ok my ecm says my maf sensor is bad would that affect my horsepower much.the car has seemed to have lost power and is hard on gas any help at all would be appreciated

 

Sure, a bad MAF will cause problems because the ECM has no way of knowing the amount of air entering the engine without it. It then reverts to a back up mode.

I've seen them at auto parts stores for about $150.

I tried repairing a MAF with a broken wire once but it didn't work out. Learned that the resistance of the wire is extremely important and just soldering it back on upset that reading, so I kept getting a code.

Hope this helps.

Jake

 

Before you shell out $139.00 + for a new MAF check your MAF connections and try replacing the MAF Power Relay First. Here's a pic Vader took showing the location on an 86 T/A, yours should be similar:

 

Before you go spending a lot of money for a new sensor be sure to check the relays. They are a lot cheaper to replace and it will remove any doubt as to where the problem is. Most of the time that is where the problem is anyways. Look through the archives in the TPI and Electronics Boards for a lot of posts on diagnosing MAF problems and how to troubleshoot the system.

Mike beat me to this one by a few seconds. But anyway since you drive an 88 the relays are in a different arrangement. The MAF relays are to the far right as you look at them, and are identical to each other.

[This message has been edited by Ozzy88GTA (edited July 23, 2001).]