MAF wiring may have shorted out

2008 Mountaineer, V6, AWD

The last couple of inches of the wiring for the MAF sensor connector must have been exposed the heat over the last 190k miles, and crumbled. The wiring probably shorted together before I found it. Is it likely the sensor was damaged?

Wont know tiil you fix the harness.

Agreed; repair the wires first; the sensor could be perfectly good and no reason to replace it if so.

I repaired the harness. The engine runs and drives normally. I just want to try to avoid another disappointment after 70 miles.

I repaired the harness. The engine runs and drives normally. I just want to try to avoid another disappointment after 70 miles.

There you go - the sensor works; so in your place I'd just drive it.

I don't think that a sensor is sensitive to power surges...after all, there's one every time you start the engine. Either it's good or it's not.


Logically, having the wiring get fried due to a short circuit means "short circuit" and the voltage never reached the sensor anyway.

But that's just; if you're worried about it and the $$ won't bother you, then replace it now.

Except: I've seen cascading sensor failures on older vehicles...the new electrical parts are, for lack of a better term, "stronger" than the older ones, so the older ones fail. Once replaced, THAT new sensor causes another to fail, etc. So on a 2008, I'd leave it be.