MAF Sensor issue on 02' Pathfinder

[302LVR]

Hello. I'm currently having issues with the maf sensor on my 02' pathfinder 2wd. I originally scanned my CEL light and the code P1102 came up telling me the mass air was bad. I went ahead n took a chance with picking up a used maf sensor off a 3.5 maxima @my local junkyard before buying an aftermarket replacement or an expensive oem dealer sensor. After installing the sensor the car idles and drives fine and the CEL light hasnt returned ever since but i still have 1 issue. Whenever i floor the truck or go above 70% throttle i would say, the truck accelerates pretty good on low end but starts lagging above 3k rpm and feels held back and wont accelerate to higher rpm. Also, when i let off the throttle during this condition it tends to shift roughly and very delayed which it didnt do before the oem maf sensor went bad on it. So my main question is, Is this maf sensor a proper replacement for my oem truck sensor or is this what seems to be causing my truck to respond slower under hard acceleration?? I also followed a link on this thread above and read thru the Nissan ECS book to try and find answers to my issue but didnt find a concrete answer. The only thing i did try was the IDLE AIR LEARNING process to see if that makes a difference. Please let me know of any other ideas or suggestions you guys may have for this issue and thanks for the help in advanced.

[vonscorpio]

As far as matching models, is the Nissan part # the same between the Maxima and Pathfinder (which I assume they are)? If so, the part should work-- assuming it isn't defective.

I'm no expert, but I have found through many sad attempts with my M30 that there are varying degrees of failure for MAFs. One NAPA reconditioned, and two salvage yard MAFs later I finally found a winner. Several of those would work, but I'd stall at traffic lights and had very little power.

[atraudes]

What year was the Maxima? The MAF used in the 00-02 Maximas are absolutely interchangeable so if it fits you likely grabbed the right one.

The symptoms you describe and the fact it didn't happen before you made the swap definitely point at the sensor. Give the place you got this one from a call and see what their exchange policy is. Most places will let you grab the same part out of a different car if you have problems (with some exceptions). Also, if your engine was running without significant problems with the old sensor, you could try swapping it back in and see if the hesitation problem goes away.

If you end up getting a new one, I recommend the Delphi AF10168. I got mine off Amazon for around $85 and haven't had any problems (Delphi is a great brand in general).

The idle air volume relearn is recommend when you replace parts like this, though it won't make a difference in your case since the problem you're having is well above idle.

[302LVR]

Thanks for the help n feedback guys. I understand the fact that many users have had issues with aftermarket or ebay, etc, purchased sensors thats why i took a shot the cheaper route n hit my local junkyard to find an oem replacement for cheaper. I'm not sure of the oem part # but I made sure the maf sensor i grabbed was off a 3.5 although im not sure what year its from but yes its probably from the older style maxima with the 4-pin connector. I scoured the whole yard and was only able to find 3 sensors which i purchased. One was defective and threw the CEL as soon as the car started up just like my defective oem one, one sensor was a bit damaged due to an engine fire apparently but i still took it to try my chances, the third sensor is the one i'm currently using which seems to work fine until i go WOT but hasnt triggered the CEL yet. I will try re-installing my oem sensor to see if it makes a difference but i'll definitely look into the Delphi part you guys suggested since the price is attainable compared to the $300+ one offered on Advance AP's website and it's a re-known electronics brand.

[302LVR]

What year was the Maxima? The MAF used in the 00-02 Maximas are absolutely interchangeable so if it fits you likely grabbed the right one.

The symptoms you describe and the fact it didn't happen before you made the swap definitely point at the sensor. Give the place you got this one from a call and see what their exchange policy is. Most places will let you grab the same part out of a different car if you have problems (with some exceptions). Also, if your engine was running without significant problems with the old sensor, you could try swapping it back in and see if the hesitation problem goes away.

If you end up getting a new one, I recommend the Delphi AF10168. I got mine off Amazon for around $85 and haven't had any problems (Delphi is a great brand in general).

The idle air volume relearn is recommend when you replace parts like this, though it won't make a difference in your case since the problem you're having is well above idle.

Thanks for sending me the link for the MAF sensor. I do have 1 question though as i've been searching for info all over google n other forums as well. The Delphi sensor you showed me apparently has 5 connector pins and my factory sensor only has 4. I believe i read somewhere that the 5th pin goes to a resistor for INTAKE AIR TEMP or IAT which i believe my truck has a seperate sensor for that alone located in the air filter resonator box. So in other words, will this interfere in the sensors function or performance or you still think it would work fine? In amazon it also asked me to check for fit with vehicle info and when i entered the info for my truck, it says the MAF sensor is compatable with the 02' Pathfinder. Thanks for any feedback in advance once more.

