Are air mass sensor faults a problem for your business?
Pierburg is here to help.

When a diagnostic tool indicates there is a problem with the air supply, the first part identified as being potentially faulty is the Air Mass Sensor. However, this is not always the case and without performing thorough checks, problems may still persist. Pierburg investigates this common issue…

Symptoms

When in use, the vehicle may experience the following symptoms in the event of an engine management failure:
• Black smoke or soot appearing from the exhaust
• Loss of power from the engine resulting in the OBD light appearing
• Car falling into ‘limp mode‘

Common Fault Codes

When such symptoms appear, it suggests that there is an issue with the air supply to the engine. Using a diagnostic tool, the following common fault codes will confirm this.
• P0100 - Mass or Volume Airflow Circuit Malfunction
• P0101 - Mass or Volume Airflow Circuit Range/Performance Problem
• P0102 - Mass or Volume Airflow Circuit Low Input
• P0103 - Mass or Volume Airflow Circuit High Input
• P0104 - Mass or Volume Airflow Circuit Intermittent

Simple Checks

While these symptoms may indicate that this is an air supply problem, it is important to perform thorough checks to ensure the correct fault is diagnosed.
• Inspect the sensor element - if this appears to be contaminated with dirt or oil then the sensor will need replacing as this will be sending incorrect signals to the ECU
• Vehicle idle check - disconnect the air mass sensor from its electrical connector. If the idle is better than before then the sensor needs replacing
• Check the air filters - if there is dirt on the clean side of the filter then there are contaminants passing through which may damage the air mass sensor or alter the air flow rate
• Check the surrounding pipes for leaks - any leaks will result in an inconsistent flow rate

Other Components to Check

If these checks do not point to the fault being air mass sensor based, there are other components in the air supply system which may cause similar symptoms to occur:
• EGR valves – if the EGR valve is faulty this may cause an inconsistent flow rate to occur from the throttle body
• Lambda sensor – incorrect sensor readings may trigger the ECU to increase airflow when this is not needed. In-turn this can affect the engines air/fuel ratio

Range Coverage

• Pierburg have OE applications for Mercedes-Benz, Vauxhall, Volkswagen and Peugeot.
• Pierburg air mass sensors can also be used as replacement parts on models where other brands may have been fitted as OE.