I own a 1989 Mustang 5.0 and i just put a cold air kit on after i put the kit on my car dident run right at all, bad idle,and a rich smell from the tail pipe. I disconnected the MAF sensor and the idle picked back up and ran fine. Can anyone help me with a answer. All my mods- BBK cold air kit with a K&N filter, B303 Camshft, BBK offroad X-Pipe, Flowmaster super 44 muflers, no smog pump, Aluminum Radiator, ext......... What happens to the car if the MAF sensor is Disconnected and why is my car running better without the sensor connected than it connected[/align]

 

i have ran into that problem before. take out the maf and spray it with electrical cleaner or carb and choke cleaner. but make sure you dont drench it. and let that **** air dry. haha. but anyways. it is running better because your computer when you unplug it will use other sensors to to adjust the air fuel ratio. the little wire in the middle of the sensor gets dirt on it and it wont give acurate readings i have worked on 2 mustangs that had that problem. oh and you said you had a k&n air filter. have you just cleaned and oiled it? if you dont let that oil dry it can be sucked in and cause your maf to malfunction. good luck and let me know what you do.

 

Umm no i havent just cleaned it i did that about 6 months ago and i made sure it dried cause i knew that would happen the MAF is a used one i got from my freind its mounted to an over size MAF Port if you know what i mean. i tried yo take it off but there are two screws that have a little pin in the middle what kind of tool do you use i dont have one like that

 

i got the tool to take the maf sensor out at sears it came in a pack of like 8 sizes. it fits in like a 1/4 inch socket

 

if the car runs better with the MAF disconnected, you probably have a bad MAF

 

is it a stock MAF? if not it could have to do with turbulent air in the intake. the stock MAF has a screen that smooths out the air flow so the MAF can read it properly. the CAI has a bend that goes into the fender well. the bend creates turbulent air flow. if you have an aftermarket MAF that was not made for a CAI (does not have the screen) then that is probably your problem. the stock box has a straight line to the MAF and therefore the air is not turbulent.

 

Clean the MAF. It probably got some K&N oil on it.