DTC P0100 – How To Test a Nissan Sentra MAF Sensor

When your 1.6 liter Nissan Sentra MAF ( Mass Air Flow Sensor ) starts to have issues, your check engine light will go on. If you’ve already attached a scan tool to your On Board Diagnostics (OBD) system and retrieved the trouble code of P0100, this guide can help you test your Nissan Sentra MAF. The mass air flow meter in your 1.6 liter is a three wire unit, and the part number is 22680-1M200 or 22680-1M205.

The karman style mass air flow sensor uses a series of inputs to calculate air volume and temperature and convey that to your Nissan ECU. This allows your ECU to operate your 1.6 GA16DE engine and deliver the right amount of fuel. Today we’re going to be showing you how to test a Nissan Sentra MAF in a 1999 Nissan Sentra is triggered.

If you own a 2006+ 2.0 liter Nissan Sentra, check out our How to Guide DIY guide here.

Before you begin our how to test a Nissan Sentra MAF Sensor, it’s a good idea to understand what wires and signals you’ll be testing. Because this OBDII trouble code of P0100 is a common MAF failure trouble code, we’ll be testing for power and ground and then the MAF signal. The signal wire is important because that’s what will tell you if your MAF is working correctly.

Testing your Nissan Sentra MAF for Power

Open your hood and locate your 1.6 liter Nissan air intake and air box. Directly mounted next to your airbox is the mass air flow sensor. This unit is mounted to your Nissan Sentra air box by four 10mm bolts. You do not need to remove your MAF for this testing procedure.

Using a multimeter, put the black lead to the negative terminal of your battery.

With the red lead of your multimeter test the back of PIN C, by backpinning the pin using a paper clip or piercing through the shielding. You should have 12 volts of power at the white wire (PIN C), if you have power at this wire, move ahead to measuring your Nissan Sentra MAF for the ground signal.

Backpin the B terminal of your Sentra MAF to check for the low reference ground signal. If you don’t have ground here, check your connections and make sure that your engine grounds are secure and not loose.

Now that you’ve tested your 1.6 GA16 MAF for power and ground, now comes the part of our guide where we show you how to measure your Nissan Sentra MAF signal voltage.

Look for your Nissan Sentra replacement Mass air Flow sensor at Pro Street now, or check our sponsors for their latest deals :

Testing the Nissan Sentra MAF Sensor

The MAF signal wire is of course PIN A or the furthest wire away from your airbox and air filter. Measure this signal wire by backpinning the connector using a paper clip. With this paper clip carefully bent into the right position, you should be able to read the voltage being sent to your Nissan ECU from your 1.6 liter MAF.

For this section of our how to test a Nissan Sentra MAF Sensor DIY guide, you’ll need to start the motor. This means moving parts, fans, and belts so make sure that you are careful and do not wear loose clothing when performing this test. Make sure your vehicle has the parking brake raised and your Sentra is in neutral.

Start your 1.6 liter Sentra engine, and allow it to warm up. Now put the red lead of the multimeter to PIN A to read the voltage your Nissan MAF sees. At idle, you should see a voltage value between .7 and .9 volts. Slowly increase the engine speed by either having a friend get in and depress the gas pedal, or manually open the throttle blade.

As you increase engine speed, the MAF voltage signal should also climb steadily without any odd spikes or dips. If you find that your MAF sensor is spitting out a bad reading or failing to send any voltage at all, it’s time to replace your Nissan Sentra MAF.

You now know how to test a Nissan Sentra MAF Sensor, if you have any questions, please leave them for us below!