Hey guys,

I hope I read the rules and did enough searching before posting. I've actually been trying to solve the engine light in my car for a long time, like almost a couple years. About two years ago is when I first noticed it come on. I did the trick to check the codes in my car myself at first and found out they were 1271 and 1281. That led me to research all over this site for those codes. I saw some others mention limp mode as well, but I also couldn't find a single thread that had a good result from someone attempting to fix those codes by replacing the air fuel sensors in multiple banks. Each thread seemed to die off, leading me to wonder if they ever got their cars running haha.

Now, I had not gone into limp mode at this point all the time I drove with those codes. I washed my car last week (another reason I'm wondering if something happened to the mass air flow sensor) and I was reading somewhere that even water can mess this thing up sometimes. I've never done that before when washing, but who knows. All I know is a couple days later maybe I went into limp mode for the first time. It could be coincidence with the car wash, but I wanted to add that extra information for anyone!

When the car was in limp mode, I had a guy plug his scanner machine into it to see what codes he was seeing this time. Surprisingly suddenly the two prior codes were gone: 1271 and 1281. Instead, I was shown two new codes: 0102 and 0113. He also pointed out what looked to be like positive voltage on my air fuel sensors. Could this mass air flow have been causing the codes and problems this whole time, or could they all be bad? I'm a little lost at where I should start, but I want to get this fixed because my car keeps going into limp mode daily and it's also even dying when idling sometimes.

I would really appreciate any suggestions from any of you knowledgeable guys on this car. I'm willing to put in the time and money to get this vehicle running well again, but I have never been a huge car guy so getting started without wasting money on the wrong thing first is what I'm worried about.

Thanks,
Chris

 

Because you mentioned the car wash you should check for water intrusion around your electrical units. Check the passenger footwell for wetness, the area behind the glovebox (BCM), and the firewall area behind the battery (IPDM). If these black boxes get wet things can get crazy.

 

Awesome, I'll do that.

I'm beginning to really think it's just the mass air flow sensor. The car has continued limping worse and today it again cut off as soon as I turned it on after work. Now I had my buddy run his scanner on it again and finally I got all four codes that I mentioned above. The air fuel sensors as well as the mass air flow sensor error. He said the mass air flow could potentially cause all the other issues, although I'm not sure if he is right, I haven't found anyone on here stating the same or different about the mass air flow affecting the air fuel sensors.

I suppose at this point unless someone jumps in with another suggestion, I'm going to purchase a new mass air flow sensor part and see if that fixes any of my issues.

Thanks,
Chris

 

If you're throwing BOTH those codes then you probably blew the fuse for the O2 sensors. Cabin Fuse Block - J/B, fuse 15, 15amp. Might be damaged wiring since it's happening intermittently. I would unplug both harnesses, inspect for corrosion (use a flashlight to look in them really good), and inspect as much of the harness as you're able for any scuffs, burns, or other damage.

The MAF/IAT codes that you suddenly threw though are probably more likely a separate issue that just happened. MAF might have died, might be a rip in the intake tube sucking a bunch of extra air, damaged wiring, etc.

You can unplug the MAF with the engine running, it will force the ECM back to open loop mode, it's a temporary way to get your car to drive "normally" again if the computer has bad signals from sensors. It will be very underpowered though, no cam advance, timing advance, etc but it will run.

 

Hey, thanks for the response. In the time since I last posted, I ended up just going ahead and ordering a new mass air flow sensor. As soon as I put it in and cleared the codes, the car has been running like a dream again! It's been a few days now and I'm not receiving another Check Engine Light, so I'm pretty stoked right now. I'm assuming my mass air flow sensor was going bad for the last couple years, which down the line I guess caused the O2 sensor to throw codes as well. If anyone comes across this post in the future, give this a read about what all can happen from a mass air flow sensor, as well as some other things you can check if you get a code about the sensor.

As for now, my issues have been resolved. I believe this is the first post on the site about this specific issue that actually has someone explain what they did and that it fixed the issue. I hope that this thread will be a help to someone in the future!