Hi,
HJ's Car-by-Car Breakdown mentions MAF sensor failures on Passats, which might be the cause of SHMBO's '98 1.8 20V (only 150k miles!) running poorly.
Symptoms are poor idling, with a tendency to stall if the throttle is 'blipped'. Seemed mainly to occur when the engine was warming up, but is getting worse, and now happens when hot.
Does this sound familiar to anyone? Would the MAF sensor fail progressively, or does it just give up the ghost suddenly?
With 150k on the clock, the car isn't worth much, and I'd like to avoid the 'we'll swap it out and see what happens' approach - which can soon rack up the £££s!!
Thanks,
David
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David,
I have seen mass air flow sensors give these symptoms - they can be quite difficult to suss out even with the manufacturer's diagnostic kit!
Sometimes a temporary cure can be had by giving the inlet system a good aerosol/chemical/solvent clean through (the brand name of the stuff eludes me!). If you get the temporary improvement, then it points you in the direction of the air flow sensor. However, if you get no improvement, it does not eliminate the air flow sensor from your list of suspects.
On one occasion, I dealt with a car with these symptoms which would run much better if I partially blocked the air flow meter with my hand. This enabled me to decide to fit the meter and cure the fault.
I hope that helps - keeping SWMBO mobile is always important!
number_cruncher
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hi
i have an audi a6 1998 with the same engine. the car sometimes stalls when you first start it and tends to 'hunt' around with the engine revs sometimes needing a help with the accelrator pedal.
could this be a MAF problem or more to do with fuel not entering the system?
thanks
dave
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More likely Coolant temp sensor. Easily identifiable with VAG-com diagnostic kit as is AFM
Andrew
--
Simplicate and add lightness!!
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With any car I think there are a lot of very basic things to check before starting to look at replacing expensive components.
Plugs
HT leads
Distributor cap, rotor arm
Coil or equivalent clean?
General condition of earth points, electrical connectors.
Air leaks in induction pipework
Air filter clean
Clean crud out of throttle body
Clean engine breathing system
Idle air valve sticking (if it has one?)
Injectors sticky
Does it have a diagnostic system?
Cliff Pope
Volvo 240 - only 302,000 miles.
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i know yous is vw but this is common on vauxhall
a little trick i learnt was if you can find the diagnostic socket, and you can find the fault codes on the web, you put a pin acrooss two particualr pins on the socket and depending how many time the engine management light flashes shows you what the fault code is, perhaps there is a similar thing on vw?????
does anyone know, failing that give it an italian tune up.!
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