A MAP or Manifold Atmospheric Pressure Sensor, also known as a Barometric Pressure Sensor, is a device that monitors the atmospheric or barometric pressure relative to your car.
The barometric or atmospheric pressure of your vehicle's indoor air and intake manifold is detected by the sensor. This in turn sends a signal to the car's Engine Control Unit.
From there, the ECU figures out what the info means in order to adjust the amount of fuel to be added to the mixture for efficient vehicular operation.
DIY Barometric Pressure Sensor Replacement
So you want to replace your busted barometric pressure sensor. Here's what you should do.
- Mount: Remove the old sensor and mount the new one in the same place. Your MAP sensor might be mounted on the engine bay's passenger side while the ECU is under the passenger side carpet. When taking off the old sensor be aware of which wire is the signal wire.
- Bypass: If you're installing an aftermarket sensor, you might need to simply bypass the old sensor but still keep it installed. You'll have to splice the power wire from the replacement sensor with the stock sensor's power wire.
- Establish: Establish a vacuum source for the sensor to correctly measure the pressure. Connect the vacuum line tot he source by running all the sensor wires through the firewall and into the passenger side door. Afterwards, connect the sensor into the old sensor's power source.
- Five Connections: The breakout board has five connections known as holes or pins. Solder the header pins right in the holes. Use the 5-pin length of male-male header strip to connect the cables into the board with male/female jumper wires and soldering.
- Car Manual: Use the car manual to know which plug should go on which connection. For instance, the MAP sensor can include a two digital wire interface as well as a voltage rage of 1.8 volts to 3.6 volts. Some are 5-volt compliant instead.
- SDA Pin: Connect the SDA pin of your breakout board into the 12C Data or Analog 4, the VIN pin to the 5-volt voltage pin, SCL pin to the 12C Clock or Analogy 5, and the GND pin to the ground. Use the right microcontroller on your MAP sensor as well.
- Calibrate: When calibrating your barometric pressure sensor, you can do so under the UTEC menu under the Edit Maps, Parameters, and then Special Constraints menus. You have one calibration for gradient and the other for intercept. Your sensor should come with figures and instructions to determine the right caliber.
- Test Drive: After you've recalibrated your new replacement MAP or barometric pressure sensor, then you can test drive it. Your calibration can be calculated with a calculator or the Excel program if you wish. If you have further problems with the sensor, it might be with soldering and wiring issues.