Nissan Repair: 92 Maxima SE hesitates, mass airflow sensor, volt ohm meter

Question
Hello, My son has my Father In Law's 92 Maxima SE with 200K miles, automatic, as he is driving the car it runs fine once the car warms up when he comes to a stop to accelerate, he has the pedal to the floor and very little to no acceleration for 2-3 seconds enough where cars behind him honk. The car does not stall. The car sat for 2 years prior to him taking it there was less then a 1/4 tank of gas in the car during this time, we've changed the battery, flushed and changed the oil, cleaned the fuel injectors, flushed the radiator, and a new fuel filter.  There are no CE or SES lights on, our friend checked for any codes at his shop and the only code was the O2 sensor which he replaced, He didn't understand why it didn't show a warning light, he checked and the warning light does work. We also had the belts and hoses replaced whichever needed to be and the plugs replaced.  We will pick up the car tomorrow,my son is exasperated at this point, and wants to know what would be his next step if it is not the O2 sensor causing this.  What would you suggest?  The car has mostly highway miles as my Father In Law worked allover the state.

Answer
Lisa,

Sounds like the mass airflow sensor is defective.  This really is a difficult thing to diagnose since it usually does not throw a code and I do not want you to replace it on blind faith from what I am saying.  I would get a Haynes Manual and a volt / ohm meter and check the mass airflow sensor before replacement.  I have seen many Maximas and other Nissans that exhibit this behavior and it is usually the mass airflow sensor.  But, as I say I would get it checked prior to replacement since the expense of the part.  A Haynes Manual is $20 bucks as is the volt / ohm meter.  You could just go to the library and photocopy the page you need and that would save you $20 bucks for the book.