Hi Gary, ok, look at it this way, the MAF - a MASS AIRFLOW SENSOR is just what it says. I basically consists of a heated element and intake air temp sensor. In a normal working environment, ALL air entering the engine comes through the MAF... as air enters, the heated sensor decreases in temperature depending on the airflow past the heated sensor... this enables a measurement of the MASS of air... the MASS of air is related to the air temperature (Boyle's law) - so given both mass and temp the actual mass of air entering can be measured - consider it the 'amount' if you will but corrected for temperature -. The partial pressure of the O2 will be in direct proportion to the overall pressure (Mass) (See Dalton's Law.)
As 'air' contain around 20% oxygen we can calculate the amount of O2 in the incoming air in direct relationship to the weight (mass) of air... the O2 percentage remains constant IF you allow for the changing temperature or the mass of incoming air (MASS - weight in effect here)
So, we now know the Oxygen content consumed - or /inhaled/ by the engine. We know the best ratio of mass of air to mass of fuel (Stoichiemetry) (google lol)
SO, the ECU can apply a maximum fuelling value based on the MAF )(MASS) sensor reading.
Ok, so now put a split or a leak in the system from the MAF TO the turbo inlet.... this means 'air' -of unknown mass) is entering the system as
well as the air from the MAF - the MAF sees a
LOWER MASS of air - hence lower O2 - hence signals the ECU to reduce fuelling !! !(BIG PROBLEM!) ... the issue is the leak in the air intake that is effectively allowing intake air to bypass the maf... the maf thinks the air intake *weight* or 'partial pressure' content (O2) is less, the ecu signals less fuel - hence - in Occams Razor terms (more or less
- ) then engine cannot perform - cannot achieve power correctly and runs like Sh!t......
So, to sum up,, if you get an air intake leak /tween maf and intake manifold it is not good and runs like bo11ox --- if you disconnect the MAF and it runs ok - *Hence putting the ECU into fail-safe mode and giving it a basic map - then you have proven your hypothesis (to more than 95% certainly)
The failsafe is a simple map in the ecu that allows for a lower temp air intake (hence higher mass) - it can effectively over fuel the engine but this is of little consequence. (apart from MPG or a tad of black smoke)
The failsafe WILL NOT NORMALLY happens with MAF connected ! - this is important .... it needs a MAF disconnect to work, hence the radical difference noted that indicates a major issue in wither the MAF or the intake - here - the OP replaced the MAF so we can effectively rule that out as the cause - leaving only the intake air bypass as a factor reducing the MAF info to the ECU....
Occams Razor again lol... hope that makes sense Gary mate ?
Joe
Joe