You can also notice a little more gray smoke from the exhaust pipe than usual if your engine runs rich. Therefore, if you realize that a lot of black smoke is pouring out of your exhaust pipe – there is a significant risk that your engine runs too rich, which a bad MAF sensor could cause.
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RELATED: Car Hesitates to Start – Causes & How to Fix Black Smoke From Exhaust Pipeīlack smoke from the exhaust pipe is a strong sign that your engine is getting too much amount of fuel compared to the amount of air. If the wrong amount of fuel is injected into the engine at the moment, your car may not start at all or just crank a little longer than usual. If you notice that your car has become more difficult to start in the morning, there is a chance that a bad air mass sensor is causing the problem.Īll car engines are very sensitive to the right airflow mixture at the exact starting moment. RELATED: Your Car Jerks When Accelerating? (Here’s How To Fix it) Hard Starting Condition If the air-fuel mixture is too rich, it can also extinguish the ignition created by the spark plug, which causes the acceleration to be rough. This is usually because the air-fuel mixture becomes too lean, so the car engine “starves” due to lack of food, and this will cause it to jerk. RELATED: Car Losing Power When Accelerating? (Here’re the Causes) Hesitation, rough or jerky accelerationĪs you may suspect, a faulty fuel injection caused by a poor MAF sensor can also make your acceleration rough or jerky. If you notice that your car is much slower than usual, there is a significant risk that your MAF sensor is at fault. A faulty MAF sensor can cause a faulty air-fuel mixture and it can cause many strange performance issues with your car and slow acceleration is one of them. Your engine needs a perfect air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber for optimal performance. But, if your check engine light is illuminating you want to check the diagnostic trouble codes first with an OBD2 scanner. However, the engine control module does not always recognize a faulty MAF sensor, so it may still be defective even if there is no engine light on your dashboard. Therefore, if your MAF sensor is faulty and sends wrong information to the engine control unit – the check engine light will illuminate your dashboard. If a sensor sends an incorrect signal, the ECM or PCM will turn on the check engine indicator light. The engine control module monitors all sensors in the car engine to ensure that everything is OK. Here is a more detailed list of the most common symptoms of a bad mass air flow sensor: Check Engine Light Illuminates