What is this component?

[gnnmartin]

I have a crack in a component, identified in the photos by the blue arrow. It is connected to the air mass meter (identified by the red arrow), if that helps. I wonder if the crack is causing my problems with the air mass meter. A good start to replacing it will be knowing what it is! The car is a 1990 240 estate.
IMG_0270.jpg

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[Bugjam1999]

Those photos are pretty small- think it’s the coil?

Like this?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ignition-...-127635-2958-0

What is the problem with your mass air flow sensor (MAF) ?

Cheers

[loki_the_glt]

Originally Posted by Bugjam1999

Those photos are pretty small- think it’s the coil?

Like this?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ignition-...-127635-2958-0

What is the problem with your mass air flow sensor (MAF) ?

Cheers

Given the presence of what appears to be the "King lead" the coil is the likeliest candidate.

[Clifford Pope]

Coil definitely.
What "crack"? If there is a crack in the coil then it's definitely suspect - can you post a close up photo. Regardless of other faults, a coil is not meant to be cracked. Depending on where it is it's a potential cause of tracking.

[Laird Scooby]

Definitely the coil and very filthy looking too! What is the problem with your MAF or to be more exact, what is the percieved problem with your MAF?

[gnnmartin]

Thanks to all for your posts.

The trouble with my air mass meter is that the car sometimes stalls within a few minutes of starting, and is hard to restart. At other times it runs happily for a 40 mile round trip. When the car stalls, it turns on the Lambda Sond light, and the readout of the Lambda Son diagnostic is usually 121 'fault in signal for air mass meter'.

The crack looks to me to be a crack in an insulating shield. I'lll have a go at getting better photos, but needless to say I tried to make them as good as I could! I'm not very handy with a phone camera: I barely ever use one.

Knowing it is probably the coil, I expect (or hope) I can get a picture of a coil verify the diagnosis.

[gnnmartin]

Here are some better photos, with my wife holding the camera. The first shows the location of the crack (pointed at by the pencil). In the second, I've opened up the crack so that it is more obvious.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by gnnmartin

Thanks to all for your posts.

The trouble with my air mass meter is that the car sometimes stalls within a few minutes of starting, and is hard to restart. At other times it runs happily for a 40 mile round trip. When the car stalls, it turns on the Lambda Sond light, and the readout of the Lambda Son diagnostic is usually 121 'fault in signal for air mass meter'.

The crack looks to me to be a crack in an insulating shield. I'lll have a go at getting better photos, but needless to say I tried to make them as good as I could! I'm not very handy with a phone camera: I barely ever use one.

Knowing it is probably the coil, I expect (or hope) I can get a picture of a coil verify the diagnosis.

There's almost certainly nothing wrong with the MAF, is it a B200F/B230F? If so, when was the fuel filter last changed? Also are there any leaks between the MAF and throttle body, including where there is a hose spur for the AICV and/or splits in any of those hoses? Also when did you last clean the AICV and PCV systems?

The coil looks fine, it's only a flash shield and the coils rarely if ever fail on these.

[Moomoo]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

There's almost certainly nothing wrong with the MAF, is it a B200F/B230F? If so, when was the fuel filter last changed? Also are there any leaks between the MAF and throttle body, including where there is a hose spur for the AICV and/or splits in any of those hoses? Also when did you last clean the AICV and PCV systems?

The coil looks fine, it's only a flash shield and the coils rarely if ever fail on these.

Just suppose, the coil was on the blink. Would combustion with a poor spark upset the MAF / analytical system???

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Moomoo

Just suppose, the coil was on the blink. Would combustion with a poor spark upset the MAF / analytical system???

Not very likely, not with that fault code anyway. More likely to show up as a Lambda sensor or similar fault. The reason the MAF code comes up if the fuel filter is blocked (including partially/intermittently) or if the AICV isn't operating is the ECU tells the AICV to open so it expects to see increased airflow and rpm from the MAF and CPS respectively.

The increased airflow should come before the increased rpm so it assumes (wrongly) that the MAF isn't showing the increased airflow.

If the AICV is blocked the airflow and hence engine speed won't increase, ditto for fuel starvation or air leaks into the inlet system.