New Air Flow Sensor
 

I recently had the fuel system cleaned in my 93 190E 2.3 as well as having the EHA switch replaced. When I had this done, the mechanic informed me that I needed a new "air flow sensor" and that it would cost $875 for parts and labor. He explained that the part was $825.

Is it true that an air flow sensor costs that must? Any suggestions on where to get one at a better price?:confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :eek:

mercedes parts dept quoted me $490.00

Note:
Requires (1) 102 070 01 74 mixture adjustment repair kit.


Product Brand Availability Retail Our Price

B3000-29254 Air Flow Meter Bosch IN STOCK $743.35 $495.57
THIS FOR MY 92 2.6
FOR YOUR CAR IT SAYS $400.00
HERE IS THE URL

http://catalog.eautopartscatalog.com/tayco/model.jsp?header=header.jsp&footer=footer.jsp&partner=tayco&baseurl=http://www.alloemautoparts.com/&year=1992&make=MB&clientid=oem&cookieid=0T7142NN6
HOPE THIS HELPS

There's a used one on E-Bay now, the opening bid was around $60.

Get one from here!! Mine was $270 (dealer wanted twice that). Click on FASTLANE tab at top of page!!

Call the 800 number if it doesn't list one for your car.

Installation takes ten minutes, do a search I;m sure you will find instructions.

-Tom

Part Confirmation
 

Thanks for the feedback. How can I confirm the part number. I guess I could call the mechanic and ask him for it but my guess is that he will be reluctant to give it to me.:eek:

DMC,

Call around to get the best price. For my car it was close to $600 for a dealer one. Cheapest price I could find, cheaper than our host. They are not all the same depending on the model and year. Some are substantially cheaper than others.

I don`t know how Tom could change it in 10 minutes, unless he is thinking of a different part. Mine took a couple of hours.

How did your mechanic come to his conclusions? Is the car running poorly?

Tinker

Is this like yours?
 

http://img.eautopartscatalog.com/liv...3051365BOS.JPG


On mine you simply unplug the connector, remove four clips that hold it in the air inlet and install the new one. I am talking about the "air mass meter" that goes in the air inlet tube between the air filter housing and the intake manifold. I hope that's the part you guys are talking about. It is cylindrical, about six inches in diameter and shaped like a coffee can. I replaced one on my VW 4-cylinder, too; it was similar in size and price (and installation time).

Tinker - Answer to your question
 

Tinker,
My wife drives this car and she said that about a week ago, the car just cut off. The car did start right back up on the first try. Later that evening, she said she went to go put the car in park and once she did, the car "revved up" to a very high rpm. She put the car in drive and the rpm came back down to a normal level. She then put the car back in park and it revved way up again to roughly 6,000 rpm. Then she just cut the car off. When she started the car a few minutes later, everything was fine.

I took the car in for service the next day and had them clean the fuel injectors and fuel system. They also noticed there was a small fuel leak and fixed that. They replaced the "EHA Switch."
Here is what I was billed for:
- FUEL INDUCTION CLEANING KIT $29.00
- GOVERNOR KIT CIS $210
- FUEL INDUCTION CLEANING SERVICE $100
- PIN CK ALL FUEL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS $130
- REPLACE EHA SWITCH $39

LABOR TOTAL - $269
PARTS TOTAL -$239

As they were performing the work listed above they called me to tell me that I needed a new "Air Flow Sensor" and that was most definitely the reason for the erratic idling that my wife experienced. He then stated that I didn't have to do it now but that it would need to be done soon to avoid having the same problem again.

He also said that the part was hard to get and his cost was high on it and as a result, he didn't mark it up much. Most importantly, he said that the labor wasn't much because it only took a few minutes to put on / switch out. This leads me to believe it is the same part that Tom is talking about.

He seemed to be genuine but I don't have a long lasting relationship with this shop. I do know several people that use this shop and all have good things to say about using them after years of service.

Should I call him and ask him what the part number is for the "Air Flow Sensor?Most importantly, he said that the labor wasn't much because it only took a few minutes to put on / switch out.

Mine had the crazy erratic idle, it was the part we are talking about.

Yours is $450 from Fastlane. If some other online seller has a better price, call Phil and tell him - they will try to match it. I like to support this site since it has saved me THOUSANDS since I discovered it.

Why don't you find the one on your car and get the P/N off of it? It will be different from the Fastlane P/N but Phil at the 800# can cross it over for ya. Or just order it from Fastlane and when it comes look under the hood for a part like it.

I would strongly caution you against driving the car with a bad air meter it can launch itself or die at any time!!

Location?
 

Tom,
Do you know where I can find instruction on how to locate the piece? I want to make absolutely sure I locate the approriate part.

aTOMic,

Just curious, how was your W210 idle erratic? Was your 96 E320 idles high in park or neutral? The reason I am asking is that my 97 E320 (W210) idles high....about 1500 rpm when in park or neutral. The car drives excellent except for the high idle. Also, Do you know if the Mass Air Sensor failure a common problem on W210?

Thanks

mh

dmcdaniel,
the best I can tell you is look at the tube that carries the air from the air cleaner housing to the intake manifold. There will be a sensor somewhere between these two landmarks. This is the air mass meter. It is usually big like a large soup can and connects to the rubber tube with some big metal clips (on most Bosch applications I have seen). Or just order it from Fastlane and when it comes look under the hood for a part like it.

