorn in an MAF off a VG3.3 BUT someone needs to find the voltage specs to see if it be comaptable...then someone needs to see if one will actually fit in the space we have or come up w/ an easy fab to install it.. I have a '95 Pathy (3.0) and my wife has a '00 Xterra (3.3). The only difference in the MAF I can see is the Xterra's housing mounts directly to the air box whereas the Pathy is conneted to air ducts (hoses). Since both use the same air filter, it should be possible to use the Xterra's on the Pathy. If anyone is interested I will compare the part numbers on the sensors (I know the Pathy is Hitachi, but don't recall the Xterras). Probably easiest to A) put a bunch of electric grease on the connector and see if that helps adn/or cool.gif pull on in a parts garden and try that one and see what happens Dielectric grease is used to prevent oxidation but won't improve the contact surfaces. It wouldn't hurt to put a little on after checking and repairing the connector, if this is the cause. Edited June 7, 2005 by Animal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kn0xville Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 its pretty common for the ground on our maf's to go on us. you could do all the voltage reading if you want to check it first... OR, just run a new ground from it. there is 3 wires in that plug that plugs onto the MAF itself.. one of them is a ground, you can splice into it and run a new ground to the body somewhere. I cant remember what one is the ground, but i can find out tomorrow if you like? I can also give you all the readings to check if you like?? let me know and i'll dig it out for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solid snake Posted June 13, 2005 Author Share Posted June 13, 2005 its pretty common for the ground on our maf's to go on us. you could do all the voltage reading if you want to check it first... OR, just run a new ground from it. there is 3 wires in that plug that plugs onto the MAF itself.. one of them is a ground, you can splice into it and run a new ground to the body somewhere. I cant remember what one is the ground, but i can find out tomorrow if you like? I can also give you all the readings to check if you like?? let me know and i'll dig it out for you. Sure!!! If you can get me this info, it will really help. What I have noticed recently also is that the check engine light comes on when this problem occurs frequently, and since I know what made that light turn on. So i unplug the harness and plug it back in again, the light goes out. What a mechanic told me is that the o ring around the sensor itself, not the harness, may be cracked and that in turn make the sensor suck air around it :confused: , instead of the air box. I'll check it out and place a new o ring. Like I said already all the input is greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kn0xville Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 ok.. first off... the white wire is the signal wire. The black wire is the ground. And the black wire with the white stripe is the temperature wire. (there may be a bare silver wire in there, just ignore it). get a voltage meter. put the positive probe on the ground at the connector, and the negative probe on the intake manifold with the engine running. if the voltage is less then .009V, than its OK. if its more, then next to run an additional ground. best results come from soldering an 18 gauge wire at the connector, and running the other end to the same ground spot as the engine systems are using on the intake. When done doing all that, measure again, and should read .003V or less on the meter. Once ground is good, measure the voltage at the signal connection (white wire) Voltage with the engine running smoothly increase to about 4V at wide open throttle. And i hope you understand all that.. its really pretty simple to do. good luck! Oh.. your engine will run funny for the first few minutes while the computer registers what just happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kn0xville Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 also... if you take it apart again... make sure you look REALLY close to see if one of the two wires in the MAF arent broken.. and you can pull the O-ring (seal) out to see if its ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 91Pathfinder Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 hmm, there is something wrong with the price that autozone is offering you. about 4 months ago i destroyed my mass air flow sensor and it was only $40 to get a new one installed at a local shop here in town. just so you know how badly my sensor was, i had to MANUALY idle my pathy all the way home or it would die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nloach Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 (edited) I am actually going through the same problem. My Pathy runs very weak. I have been farting around with it for a couple days, but will deffinitely have to test out the ground idea mentioned earlier. Although, I noticed when looking at the wires, that the fourth wire didn't seem to be in place as it should be, so after looking at a friends I trimmed the fourth wire so that it didn't come out of its thick tube. That made the motor run noticeably better, but still not up to par. I am going to have a harder look at the connector. I also tried my friends MAF, but didn't notice any improvement. I am guessing either my wiring is the problem, or my computer is not reading the information properly. Perhaps when I was swimming with my Pathy last time I shorted something and wrecked the computer. Don't know. All I know is that this is a very confusing system. I have to learn this electrical stuff better. BTW I was quoted at 183$ CDN at Part Source for the MAF. Naithan Edited June 15, 2005 by nloach Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kn0xville Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 there is 4 wires in there, theres one that is just bare, and on mine it connects to nothing at all.. not sure what its there for, so i left it alone. And your MAF itself could be fine, and the ground could be not doing its job, its very common on our old pathy's. Been there, Done that Oh.. and Nloach.. i noticed the ontario plate... Windsor here.. where are you? Close?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nloach Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 Yeah, actually I am in London. I tried the ground issue, and it is grounding at about .007V so I figure she is fine. I tried the other two and one is at 13 volts and I think it was 2 or 3 volts. Like I said, I noticed that on my Pathy the designers made a specific attempt at keeping the 4th, bare, wire away from the one wire. The problem I noticed was that this was no longer the case with mine. So what I did is I trimmed it so that it was again secluded. This improved my performance, but its still not up to par. Any thoughts? This is really starting to bother me. My new MAF comes in tomorrow, but I will be very disapointed if that isn't the issue, especially considering Nissan diagnosed it as the MAF and ground wire. Naithan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patzx300 Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 (edited) The 4th wire you all are speaking of is the grounding wire for the shielding for the wiring to the MAF. I will be getting the VG33 MAF figured out when I get back form vacation so I should have an answer by the middle of July. Yeah thats a long time to wait but I have to finsih up a D44 axle for an SAS on an Xterra. Edited June 16, 2005 by patzx300 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimGreg Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 (edited) My new MAF comes in tomorrow, but I will be very disapointed if that isn't the issue, especially considering Nissan diagnosed it as the MAF and ground wire. Naithan My Mother-in-law had hers (94 LE) replaced after the stealer diagnosed the MAF as bad. $600 for the part plus labor. Edited June 16, 2005 by GrimGreg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nakta Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 any updates? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solid snake Posted July 20, 2005 Author Share Posted July 20, 2005 Sorry for the late update, but I finally got to do the ground testing and it came back ok. So I ended up buying the maf sensor. After I installed it, I took the pathy out for a drive and immediately felt the diffrence....it shifted better, and the pathy didn't feel heavy, like it did with the old one!!! :cool2: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nloach Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 Update? Well, as some of you may have noticed. I have my truck posted in the for sale section. I am selling for parts, as I don't know what else to do to her. I figure anymore fixes will put me in a position that won't allow me to get my money back out of her. So I am calling her quits on this one. I am still going to try and find a hardbody and swap the parts that I can, but a damper was just put on the situation as I was selling my motorcycle to buy the hardbody when the motorcycle got stolen. So, needless to say I have had a lovely turn of luck for the last little while. Bicycling to work and all. Anyhow, thanks to everyone for the good advice. I may not be on here again, as I would love to have another Pathy, but need a pickup. Keep 4x4ing Naithan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nloach Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 Problem Solved Well, just an update on this issue. I finally figured out the problem. The Woodruff Key in the timing belt to crankshaft joint half sheared and rotated about 15 degrees and jammed. So the result was that the timing was off enough to run, but not close enough to run properly. So ya, problem solved in case any of you have the same problem that seems like a MAF problem. Thanks again for all the help though. You guys helped me find ways to easily rule out most questions. Naithan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 RedPath88 has had exactly the same issue, except he lost the motor... Makes me think that inspecting the keyways and key is important if one removes the crank pully. Definitely something to note ! I'm glad you aren't chasing ghosts any more and that we helped. B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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