Boneyard Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 Greetings, As much as I would love to come here and gush about a new Suby, I have yet another problem with the old one I am driving... My car usually starts fine (it was hard starting on Monday), it idles fine, and cruises fine. The issue comes when I am accelerating or when I am decelerating. If I am idling and I punch the accelerator, the engine will lag out and try to die. If I fan it a bit first, I can punch it all I want. Accelerating from a stop will cause me to lag unless I have been fanning the gas for a moment (I assume it is the same problem i.e. pressing the accelerator from an idle). Finally, when I am driving down the freeway and hit the offramp (or anytime I am lugging it) in high gear and low RPMs, I notice my engine start to sputter and cough until I down shift, in which case it seems to run fine. I have not noticed a change in power while cruising, and once I start to accelerate, I do fine. I changed the fuel and air filters, and that has not resolved the problem. I have run some injector cleaner through, and am running a couple more cycles to see if that helps, but the problems seems to be getting worse, not better. I changed the plugs, wires, etc last August, so they should still be good (less than 10k on them, maybe even less than 6k), although they might have issues. In the past year I have also replaced the fuel pump, catalytic converter, and had it go through emissions adjustment. Any idea what else (or what of the above) may be causing the lugging on acceleration pedal? I know my car hasn't had the same amount of power since it got adjusted for emissions (August 08), but these symptoms have only been happening for maybe a month, and I would like my car to last for at least another year. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robm Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Could it be a dirty MAF sensor? Works fine at steady state, or when airflow is changing relatively slowly, but can't track fast changes in flow when the throttle is cracked? Rob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boneyard Posted September 30, 2009 Author Share Posted September 30, 2009 Well, that seems like something that shouldn't bee too hard to check. As long as I don't have to replace it ($200... ouch). It seems like the most innocuos parts are the most expensive. I saw some stuff online about being able to hit the wires with a bit of carb cleaner and get some more life out of them, so I'll give it a shot. Apparently these are one of those parts that just never get serviced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boneyard Posted September 30, 2009 Author Share Posted September 30, 2009 Could it be a dirty MAF sensor? Works fine at steady state, or when airflow is changing relatively slowly, but can't track fast changes in flow when the throttle is cracked? Rob. So where exactly is the MAF? I am looking through the Haynes manual, and I can see an airflow sensor near the air filter, but nothing that is label MAF. Are they the same? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivantruckman Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 yes , Mass Air Flow Sensor , i have had alot off success in cleaning them, also you can clean the throttle body too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boneyard Posted October 1, 2009 Author Share Posted October 1, 2009 Do I have to have to remove it to do so? I am a renter, and it is my only vehicle, so removing the throttle body is a pretty involved task, especially with the rainy season approaching. The Air sensor next to the air filter should be a quick clean though. I don't think that is the MAF though. I looked it up online, and the part is $200 and looks like it belongs somewhere on the intake. I assume there is more than one air flow sensor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robm Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 No, that is the one and only Mass Air Flow sensor, right next to the air filter. Pay particular attention to the little hole, that actually does the measuring. There are other threads on here about cleaning the MAF. Worth a read. It may not be the problem, but it is worth a try. Rob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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