VW Passat Air Mass Meter

[BazzaS]

I've a VW Passat 1.9 TDI saloon (reg'd 2000). Recently it's developed a flat-spot when accelerating and the 'oomph' falls off when acsending hills. However, consumption is still around 50mpg and there's no problem with tick-over.
My local VW dealer says I need a new Air Mass Meter for which the cost will be some £200. I've seen these advertised for between £60 and £90.
Can anybody advise me please with:-
(a) Does this sound like an Air Mass Meter issue ?
(b) If so what sort of job is it to do oneself with just a normal toolkit ?

Thanks

 

[iwaters]

Has the VW dealer done a diagnostic and properly confirmed that the MAF is faulty or are they guessing?

It sounds like it could be a faulty MAF, but it could also be a number of other things.

Changing the MAF is easy, you can do it with a spanner and screwdriver. There is a couple of bolts holding the MAF to the air cleaner box and a jubilee clip securing the pipe.

A genuine MAF from VW/Audi looks to be in the region of about £200, there are bosch ones on Fleabay for about £140 and some generic ones for round the £50 mark. I don't have any direct experience but I have heard the cheapy ones are rubbish. But then the VAG ones aren't much better either. Depends if you want a budget fix or not.

You could try disconnecting the MAF and taking it for a quick drive. The ECU will switch to a predefined set of pramaters so it wont idle very well but if the flat spot improves then you can assume the MAF is knackered.

 

[KingboyD]

Are the diesel MAF`s that much more than the Petrol MAF`s!? I had a gen VW MAF for my 1.8T Golf and it was £69 with the old unit returned! Is it £200 non exchange and maybe around £70 exchange?

 

[iwaters]

You could be right about an exchange price. I was just stating what was in the parts catalogue.

Now I come to think of it there was a secondary part listsed with a similar part no with a (X) next to it. That was listed at about £100 so perhaps that means an exchange part.

Give the local VW dealer a call or a TPS centre if you have one near.

 

[Ricardus]

My local VW dealer says I need a new Air Mass Meter for which the cost will be some £200. I've seen these advertised for between £60 and £90.
Can anybody advise me please with:-
(a) Does this sound like an Air Mass Meter issue ?
(b) If so what sort of job is it to do oneself with just a normal toolkit ?

Thanks

A faulty MAF will make the car feel a bit lethargic when accelerating - one packed up in my 2001 Leon TDi and cost about £85 exchange from the dealers several years ago IIRC.

If you have a steady hand, good eyes and are feeling brave, you could try cleaning the wire with some carb-cleaner and a cotton bud- just make sure you have alternate transport to the dealers should you break something, I cant remember what the consequences of a broken MAF wire are!

You can remove the MAF sensor itself if you have a Torx security bit (6 lobes on early models, 5 on later ones IIRC), but for an exchange they'll probably want the whole housing which is a lot easier to remove and doesnt require any special tools.

 

[Belle427]

as mentioned try disconnecting the electrical plug and taking it for a drive, if the car feels better its a sure sign the maf is at fault.
Buy genuine equip or bosch as a cheap alternative wont last, gsf or euro car parts are probably your best bet.