I was driving the other day and at a stop light while my car was ideling it just shut off. I tried starting it agian but all it did was that it just kept cranking and turning over but it never started... After towing it back home. I pluged a scanner into it and I got 2 codes The first was CODE P0100: MAF OR VAF CIRCUT MALFUNCTION and the other code was, CODE P0102 MAF OR VAF CRICUT LOW INPUT. I looked at my MAF and it looked fine and it was pluged in. Please help me understand what these codes mean and how to fix my problem, Thanks.

My car is a 1996 LT1 camaro

 

The Mass Air Flow shouldn't keep the car from starting. If you unplug it the car just runs off of A/F tables. Have you checked the obvious like corroded terminals, battery voltage, ect?

 

The PCM is not getting back the range of frequencies it expects from the MAF. The MAF will feedback a variable frequency signal dependant on the amount of air rushing past the heated wire within the MAF. The PCM is not receiving the range it should see based on several other parameters it does see.

The first thing to check is the voltage and ground at the MAF on the pink and the black wire. You should see 12 volts from the pink to the black wire.

Next ohm the yellow wire from the MAF to PCM on the black connector. 3rd pin from the end.

 

Im getting voltage in the pink wire

 

That's good but did you measure from the pink wire to the black wire or did you measure the pink wire to the engine (ground)? Even if the pink wire has voltage, if the black wire is broken, it doesn't work. Understand?

Did you ohm the yellow wire from the MAF to the PCM to check it for breaks?

Have you looked at the grid wires to see how dirty they are?

Do you have cotton type filter that requires oiling?

 

The MAF codes could be secondary to the real problem. If the engine unexpectedly shut down because of some other problem, the PCM may have thrown the codes because it was expecting to see data from the MAF and there was none. Clear the codes and see if they return when trying to start the car. If they don't, check basics like spark and fuel.

 

Is it possible that it is my Opti... its only about 6 month old

 

Check the basics so you can tell what is going on.

 

hmm im gonn ahave to try that out

 

pink wire is getting 13.6 volts
yellow is getting 5.03 volts
i used black wire as ground

didnt check ohms but does this seem right at idle?

i remember when i installed my headers i was using a tech 2 to monitor some problems i was having , my buddies dad didsay the MAF readings seem kinda low,
then i had a problem

think its my MAF?

 

anybody?