Nissan Repair: mass airflow circuit problem?, mass airflow sensor, haynes manual

Question
my daughter was driving her 96 sentra - 150k miles - and suddenly the car started bucking...etc...and it died.  It started and ran fine...after about 10 minutes...with check engine lite on.  took it to autozone....and the error indicated mass airflow circuit or connector...something like that.  The autozone employee suggested she had time to fix the problem.....but...now one week later....the car died again.  Please advise additional troubleshooting,  and estimate of repair.....any chance it could be a do-it-yourself repair?  also....daughter and car are in Delaware...while dad (me) is up in Massachusetts.

thanks very much....

Answer
Kevin,

The mass airflow sensor on the Sentra is a known problem.  She lives where it is damp and that helps to take them out.  I would say the mass airflow sensor needs to be replaced.  This is just me from my experience with them.  You could change it and it would be good for years or it could fail in a couple of years.  I have had one Sentra that kills a mass airflow sensor every coupe of years and it is nothing that they did and the parts are not defective.  Just a common problem with the car.  Email me back if you need more.  You could get a Haynes Manual and do a diagnosis of the wiring but it will probably lead to replacement of the mass airflow sensor.