September 10, 2009

Air Cleaner Temperature Sensor

Air Cleaner Temperature Sensor

Air Cleaner Temperature Sensor Air Cleaner Temperature Sensor

Is Your Mass Air Flow Sensor (MAF) Working Properly?

Does your vehicle exhibits undesirable actions like shuddering, knocking, stalling, erratic engine performance, illuminates check engine light in the instrument panel; consumes more fuel and gives poor mileage? Well, then this is the right time to wake up since these are the alarming symptoms of deterioration of your vehicle's Mass Air Flow Sensor. Depending upon the types of vehicles the morphology of the sensor may vary but the operation is the same irrespective of the types.

Before entering into the deeper layers, first get an idea about some basic concepts about the sensor. A mass air flow sensor is used to find out the mass of air entering a fuel-injected internal combustion engine. The air mass information is necessary for the Engine control unit (ECU) to balance and deliver the correct fuel mass to the engine. Air changes its density as it expands and contracts with temperature and pressure. In automotive applications air density varies with the ambient temperature, altitude and use of a turbocharger and this is an ideal application for a mass sensor. Stoichiometry and ideal gas would explain the deeper concepts much better if you need further explanations. There are two common types of mass airflow sensors in usage on automotive engines. These are the vane meter and the hot wire. Neither design employs technology that measures air mass directly.

Mass Air Flow sensors are very sensitive. Usually the MAF (Mass Air Flow Sensor) is mounted in the vehicle's cleaner box and is connected with the computer through a wiring harness. Once you remove the mounting bolts and harness, you would be able to unplug the entire sensor completely. The size of the sensor is not that much big. It is a small unit having two wires exposed. The wire heats up when the car is in motion and thereby and the MAF measures the airflow by detecting how quickly the flow of air cools the temperature of the wires. Spraying these wires clean with MAF cleaner or electrical contact cleaner and leaving the MAF to air dry is the best approach to cleaning this sensitive instrument. Once it is dry, it can be reinstalled and the car can be started again. If engine performance is restored or the check-engine-soon light goes off, it is likely that the MAF was dirty and not broken.

Calgary Mechanics are able to provide the repair you need and the service you want for your Mass Air Flow Sensors. Calgary Auto Repair services are getting good recognition too for their excellent customer services in recent times.

About the Author

The author of this article has expertise in Calgary Mechanics. The articles on Calgary Auto Repair reveals the author's knowledge on the same. The author has written many articles on Car Mechanic Calgary and Good Mechanic Calgary as well.

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