How To Test a Nissan 350Z MAF Sensor

Depending on what year your Nissan is, you may have more than one 350Z MAF Sensor in your engine bay. This part is also known as the mass air flow meter, and it’s placed inline with your intake tract. The MAF sensor is there to read and analyze important data about the air that’s about to enter your engine.

Things like barometric pressure, air flow and intake air temperature are just a few of the elements that are read. This information is converted to a signal that your Nissan ECU will understand. Using this data your Engine Control Unit or ECU will properly adjust the fuel curves to your 3.5 liter VQ35.

When the 350Z MAF sensor fails on you, your 3.5 liter roadster will not run correctly. If you own a automatic transmission equipped Nissan, your 350Z may shift harshly or suffer from inconsistent shift points. One of the most obvious signs of trouble will be your check engine light being on in your instrument cluster.

Today I’ll be showing you how to test the 350Z MAF Sensor in a 2006 Nissan. This vehicle is equipped with the 3.5 liter VQ35DE engine, and it’s equipped with just one mass airflow meter. If you happen to own a 2007+ your Nissan will come with two of the same sensor.

Regardless of how many 350Z MAF sensor are in your Nissan, the testing procedure is the same for this tutorial.

Nissan’s move to a dual 350Z MAF sensor setup in 2007+ corresponds to the changes and upgrades to their 3.5 liter V6 engine.

Nissan 350Z problems with the MAF has failed

There’s quite a few check engine OBDII codes that can crop up when your mass air flow meter goes south. To retrieve you code you’ll need to use a OBDII scan tool to pull the code. Using this tool you’ll have a alphanumeric code that will tell you what the problem is in the engine. Other than this obvious Nissan 350Z issue, there’s quite a few other problems depending on your MAF failure.

• Bad gas mileage
• Lack of power
• Engine hesistation
• Harsh shifting
• Check Engine Light “ON”

To begin this guide, you’ll need a digital multimeter to measure the voltage at the wires and MAF itself. We’ll begin this How To Guide by testing your 350Z MAF for the power supply.

Check your 350Z MAF Power Wire

You must begin by opening your hood and turning the key to the “ON” position. Now locate your MAF by following your airbox to the MAF housing.

Don’t forget if you own a 2007+ Nissan 350Z you will have two MAF sensors. You don’t need to disconnect the MAF housing, just depress the plastic tab and unplug it.

Once you’ve got the Nissan 350Z MAF Sensor unplugged, you’ll be testing the ENGINE harness side first for a switched power signal.

The wire you’ll be checking first is the second from the left when you are facing the front of your MAF connector. Using your multimeter this wire should return a switched power signal with your ignition turned to the “ON” position.

If you have power at this wire, it’s good news. This means that your ECU is sending power to your MAF and powering it up.

However you’ve got to check the low reference ground signal as well. To do this simply flip around the multimeter leads, put the red lead to power and probe WIRE 3 with the black lead to see if you have a ground present. If you have power and ground here, you’ve established that the ECU is sending the right signal. The next part of this DIY tutorial is to test the continuity between your Nissan Engine Control Unit and the 350Z MAF Sensor.

Measuring the 350Z MAF signal

Now you’ll need to reconnect the Nissan mass airflow sensor. You’ll need to backpin the wire that leads to PIN 4. This pin is the MAF signal wire, and it runs to your ECU. This wire transits real time voltage as air passes through your intake tract.

Keep your hands, clothing and tools clear of your engine, and the engine pulleys. Keep everything clear of your cooling fans as well. Start your engine and allow it to warm up, and at this state you’ll be measuring PIN 4. You can do this through backpinning it or piercing the wire that leads to PIN 4. Make sure your engine is at operating temperature, and that your transmission is in NEUTRAL or PARK. Raise your parking brake just to make sure, and keep safe as you work around your running engine.

At idle with your 350Z warmed up properly, this wire should read between 0.9 – 1.2 volts. Now raise the engine speed or RPM to 2,500 RPM and the wire voltage should rise to 1.5 – 1.9. The last measurement to check for is at 4,000 RPM and at this engine speed the voltage should read between 1.7 and 2.4 volts.

Now if your 350Z MAF Sensor test out okay, but your check engine light is still on there might be a problem with your wiring. This isn’t a very common Nissan 350Z problem, but there could be a break between your MAF and ECU.

Test Continuity from 350Z MAF To ECU

The first thing you need to do before you can check for continuity, is to uncover your ECU. This unit is located on the passenger side and mounted underneath your dashboard. To access your ECU you may need to remove the glovebox. There’s a plastic panel mounted under the dash that must be removed first.

The wire you’ll need to locate is PIN 51 shown below in our Nissan 350Z wiring diagram. Insert a backpin into this location, or you can disconnect the engine computer. If you are testing from the front of your ECU harness, make sure not to force anything into the plastic housing.

Doing so may damage or push the ECU pins open, which could create a permanently open pin or condition. Either way you will be running a wire from your MAF wire 4, or your ECU wire 51 and testing both for continuity using your digital multimeter.

If there’s continuity at your MAF to your ECU, then it’s a sign that your 350Z MAF Sensor has failed. Remove the bad MAF and install your replacement VQ mass air flow meter and use a OBDII scan tool to clear any stored check engine codes.

Have any questions about this 350Z MAF Sensor DIY Guide? Leave us a comment below and let us know!