Howdy!

Recently purchased a used Audi (silver 98’ A4 2.8 manual trans.) and have been loving it. I'm not very savvy with the technical/mechanical side of things but hope to improve as I read more here and elsewhere. I’m having what appears to be a minor issue lately and hope you all don’t mind if I pose a couple of questions here.

One of the first things I did when I bought the Audi is take it in for preventative maintenance based on some of the tips I’d read here (got the timing belt replaced for example, it hadn’t been done yet at 80,000 mileage – also changed out the front brake rotors).

Within a week my Check Engine light came on. I took it back so they could check it out and the code was for ‘too rich fuel’ and they suggested it might just be linked to the work they did when they had things moved around. They also suggested it might be the ‘Max Flow’ sensor going bad and to let them know if the Check Engine light comes on again. Well, it came back on again today.

My questions:

Is the ‘Max Flow’ sensor the same thing as the O2 sensors I’ve read about elsewhere on the forums here?

Outside of less fuel economy, am I potentially doing damage to the engine if I drag my feet in getting it/them replaced?

Thanks so much for your time if you read and respond here.

 

Hi, welcome to the forum.

The mass air flow sensor (MAF), measures the amount of air going into the engine. They sometime go bad, but usually they give lean codes. When the MAF goes bad, it reads less than the amount of air actually going in. The engine then adds less fuel and the engine runs lean. Rich code may be an oxygen sensor. Get the actual number that is read and post it and we will be able to give you more information.