somebody told me yesterday to check the "MAF", didnt want to seem stupid, so didnt ask what it was, can one of you guys please tell me ??

thank you ..

Mass air flow meter - Its the thing the electrical plug goes into, just the turbo side of the airbox.

Mass air flow meter - Its the thing the electrical plug goes into, just the turbo side of the airbox.

You sure? I thought it was a little timer that ticked down the days until just after your warranty expired, and then went pop and made your engine go all funny!

*just kidding* But it is quite a common fault, so it does seem like that sometimes!!!

You can just about see the MAF on my Fabia in this thread, on the extreme right of photo 2b, about 1/4 of the way from the top there's an electrical plug going into the big black air duct... Sometimes if they're acting up, they just need the cr@p cleaned out of them.

Well, mine's been good, but I did have the same thing on my first fabia where it popped on 3 years and about 2 months old....

Can get them off Ebay cheap enough nowadays though, and dealers do exchange prices.

And, since I'm guessing Dave has an Octavia, here's a picture of an Octavia engine bay with the MAF housing circled.

The MAF is actually a little tiny circuit board hidden inside the housing, and protected by mesh at each end to prevent damage from debris (although there shouldn't be any because it's downstream of the air filter).

If you have a petrol engine, you can test the MAF by driving the car with the MAF unplugged for a test drive. If it makes no difference, there's nothing wrong with your MAF. I can't swear you can do that with diesels though.

thanks guys u have been a great help

dave24 !

If you have a petrol engine, you can test the MAF by driving the car with the MAF unplugged for a test drive. If it makes no difference, there's nothing wrong with your MAF. I can't swear you can do that with diesels though.

I would have thought that unplugging it would make the car drive badly (after all if you unplug it and there is no difference and the MAF is functioning, why have one at all? :confused: )

On the diesel a dirty or knackered MAF means it won't pull over 3500 rpm and takes is time (even for a diesel) to get up to speed... and certainly never wants to pull up a hill.

I would have thought that unplugging it would make the car drive badly (after all if you unplug it and there is no difference and the MAF is functioning, why have one at all? :confused: )

I worked out that the MAF on my Octavia was duff by unplugging it. While the engine does not run as well as it would normally (as I found when I replaced the MAF and smiled for days) it does run somewhat better than when the old MAF is plugged in. Apparently you shouldn't do it for prolonged periods though...

If you order one from a VAG dealer, it might help to know that the part description is Air Volume Meter.

genuine Ford ones for the PD engined Galaxy are over £220 , the Bosch part number on the sensor is exactly the same as the Fabia VRS

Unpluggin the MAF on a derv means the car pulls awfully up to just under 2k rpm then doesn't go past it at all. Tis what mine did anyway.

Unpluggin the MAF on a derv means the car pulls awfully up to just under 2k rpm then doesn't go past it at all. Tis what mine did anyway.

My MAF must have been really really sick, as when I unplugged it and drove the car it felt much quicker, although not as smooth as when I replaced the MAF. It certainly went past 2k rpm, pne of the problems when the old MAF was plugged in was a reluctance to go anywhere past 2.5k rpm. At least with the MAF unplugged it managed to get past 3k.

i had my maf replaced last year on 90bhp octy

i was wheel spinning out of the dealers car park!