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Ask Your Question2000 Pontiac Grand Prix
Question: mass airflow sensor
Question
I've had to replace the mass air flow sensor 3 times now on my 2000 Grand Prix GTP. Is there a reason the sensor keeps failing? Is there a particular sensor made for GTP's? or am I just having bad luck with this part?
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Answer #1
Bret Bodas February 06, 2010, 20:34
MasterDoes your vehicle have a pipe that goes from the exhaust to the intake, I'm talking about a thermostatic air cleaner? This allows warm air to be used when the car is heating up, but not when the engine is warm. If you have this type of system, make sure the hot air shuts off when the engine is warm, otherwise it could burn up the sensor.
Can you describe how the sensor fails?Flag ThisLike | 2 people like this2 -
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ronjohn85, February 07, 2010, 07:09
RookieI'm not sure if I have that type of system. How would I check to see if the hot air is not flowing when the car is warmed up? The car will start and idle, but when I go to drive is bogs down, the rpms go up and down and it eventually dies. If I try to start the car right after it dies again right away, but if I let the car sit for a couple minutes it will start up and idle just fine.
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Bret Bodas, February 07, 2010, 20:28MasterI looked into this a bit and it doesn't look like your car has this system (thermostatic air cleaner). But it does have an air pump system, and if the check valve in the air pump system is failing, it can burn up the MAF as well.
I need to step back a bit first, can you tell me if the check engine light is on? And if has come on before, what codes are stored?Flag This -
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ronjohn85, February 08, 2010, 11:31RookieYes the check engine light is on. I'm not sure what codes are stored though. Today I bought a new mass air flow sensor and now my car will drive, but it doesn't shift out of first gear now. I was messing around with two other sensors near the mass air flow sensor, took them out and realized they were not the mass air flow sensor so I just put them back in and reconnected them. Would that have something to do with my car not shifting out of first gear? I'll have to look into whether or not the air pump is going bad.
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Bret Bodas, February 08, 2010, 11:40MasterThe next step here is to get those codes from the engine module, anything else is pure guessing and possibly creating more problems. Have a parts store read out the codes or buy an inexpensive OBD Scanner and post the codes and I can give you some info.
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Visitor, January 26, 2011, 23:24ReplyMy Service Engine Soon light was coming on intermittently. My friend had a very expensive fault code reader which was giving me a fault code indicating a bad Mass Air Flow Sensor, but also indicated that it was running in the correct range. I found out that a bad PCV valve can give a fault code indicating a bad MAF sensor. I changed the PCV valve and the light went away. I haven't had a chance to recheck the fault codes yet, but the car is running slightly better. PCV valve cost me $3.69 at Napa Auto Parts.
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Answer #2
Visitor, June 01, 2011, 21:36ReplyAssuming your Grand Prix has the 3800 in it, this is a EXTREMELY common problem. I bought two new MAFS's for my 1999 Buick Regal GS and both stopped working. I then bought a reconditioned unit from CarQuest for half the price and haven't had a problem yet.
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