I am still tunning up my 85 V6 berlinetta, and I found out that when I accelerate my car, it produces some detonations, they come out from the Air Mass Flow Sensor tube, so what I did was to cover the air intake from the MAF with my hand and accelerate the engine, it was running perfectly, ovbiously I had to spread my fingers out to let the air flow in, but my question is, Could the MAF sensor be damaged? How can I know if it is working or not? The ECM does not show any code at all. OH, I forgot, the former owner changed its nose to a Z nose, so he changed the air intake system, so it is like a "Y" where the two ends of it are in between the head lights with a air filter in each.

 

That should be the stock intake for your car, the "dual snorkel". Yes a MAF can go bad and not throw a code, but just b/c your motor is backfiring, I wouldn't suggest the MAF right away.

Here's the tests-

1. Visual inspection #1- Remove the MAF and look at the circuit board. Make sure nothing looks cooked or melted.

2. Visual inspection #2- With the MAF removed, look at (but don't touch) the orange frequency film. This film should be completely 100% FLAT. No wrinkles, no bends, no creases- it's gotta be FLAT. If it looks wrinkled/creased/etc then the MAF has to be replaced.

3. Plug the MAF back in and reinstall it to the intake. With the motor running, tap on the MAF housing with a screwdriver- if the idle stumbles, the MAF's bad.

4. With the motor running, wiggle the MAF pigtail close to the connector. If the idle stumbles, the MAF contacts are dirty or there's an intermittant break in the wires at the connector. BUT, in your scenario, this would throw a code and the service engine soon light.

 

Thanks man, I am gonna try that. Somebody told me to clean it up. It is too hard to define if it is bad or not......I do not want to waste 60 bucks in a new one before being sure that this one is bad.