A month ago, my SES light came on and the code was 34. I replaced it with a junkyard MAF sensor (about 125,000 km on that part). Then, code 43 came up, and I changed the Throttle Position sensor with a brand new one.

I just came back today from a long trip (and incidentally hit 200,000 km on my car), and after getting home, I got code 34 again. After resetting the codes, the car starts up and stays on, but as soon as I blow some air into the TB with a hair dryer, the car shuts off immediately. The connector shows proper voltage as per Chilton manual.

Am I the only one who is having so much trouble with these sensors? Should I just replace the junkyard MAF sensor with a brand new one (it is more than double the price) - would that solve the problem? Unfortunately, I do not have a code reader, so I can't check gm/sec at idle and WOT, but is the hair dryer check a good check?

Thanks.

I've never heard of the 'blow dryer check'. Where did you hear about doing that?

You may have a bad contact at the MAF sensor - check to make sure the terminals are clean. And Code 43 is the knock sensor, by the way.

It seems like blowing air through it may make the PCM confused because the TPS is indicating that there is no throttle angle, but lots of air is coming in.

Sorry, I must have misquoted the TPS code. It was a TPS code, though.

Chilton recommends measuring the frequency at terminals A & B (should be around 1200 Hz) and blowing air through it to see changes in frequency. (I don't know how to measure frequency as my multimeter doesn't seem to have a setting for it). When I first put in my used MAF sensor, I did blow air through it and it did not shut off the engine.

My connection at the MAF sensor looks pretty clean and secure. I even used di-electric grease last time.

BTW, the air intake that holds the air filter was not seated properly on the bottom. Could that cause a problem? It seemed like a very small leak, if any.

A leak there would not cause an air metering problem, it'* not 'false air' since it'* coming in before the TB and the MAF. It would just let dirty air in, and I suppose a piece of debris could get in and damage the sensor.

I once got a MAF code, the car would buck like a bronco on the highway, I put in a new sensor, and all my problems in life were solved.

Well, the car seems to be driving fine, for now. The only thing I noticed was that the MAF wires were lying over the spark plug wires. I read somewhere that they should be kept away from each other. So, I hung the spark plug wires onto the stabilizer bar with a tie wrap to keep them away.

I am hoping that this problem doesn't come back. Thanks, fuddy & brminder.