[nickelghandi]

I had the same issue when I had my 99.5 pathfinder. Check your TPS. In my case both the MAF and the TPS were bad, and that rough shift and acceleration lag sounds like a transmission in limp mode due to the TPS being no good.

[atraudes]

The fifth pin will simply not do anything as it won't be connected to anything. In fact, a lot of posts I read from people who used Maxima MAF sensors said the ones they acquired had the fifth pin as well. It's interesting to know that the pin is used for intake temperature (great find!). Our temperature sensor is indeed mounted in the resonator and since I installed my K&N intake I've had the temperature sensor simply zip-tied in nearby. It'd be interesting to see if we could tap one of our temperature leads onto the MAF sensor...

tl;dr Yes the Delphi will most definitely work.

[302LVR]

I had the same issue when I had my 99.5 pathfinder. Check your TPS. In my case both the MAF and the TPS were bad, and that rough shift and acceleration lag sounds like a transmission in limp mode due to the TPS being no good.

Thanks for the info. The car hasnt thrown any codes for the TPS but i'll try and read up on the Nissan ECS manual to see how to troubleshoot the tps. I dont think its bad since i performed the IDLE AIR RE-LEARN process and one of the steps is to disconnect the tps and reconnecting it. When i disconnected the tps the idle went up momentarily but after re-connecting within 5 seconds, the rpm dropped lower and i believe thats the tps functioning properly when performing that step. I'll definitely look into it though.

[302LVR]

The fifth pin will simply not do anything as it won't be connected to anything. In fact, a lot of posts I read from people who used Maxima MAF sensors said the ones they acquired had the fifth pin as well. It's interesting to know that the pin is used for intake temperature (great find!). Our temperature sensor is indeed mounted in the resonator and since I installed my K&N intake I've had the temperature sensor simply zip-tied in nearby. It'd be interesting to see if we could tap one of our temperature leads onto the MAF sensor...

tl;dr Yes the Delphi will most definitely work.

Ok. Great info, thanks! I actually "modded" my stock intake as well and removed the resonator box as well as some other small boxes hooked up to the main intake tube and also zip-tied my IAT sensor as well so it wouldnt get damaged from dangling around and stuff. lol. Btw, that "mod" made a pretty decent change in hp/tq combined with the drop-in K&N filter i already had installed. Seems that opening a bigger hole on the bottom of the factory airbox will also yield more hp/tq since the engine is breathing in more cold air yet isolating the heat from the engine bay. Getting back on track, i'm gonna try swapping another tps sensor as suggested above to see if that fixes my issue but apparently everything points to the MAF sensor being defective.

[302LVR]

I had the same issue when I had my 99.5 pathfinder. Check your TPS. In my case both the MAF and the TPS were bad, and that rough shift and acceleration lag sounds like a transmission in limp mode due to the TPS being no good.

Forgot to ask if your pf threw the trouble code for a bad TPS when you had it scanned. When i had mine scanned it threw the P1102 code which is for mass air but no other code. Did yours do the same yet ultimately your TPS sensor was defective as well. Just wanna double check to see if i make a trip to the junkyard for another TPS sensor before i spend $80+ on a new MAF sensor. Thanks.

[302LVR]

^^^Still havent ordered new Delphi MAF sensor since the current Maxima one is working for now. I'm still having the issue where the truck seems to go into a limp mode or simply stops accelerating past 4k rpm. I read through the Nissan ECS book and only found the IDLE RE-LEARN process but is there possibly another manual or write-up that explains adjustment of fuel or timing curves? As stated before, after installing the Maxima MAF sensor, the car HASN'T triggered the CEL light anymore. Just trying out whatever i can before i buy the sensor. Thanks.

[302LVR]

UPDATE: Hey everyone sorry for the late reply but finally got around to purchasing a MAF sensor off another Pathfinder and sure enough my truck is fine now and can rev all the way to redline and will respond under WOT. Before when it had the Maxima MAF sensor, it wouldn't let me go past 4k rpm at WOT and the truck would fall on it's face like if it was going into a limp mode or something. Now my truck runs like a champ and i can enjoy it's full power and accelerating abilities. Hope this helps anyone in the future with similar issues.