Do a search or post your new specific question (e.g. "Where is the air mass meter on a 1993 2.3 engine?"). I don't know specifics about your engine but I am sure many members here do and will be happy to help. If you start a new thread you may want to post its title here too in case anyone else refers to this thread.

mh,
My idle went from almost stalled to 1500 RPM as if someone was revving the engine - it was creepy. Park, neutral, drive did not matter. It did not drive well; bucking and heaving. I think you have a different problem. Do a search on your engine type(mine is a M104 [=straight six, 3.2 liter] and I think yours is the same - sorry I do not know all the others My understanding regarding the MAS failure is they are good for around 100k miles then you are wise to budget for a new one. I understand (and I am sure someone will correct me if I'm misinformed) that the air mass meter in our cars measures air flow by heating a resistance-sensitive metal sensor to a known temp then detecting the difference as the air flowing into the engine cools it. this is stressful but the sensor self cleans by heating to a high temp to burn off contaminants and so you can see why this is a "wear part".

Good luck & keep us posted!

-Tom

Atomic, in the KE-III system the mass-airflow sensor does not look anything like what you pictured. Remember, this is a CIS injection system which is mechanical at heart. The MAS does send an electronic signal to the lambda control system, but it also mechanically controls the fuel system pressure in the fuel distributor. In the '93 190 it is located directly under the fuel distributor and air cleaner. If you remove the three bolts holding the air cleaner to the engine, disconnect the breather hose and intake temp sensor, the air cleaner assy will lift off - exposing all.

Steve

Dave,

Tom is correct, his probably took 10 minutes to change. His is a hot wire air flow sensor. As Steve just stated, your car has a CIS KE system, a completely different animal. It has a big round sensor plate in a funnel that is spring loaded. As vacuum is created by the motor, a plate, connected to a potentiometer, swings open varying degrees to determine the fuel requirements. Yours may very well be bad as one of the symptoms is an elevated idle and/or stalling. If you are mechanically inclined, you can monitor the voltage coming from the meter to determine if there are problems. You should see voltages ranging from approximately 0.9v to 5.0v max. You might try simply cleaning the pins where the harnesses connect. There should be two connection points (?) with three pins each. Other than that, you can drive it awhile until the symptoms become more frequent. There are also people who have claimed to have fixed theirs by simply cleaning the electrical potentiometer with an erasure. I suppose its possible. I don"t know how many miles on yours. Others have stated you can buy the potentiometer by itself ($125), as this is usually the only part that wears, BUT from what I have read some people have had mix results going this route.

Tinker

Tinker
 

Our '93 190 has just over 100k miles on it. Unfortunately it has been several years since I have been mechanically inclined (I rebuilt a '65 Mustang about 17 years ago.

Any additional thoughts on what I should do next? What would you do if you had limited time to work on it?

My initial thought is to just drive it for a while as long as I am not doing any additional harm to the car; however, on the other hand I tend not to like to procrastinate.:confused:

Dave,

Its your call/money. How often is it acting up? If its not too frequent I would just drive it.

Tinker

Tinker,
Good point. It has really only been a problem that one time. I thinks will save this info and buy the part once it becomes a problem.

Thanks for all the great feedback!

I personally don't think you need an air flow sensor. You mentioned that you have about 100k on the car. I would like to know how your sensor look like. Is it the one with the plate on top. Let me know and I will explain things better on how to check it. Also, I don't understand how a fuel injection system is cleaned. I am a test enginner in fuel systems working for a major German company. and anyone tells you that it can be cleaned, he is FULL OF CRAP. The best thing you could do to the injector to clean is remove the carbon from around the needle (for digital injectors). I run fuel delivery maps on injectors out of engines every day. Anyway, give more details to better understand your problem.

Just had mine replaced in the 98 e 430. Was running fine but the engine light came on. Done under warrenty. They told me all it takes is a fine piece of sand or dirt to go on this censor to make it malfunction. Also keep your air box clean on the inside and make sure all conections are proper leading into the intake and that the filter sits correctly with no gaps.

Mechanical injectors?
 

I have a 1985 SL500 Euro with an "Air Flow Sensor Plate".

I want to clean these injectors. Is this possible? Are there swabs? What would the ID be?

Steve

"I am a test enginner in fuel systems working for a major German company. and anyone tells you that it can be cleaned, he is FULL OF CRAP. The best thing you could do to the injector to clean is remove the carbon from around the needle (for digital injectors)."

Again, this is a CIS injection system. Since it is not direct injection, I don't see how carbon can form unless intake backfires are a problem. Since the injection is continuous, there is nothing 'digital' about the injectors - they have an input check valve that should shut down at a specified minimum pressure, and an outlet valve that agitates and atomizes the fuel. Either can malfunction due to residue and can be cleaned, though only with specialized fittings and equipment. Since they are mechanically much simpler and cheaper to make than solenoid injectors, replacement is probably cheaper than the cleaning charge would be, if they are faulty.

Also, if you are referring to cleaning the rest of the CIS system, cleaning can be a very successful repair and diagnostic. Unlike the case with pulsed injection, which mechanically is comprised just of a constant pressure regulator and fuel supply tube. With CIS, the airflow sensor/fuel distributor is more mechanically complex even than most carburetors - and as likely to gum up and profit from cleaning.

Steve