What will a bad maf do to the car when it is damaged or went out. My car will sometimes die when I try to start it. Once I get the car to run it will idle ok but it has a slight miss, and it also has a slight miss at part throttle. At wot there is no miss. But it idles rough and has a gas smell at start up. I started the car today and unplugged the maf; the car's idle went up, and it continued to idle about the same just a little higher rpm with the same slight shake. I have no codes on; Will a bad maf always throw a code? Also, I did clean the maf with this once http://www.q45.org/maf/cleanmaf%20008.jpg

 

Unplugging stuff is a poor way to diagnose. Do a real time scan to see what is going on.

 

could be a bad coolant temp sensor. bad spark plug wires or opti also

you really need to scan it to see what is going on

 

I changed out the opti and the cap and rotor with a msd cap. Then I checked out my plug wires and found one bad wire; I changed that wire and replaced all the plugs. Now I am going to breakdown and buy a scan tool. Will this one work?http://www.obdcom.com/?gclid=CPPAuZv-qpwCFRBbagodMmE0jA

 

Make sure it includes "GM Enhanced Parameters".... it will be much more useful if it does. Not all OBD-II software includes that.

AutoTap has the GM Enhanced Parameters, but it costs a lot more.

 

I am going with auto tap. What is the difference between with and without the the GM Enhanced Parameters? Is this all I need? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Autot...4506.m20.l1116

 

Can I get away with buying the Auto tap Software upgrade for GM enhanced parameters for the ATU or ATS for $99 then apply that to different hardware like a ElmScan 5 OBD2 Scan Tool Kit for $99. Or do I need the auto tap kit for $199 and the Auto tap Software upgrade for GM enhanced parameters for the ATU or ATS for $99. Thanks