California smog analysis, ask a smog tech

[mightymaximus]

Good news mini-truckers!
The $33 dollar Cardone reman MAF worked great, and ended up cheaper than the drive down to the border, and the $50 they wanted at the junk yard.
On the first drive after getting it swapped out, I immediately noticed the increase in low end power, and the tail pipe emissions were no longer excessively smoky.
When I got to a parking lot I noticed it still seemed to miss every so often. After I returned home I popped the hood with the engine still running, and what did I see?..... an electrical arc from the 6th cylinders spark plug wire boot to the metal surrounding the spark plug wire. I turned off the engine and reseated the cable, still arced. I found the old, original cables, got an appropriate sized one, installed it, and it did not arc, and fixed the missing, and cleared up the exhaust even more.

If I had not looked at night, if I would have noticed the spark? After finding it, I noticed that their was a distinct noise made by the arc. I will remember to listen for that in the future when an engine is running rough.

I wonder how long that cable was bad, and will be testing all the cables to make sure they are within spec.
As you can see in the test results, there is quite the difference in what came out of the tailpipe this time!

I'm glad the mechanic was able to steer me in the right direction, and grateful for everyone's suggestions. What a load off my shoulders

Now I don't have to drive around always looking over my shoulder , or worrying I will get a parking ticket, which are $52 bucks a pop here.

BTW, does anyone know if there is any place that buys the old MAFs beside turning it in as a core,since the last two I got had no need to trade them in as a core?
I'm tempted to tear into the original Mitsu one and see if something simple failed, like a cap, or easily replaceable chip, so I could possibly have a spare.