30k service > CEL > MAF failure

This past Friday I had 30k service on my 99 C2, even though it only has 13.7k miles. I was feeling guilty about not driving the car enough. On sunday, after about 30 miles since the service, I get CEL. Monday I go back to the dealer for diagnosis and find myself behing another 99 C2 with the same symptom shortly after his 30k service. We're both told we need MAF sensor/meter replaced. His car,BTW, has ~30k miles on it. I ask my service advisor if this is a common problem.... his response is that they do a lot of MAF's on these cars. Checking this forum later the same day, I find the most recent post is BSC's which sounds really familiar, with several replies describing the same story. I then contact a friend who also has bone stock 99 C2 who relates the very same experience he had... 30k svc>CEL on the way home from dealer>MAF replacement. I spoke with the 800porsche customer commitment folks and was told to go back to my dealer and whine some more. Did same with service manager... once again... mild sympathy... bad luck.... but there isn't any real problem here... just an isolated incident. If it were a real problem, the EPA or CARB or someone would be after Porsche. Service manager agrees to make an appointment with regional factory rep for me on his next (Aug 12) visit. Called 800porsche back... got mild interest... put on hold.... told my best bet is to wait two weeks.. talk to factory rep. I'm feeling insulted by all of this after spending $1000 for a service which seems not to be complete without spending another $500 for a failed component. Feedback?

Soory to hear about you getting jerked around by the dealer. I have a '00 996 with 20k miles. Last night my CEL turned on and I am worried that I might get the same run around. Will bring car to dealer next week to determine problem.

For about $125 I got piece of mind (and the ability to turn off my own CEL light). The software (and cable) will also give you the fault code so you know what caused it. Nothing fancy (or expensive it just works). Not trying to sell the stuff... just a happy customer. www.obd-2.com

I had the exact same thing happen to me and I just had a minor service done at Carlsen. I took my baby back and had it checked out. I was told it was a air flow sensor and it was going to cost $500. Oh well. The only saving grace was Carlsen let me drive a new Boxster for a day loaner. But it is very coincidental that the CEL came on after a dealer service. - mike 99 C2

Posted this a few weeks ago. Had my 30K service done, and on the ride home got the CE light. Took it in, had MAF replaced. CE light came back on. After much further diagnosis over two day, the tech found a worn out Bellows Tube. What he investigated was the fuel/air mix as it was being read off the car, and he went deeper into the engine to locate the problem. Bellows is about $20, but labor is usually one-two hours. All is well now.

Hate to ask but what is the MAF??

MAF as I understand it is the mass air flow sensor on the intake side of the engine... a sensor with associated meter which measures intake airflow. There is also a pair of associated oxygen sensors on the exhaust side which measure O2 content of exhaust. Measurements from both intake and exhaust are fed to the ECM to determine correct air/fuel mixture. The explanation I got from my service advisor was that the MAF meter was confused due to hot film failure (?)

Aero-the MAF is called MASS AIRFLOW SENSOR that is connected onto the intake portion before the throttle body. Looks like a black wire with plug on pipe portion of intake. Measures airflow going into intake. Regards. Mike

my 99 with 47,000 miles just had the CE light come on. the car just came off its factory warranty last month. I went back to the dealership so they could read the code and they replaced the MAF sensor free of charge...

I should have posted this earlier, but its been a long week. After the dealer told me the MAF was "toast", I had a day to decide what to do before I got back into town and had to pick the car up. After reading about some things, finding the part for $120 (compared to the $500 the dealer wanted to charge), I decided I would see what an independent shop would charge. I called my guy at the dealer (who I like by the way) and told him I was very frustrated with the whole thing - see my earlier post to get the full background - and that I was just going to pick the car up and figure something out to do about the CEL. Well, I landed at the airport later that day, hopped in a car to go over to the dealer and called him to let him know I was picking up the car in an hour. I was pleasantly surprised when he told me they did the repair for free and that it was all taken care of. Now, he said they did it because it was "the right thing to do" (which I AGREE), but I woder if dealer's have gotten the go ahead from Porsche to do the repair for free if it comes up right after the 30k when people complain - by the looks of it, seems this is a pretty wide-spread problem...maybe Porsche knows more than they're saying? My advice would be to push you're dealer a bit more, see if he'll replace it as its "the right thing to do" for your business down the road. Good luck - let us know how it turns out.

Hmmm....Loose lips sink ships.

Anyone else think this sounds suspicious?? A rash of MAF's going bad after dealers touch cars, expecially 30k service? Maybe the dealer's process or their careless techs are doing something to cause this?? $0.02 -Aron

I wouldn't be surprised if the service could be causing the problem. I had an aftermarket MAF on my '87 911 Targa (I recently sold it but still have the 00 C4). Started having problems and my shop told me, "it's the aftermarket unit...they break." After a huge runaround, conference calls with the shop and Autothority (the aftermarket flow sensor that costs almost $2k) and a $1200 bill to remove the aftermarket MAF and purchase/re-install the original Porsche airbox, I discover that the real problem was a faulty chip/brain. I was so angry that I refused to pay the shop...they settled after realizing they were wrong. I took the factory unit back out and re-installed the aftermarket unit. Make a long story short, most shops and dealers DO NOT DIAGNOSE PROBLEMS...they "hang parts." In other words, they go for the easy solution. Sad, but true.