How Your Mercedes’ Mass Airflow Sensor Failure Affects Its Performance

A Mercedes, like most other modern vehicles, is equipped with a mass airflow sensor. This particular sensor has an important job and is vital to maintaining your car’s performance. Although a very tried and true component of your highly-engineered Mercedes, the mass airflow sensor can fail for a few different reasons. In this article, we will discuss what your mass airflow sensor’s purpose on your Mercedes is, what are some reasons it could fail and how a mass airflow sensor failure affects your Mercedes’ performance.

What Is a Mass Airflow Sensor?

A mass airflow sensor is part of a regulating system that communicates to your vehicle’s onboard computer system. This computer system receives input from the mass airflow sensor that tells it how much air to fuel mixture is entering the fuel system. Your Mercedes needs just the right amount of fuel to oxygen mix to get the best efficiency out of your engine. If the fuel does not have enough oxygen mix, it is called too rich; if too much oxygen it will tell your computer that it has too much and the fuel is too lean.

Your Mercedes’ computer system will then reduce or send more fuel from the fuel system to the engine to make up for the leanness, or richness of the mixture. This allows the car to run at the same performance regardless of how much, or how little oxygen is entering the system.

Ways It Affects Performance

Now that we know your Mercedes can have its performance affected by a failing airflow sensor let’s take a look at the different ways that this manifests itself. If you have the experience of any of these situations, have your car serviced by an expert Mercedes technician and shop to determine if the mass airflow sensor is the culprit or something else.

• Idling Issues: When your Mercedes has a failing mass airflow sensor one of the symptoms manifested is a rough idle. The reason behind this is when the car is now running lean or rich, the sensor is no longer able to adjust the fuel input to make the correction. Without this adjustment your car’s idle will be haphazard.
• Performance Issues: Just as the idle will be a symptom, the performance of your Mercedes will greatly suffer. Even suffer enough that when you press down on the gas pedal, the car may sputter forward or almost die. Your Mercedes will surely have a struggle making it up hills and gaining speed at a fast rate.
• Fuel Mileage Reduction: Remember with your Mercedes running lean, more gas will be pumped out of the injectors to make up the difference. This will grossly add to your fuel consumption and pocket book.
• Emissions Issues: One of the reasons that the mass airflow sensor is on the list of your vehicles emissions inspection checks in your state, is due to having too rich of a fuel mixture. This allows excessive fuel to enter your emissions system and enter into the atmosphere. This environmental issue will certainly be having you fail emissions testing if required in your area.
• Starting Issues: If the mass airflow sensor in your Mercedes is failing, you could experience what is known as hard starts, or in other words, your car will have a hard time starting up. It will usually finally start but with the sensor out, the fuel system gets the mixture wrong.

How To Prevent a Mass Airflow Sensor Issue

One of the best ways to prevent issues with your mass airflow sensor is to make sure you are keeping up with your car’s manufacturer’s recommended scheduled preventive maintenance. Skipping these scheduled services, you are putting your car at risk of an ultimate breakdown while operating your Mercedes at the worst possible moment. There is no guarantee that your sensor will not fail with scheduled services, but your odds of having a major breakdown goes way down with the proper inspections taking place.

What To Do About Mass Airflow Sensor Issues

If you have issues with your mass airflow sensor you will need to take it to an authorized Mercedes’ shop with highly trained technicians. At Bimmer Performance, our skilled team has the experience and knowledge to tackle any issue with a mass airflow sensor and any other problem your Mercedes may have. Serving the Sugar Land, Mission Bend, Cinco Ranch, Katy, and Houston, Texas communities, Bimmer Performance is your dealership alternative for higher quality and less cost.