MAF or something different ?

[MHM]

Hi
I'm sorry for my english. I don't speak english very well but I hope that you can understand my problem
I have Chevrolet Astro from 1997 year.


Symptoms:
1) Original MAF - until recently it drove the most normal of all three. About 1.5 months ago, on the way from work, I wanted to accelerate to overtake the marauder and at that moment the car went out. Several attempts to start - it fires, runs slow, pressing the gas causes the engine to stall. I unhooked the MAF, he fired it and he went with a check on the board P0102 (no signal from MAF). Connected did not give any errors.
2) MAF by WALKER PRODUCTS - bought after the diagnostician's suggestion that the original is falsifying the results. He drove for 3 months and started showing a constant level of 5g of air through the OBD2 readings, regardless of the engine load. It's a purchase
3) MAF by STANDARD MOTOR PRODUCTS - I was suspicious of the same from the very beginning. I put it on before I went on vacation. On the 500km route one way, I got the error of the low MAF signal (P0102) twice. After reaching the place, I replaced it with the original. I put it back in the car after the original collapsed and drove it until last week (erasing the low signal error from time to time) when it started to throw me a low MAF signal error in the city on the company with a poor mixture from bank 1 and 2 (P0171 and P0174).

Today I connected the MAF from point 2 again - I fired at a standstill, engine cold. He fired, but he waves very strongly. It almost goes out, but after a while it starts up to about 2,000 rpm. Through OBD, the MAF indications jump to about 140g of air and keep it that way. Check crashes two errors: MAF signal low (P0102) and indication out of range.

Now the question: am I really unlucky with MAFs (3 pcs), or maybe some other problem?

Both MAF's I bought at RockAuto. Yesterday I bought next MAF - ACDELCO.

[Rod's Trucks]

MHM,
You English is just fine. Some of the sentence structure is 'odd' but it is certainly understandable. If I tried to speak Polish....well, nada!
There would be very poor of having three bad ( new) MAF sensors. It is very suspicious, and makes me think of a bad ground or problem with wiring.
Have you carefully checked for a possible intermittent connection or frayed wire at the connector?
Good luck, and stay healthy.
Rod Johnson
Issaquah, WA

[MHM]

Have you carefully checked for a possible intermittent connection or frayed wire at the connector?

Not carefully yet. I only cursorily checked. But wiring is my next suspicious.

[pmou]

i have had issues as well that I suspected the maf, I would also suggest looking at the wiring. i believe the numbers should be the same across years, if it would be helpful I can share the factory manual pages that would show expected readouts (mine is 2003). i only ever measured at rest myself. the ground on top of the block that goes to the thermostat would be a good start, I believe that is the nearest ground to where the maf grounds itself. ideally, check grounds all the way to the battery if you aren't certain they are good.

[MHM]

Astro (and MAFs) have to waiting. We have a very low temperature now. I haven't got a garage. The accumulator in the Astro is discharged.

My friend send me advice:
https://easyautodiagnostics.com/gm/4.3L ... f-sensor-1

When will be hotter I will be test the MAF's and wiring.

[MHM]

Using the + temperature, I looked under the hood. I think I've traced the culprit of my MAF problems. The signal cable from the MAF to the computer took and broke inside the lagging (the lagging is not damaged) right next to the plug. I have to replace this cable and plug. If that is the cause of the problems, I will have 3 MAFs in stock

[MHM]

Bingo. The culprit was a broken wire inside the lagging. I replaced the plug and checked the readings from the original MAF with TorquePRO. It's a live and works Reacts to the slightest hitting the gas. No errors in the CPU.

So..... I have 3 spare MAF's on the shelf now

[AstroWill]

Bingo. The culprit was a broken wire inside the lagging. I replaced the plug and checked the readings from the original MAF with TorquePRO. It's a live and works :) Reacts to the slightest hitting the gas. No errors in the CPU.

So..... I have 3 spare MAF's on the shelf now :)

Glad you got it figured out and thanks for posting your fix!

[dcsleeper]

what's a lagging?

[MHM]

what's a lagging?

I don't know how it is correct. Cable insulation ? Plastic surrounding the cable ?

[pmou]

yes, I think that sounds correct. interesting that the wire broke inside the insulation.. that's crazy, who could have predicted that! glad you figured it out and thanks for sharing your experience!!

[dcsleeper]

sheathing
or
cable jacket

[MHM]

interesting that the wire broke inside the insulation.. that's crazy, who could have predicted that!

I have experience finding the strange failure cases in my cars
My Astro previously it has been driving for 18 years in Japan. I don't know who was service it.

[Mmusicman]

interesting that the wire broke inside the insulation.. that's crazy, who could have predicted that!

It's not terribly uncommon for wire to break inside insulation.
High vibrations can fatigue metals (wire), where the insulation would be unaffected.
Also any nick in a wire can introduce corrosion which will almost certainly break wire too.

Glad the OP found the trouble.. and thanks for posting the fix!

[MHM]

Old and new plug.
Red point at the old plug/wire - the place where wire is broken.

[Bikley]

I chased a broken wire forever. My van kept eating ignition modules and I finally figured out that it was a broken wire inside the insulation about 2 inches from the distributor. Just like yours, a new pigtail fixed the problem.

[MHM]

Today I received a shipment from RockAuto with MAF ACDELCO 2133458 Gold / Professional; Remanufactured.

This is some kind of a joke? Is this really what a professional part refurbishment looks like?

My MAF in Astro has 24 years. It's look better.

I hope that it is work correct. I'll check it tomorrow.

[dcsleeper]

Return that. It's somebody's return, not a freshly reman part.

[MHM]

Return that. It's somebody's return, not a freshly reman part.

I can't The cost of returning and reshipping is too high.
MAF price $126.59
Shipping $20
From me to RA, shipping costs more than $20.

Besides, I would have to pay duty again for the next shipment (next $35). Thx.

My original MAF works so I will be losing that money

Does anyone know the e-mail address to RockAuto where you can write a normal text with a complaint?

The form on the RockAuto website does not allow for any comments.
It is also impossible to write normally on the RA board on Facebook.

EDIT:
This MAF is old and broken. It has never been remanufactured. I installed it on car and engine doesn't work correct. I installed oryginał MAF and engine is working correctly.

[Mmusicman]

I had a bad experience with Rock Auto.. I won't likely ever buy from them again.
No recourse, no place to complain, no customer service. DONE