driving w/ MAF unplugged

1237 Views 12 Replies 8 Participants Last post by TexasVWdriver, Jul 18, 2003

janb

Discussion Starter · Jul 2, 2003

Question from a 70 yr old friend (I only do IDI's). His 2001 Jetta TDI seems to have a bad MAF, as he unplugged and it runs normal. How long can he drive with it unplugged? Being on the fixed income and all, it could be a while before he can afford to have it fixed.
(I can buy 10 complete IDI cars's for the $500 it sounds like TDI MAF's cost!!, I should at least get 6-7 runners out of 10 donors)
I still want a Passat TDI Wgn for a Canada/Alaska long range 'explorer' 1200mi/tank

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TexasVWdriver

· #2 · Jul 2, 2003

Re: driving w/ MAF unplugged (janb)

You can get a new TDI MAF for about $250 online. Try http://www.vwparts.com & http://www.germanautoparts.com . He can also try a 2.0 MAF. If his TDI is stock he shouldn't have any problems. Chipped TDI's, like mine, usually get CEL's and lots of smoke.

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200Kplus86

· #3 · Jul 4, 2003

Re: driving w/ MAF unplugged (TexasVWdriver)

I drove mine that way for about 3 months (unplugged) without any lingering ill effect. Kind of lack-luster but steady performance; more tolerable and predictable at least. Then I bought a 2.0 maf for under $50.00 at the dealer. It has worked well so far for about a year. I'm running stock except for a sleeping EGR. Have you tried just cleaning it in 99%iso alcohol?

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VWTD

· #4 · Jul 4, 2003

Re: driving w/ MAF unplugged (200Kplus86)

It will run but on a base factory set up [read emergency driving]...this is not a very good thing to do as the car will be dangerously low on power, the potential for accidents is high as there isn't any power for passing etc... i would rather see someone run the 2.0l maf than run not run one at all.....

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stayalert

· #5 · Jul 8, 2003

don't know if I'm breaking rules but I'd check fred's tdi forum classified. look for Mercedes MAF from Chad in Germany $125 worked wonders for my 2001 Golf TDI

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TexasVWdriver

· #6 · Jul 8, 2003

Re: (stayalert)

Quote, originally posted by stayalert »

don't know if I'm breaking rules but I'd check fred's tdi forum classified. look for Mercedes MAF from Chad in Germany $125 worked wonders for my 2001 Golf TDI

Can you post a pic?
Does the MB MAF look just like the TDI MAF?
Is it a direct replacement, or is there modification required?

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MattRabbit

· #7 · Jul 8, 2003

Re: (TexasVWdriver)

I just had the dealer replace my MAF. They did it for free under warranty. They said that VWoA was replacing MAFs in TDI's up until 60,000 miles since there were so many bad ones.
If he doesn't have too many miles on it, this may be an option.
Matt

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TexasVWdriver

· #8 · Jul 8, 2003

Re: (MattRabbit)

Quote, originally posted by MattRabbit »

I just had the dealer replace my MAF. They did it for free under warranty. They said that VWoA was replacing MAFs in TDI's up until 60,000 miles since there were so many bad ones.

Was your MAF completely gone? Or just starting to fail?
Soon after I bought my TDI used (45k miles) I realized my MAF was failing. The motor would only pull up to 3200 RPM. Then it was like I hit a rev limiter. Car ran fun under normal driving. No CEL either. So instead of fighting it out with the warranty company, I just bought a new MAF online for $225 and installed it myself.

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TDItwist

· #9 · Jul 12, 2003

Re: (TexasVWdriver)

From http://www.tdiclub.com
It's the Pierburg MAF used on Mercedes. There is a picture in the link. Supposed to be an easy swap for TDI's.
http://forums.tdiclub.com/show...art=1

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stayalert

· #10 · Jul 15, 2003

Re: (TDItwist)

yes easy swap 0n a scale of 1-5 in degree of difficulty this swap is 0.5 bannanas

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MattRabbit

· #11 · Jul 17, 2003

Re: (TexasVWdriver)

Quote »

Was your MAF completely gone? Or just starting to fail?

My MAF was not completely gone, and I wasn't getting a CEL. It was like hitting the rev limiter at 3000 rpm. The dealer checked it out, saw that it wasn't operating up to peak efficiency, and replaced it for me at 56K miles. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif

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danix

· #12 · Jul 18, 2003

Re: (MattRabbit)

A failed MAF is a common problem. You have a few options:
- pay dealer full list (up to $400)
- buy OEM Bosch, $190-225 average [note - I am out of stock!]
- buy OEM Bosch /VW for the 2.0, $50 if you can get a valid VIN, but this is not a true substitute, the car will smoke more and throw a CEL in many cases.
- try the Pierburg Mercedes part, sourced from Germany. Check the classifieds at tdiclub.com.

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TexasVWdriver

· #13 · Jul 18, 2003

Re: (danix)

Quote, originally posted by danix »

A failed MAF is a common problem. You have a few options:
- pay dealer full list (up to $400)
- buy OEM Bosch, $190-225 average [note - I am out of stock!]
- buy OEM Bosch /VW for the 2.0, $50 if you can get a valid VIN, but this is not a true substitute, the car will smoke more and throw a CEL in many cases.
- try the Pierburg Mercedes part, sourced from Germany. Check the classifieds at tdiclub.com.

I bought my TDI MAF for $225 from http://www.vwparts.com . That's before I knew about Danix selling them.

I also tried the 2.0 route. My local dealership didn't give me any hassle about a VIN number. I just walked into the parts dept. with the part number in hand and walked out with a 2.0 MAF.

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