When the mass air flow (MAF) sensor in your 2.4 liter KA24DE Nissan Frontier fails, your check engine light will turn on. Attaching a scan tool to the OBD-II port of your Nissan will return the DTC P0100 for Mass Air Flow (MAF) Circuit Malfunction. This malfunction means that the ECU in your Nissan is not getting the proper signal from the MAF, making it hard for the computer to operate your KA24 properly.
Learning how to test a Nissan Frontier MAF is not hard, and today I’ll be showing you how to do this in a 2000 Nissan Frontier. This DIY guide can also assist you in the event you own a Xterra, D21 or Nissan 240SX. Keep in mind some of the MAF wiring may change depending on your application, but this guide covers the Frontier.
The mass air flow (MAF) sensor in your Nissan is responsible for reading both the amount of air, and relevant data about that air entering the intake tract. After it relays this information to your ECU, the engine’s fuel and spark events can occur in the most efficient way possible. Because your MAF is no longer doing it’s job, your Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) was triggered.
Symptoms of P0100 check engine code
- Engine runs roughly
- Poor Idle characteristics
- bad gas mileage
- bucking or surging
To begin our how to test a Nissan Frontier MAF DIY guide, you’ll need a multimeter. If you are not familiar with what a multimeter is, or how to use your multimeter, check our handy guide here.
Open your hood and locate your MAF sensor, which is mounted inline with your intake piping.
Locate and unplug your MAF connector, which is a four pin connector that’s offset with just three wires. Take some time to inspect the wiring, as you’ll be testing for power and ground on the ENGINE harness side first. Then measuring the airflow reading from the signal wire with the MAF connected and from a backpinned MAF wire.
While using our how to test a Nissan Frontier MAF guide, try not to confuse the labels on the actual MAF itself with our guide. The pin labeled “A” on your Nissan MAF is indeed a blank opening in your MAF connector.
Testing your Nissan Frontier MAF for Power
To begin testing your MAF for functionality, we need to make sure it’s receiving power and ground. The power wire on the three pin Nissan connector is a black wire with pink stripe through it. This wire is labeled A on our how to test a Nissan Frontier MAF guide, but labeled B on the MAF itself. Make sure to measure the right wire and double check it with our wiring chart and color guide.
Put the black lead of your multimeter to the negative post of your battery, and then measure the front of your MAF connector to make sure your Frontier is sending power to the MAF.
You’ll be testing for ground next, and this wire is the green wire which is PIN B on our DIY Guide. If ground exists here, the next part of our guide will detail how to measure the signal wire with the MAF connected. If you do not have power or ground here, you’ve got a wiring issue that must be tracked back and repaired.
Take a paper clip and insert it into the back of the MAF connector, and then connect it to the MAF. This is called backpinning your sensor connector, make sure the paper clip is pushed all the way through and is touching PIN C. This wire is red and is the signal wire for your Nissan ECU.
Testing your Nissan Frontier MAF for Signal
The last leg of our guide covers the voltage or signal wire of your Nissan Frontier MAF. To conduct this test, you will need to make sure that your backpin is in the right wire, and that your engine is properly warmed up.
Start your Frontier and warm up the KA24 until it’s reached operating temps. Once your temp gauge tells you it’s time, turn off your engine and reading the signal wire at your backpinned MAF wire. Remember that this wire is solid red, and in position C.
Place the black lead of your multimeter to Nissan’s negative battery terminal. Turn on your engine and read the measurement at your backpinned red wire, this should be roughly .45 volts. At idle, this reading should fluctuate but be steady and in the same range. You can have a friend get into the car and depress the gas, which should raise the karman reading from your MAF steadily.
If you are working alone, you can also deflect the KA24DE throttle body manually by pressing on the throttle butterfly or pulling on the cable. Monitor your voltage signal at the red wire, and it should have no dips or spikes in it as you rev the engine.
If your MAF sensor is returning a bad value, or doesn’t rise or fall with the engine speed, your Nissan Frontier KA24 MAF has failed. Replace this unit with Nissan part number 16017-3S500, or 16017-3S510. Replace this failed MAF with a new Nissan unit and then use a scan tool to clear your OBDII check engine trouble code.
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