Is the mass air flow sensor dead?

97 Nissan Sentra Mass Air Flow Sensor?

• My car wouldn't start so we replaced the distributor cap and then the spark plugs. There was fuel coating the old plugs and it seemed like it was too wet in the engine to get started. So we took off the air intake hose and sprayed starter fluid in the air intake. Long story short we eventually got the engine started by cutting off the fuel to it and firing it up to clean out the old fuel. The car is now running but the check engine light is on. I took it up to Advanced Auto Parts and they ran the diagnostic and it came back as a bad Mass Airflow Sensor. The question I have is whether us removing the air intake pipe could have caused the Mass Airflow Sensor to be triggered. We were running the engine for awhile with the Mass Airflow Sensor and pipe disconnected. The part is 200 and I just wanted to make sure I didn't cause a false reading by messing with the Air intake. Thanks for your help.

• Answer:

  Dont buy the mass air yet. clear the code and continue driving it... only if you have the code come up again replace it. Nissans have big problems with cold start issues from leaking injectors to bad temp sensors. If you ever have trouble starting your car try cranking it with 10-20 percent throttle (lets more air in). It might take up to 20 seconds but it will eventually start. I cant tell you how many nissans came in on a flatbed and I started while they were still on them at the dealership!