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Mercedes are vehicles made with luxury in mind. They offer timeless elegance and style throughout ever car they manufacture. However, without the correct care and maintenance, part failure can occur. Once such part which can develop faults is the MAF sensor. In this article, we will take a closure look at how to deal with the failure of this part, how to identify the signs of failure, and where to go for help with this issue.
WHAT IS THE MAF SENSOR?
The MAF sensor stands for Mass Air Flow Sensor. This component is found under the hood of your Mercedes. It is a black cylinder with multiple apertures which connect to your engine and PCV valve. The MAF sensor mostly interacts with your Mercedes onboard diagnostic system (OBD). The role of the MAF sensors is to measure the flow of air entering the engine. It does this by measuring the weight and temperature of the air. It gives this data to the OBD, which uses the information to ensure that the correct amount of fuel is added in response. This functions to ensure that the perfect mixture of air and fuel enters the engine, ready to be ignited.
HOT-WIRE AND COLD-WIRE
MAF sensors comes in 2 types: hot-wire and cold-wire. Most modern cars use hot-wire sensors to monitor airflow. The MAF sensor is able to do this by using a hot wire as a measuring tool. It aims to keep this wire at a steady 90 degrees. It measures how much energy is needed to accomplish this, which it converts into usable data.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE MAF SENSOR
The MAF is responsible for ensuring the correct air-to-fuel ratio is achieved inside the engine. This helps to ensure the engine performs at optimal levels, igniting and combusting in the most efficient way. If this sensor fails, then a whole host of issues can occur. Let’s take a look at those next.
SYMPTOMS OF FAILURE
Some of the most common symptoms of MAF failure you can recognize are as follows:
ROUGH IDLING
When your Mercedes idles at a red light or in traffic, you may notice that your engine idles more roughly than usual. This can be due to a failure of the MAF sensor and an incorrect air-to-fuel ratio. Signs of rough idling include judders and increased engine noise.
DIFFICULT TO DRIVE
If your MAF sensor starts to fail, you will notice that your Mercedes becomes more challenging to drive. You will likely notice an increased rate of misfires and stalling.
LOWERED FUEL ECONOMY
Failure of the MAF sensor will completely ruin your Mercedes’ fuel economy, meaning that it will become more expensive to run. This is due to your vehicle’s OBD overcompensating the amount of fuel needed, since it doesn’t have reliable air flow data. This results in your Mercedes guzzling fuel, which means that you will need to refill at the pumps far more often.
ENGINE DAMAGE
If a faulty MAF sensor is ignored for some time, then you may end up with expensive engine damage or excessive wear to its associated parts and systems. Your engine will be under undue strain from the MAF failure, resulting in accelerated wear and potentially increased part-failure as a result. This will ultimately lead to lengthy and very expensive repairs, which will need expert servicing to rectify.
DEALING WITH MAF SENSOR ISSUES
Ideally, you should do your best to avoid MAF sensor failures from ever occurring through routine maintenance and servicing. However, if your MAF sensor is on the fritz, then you should seek repairs as soon as possible. For those mechanically-savvy Mercedes owners, MAF sensor repairs can be completed at home. There are a variety of sources online which can help you with this task.
However, if you want complete reassurance, you should always seek professional repair work. Residents of San Antonio, and Longhorn, TX should look no further than Autobahn Automotive Service. We have serviced the community for over 40 years. Our friendly team at Autobahn Automotive truly have seen it all, meaning that no job is too big or too small for our expertise. Our technicians are ASE certified, AAA approved, and Bosch certified, meaning that high-quality repairs and servicing is guaranteed and that you are sure to drive away happy.