I took my car to a mechanic to check why the CEL was coming on and code 48 came up, LAF (linear air flow sensor)problem. Has anyone experienced this? I'm getting on average, 28mpg. I'm getting horrible gas mileage for this car. What should be fixed or changed out?
I'm not sure if it's the same, but the mechanic showed me on his computer which said Linear Air Flow Sensor. Either way does this point to changing out the o2 sensor?
It is a linear air flow sensor - it is commonly mistaken as lean. It's called linear because the voltage/lambda relationship is nearly linear - unlike a narrow band sensor which most definitely isn't.
If the CEL stays on all the time and reads code 48, then it's likely the sensor.
If not, the sensor may be fine and you have another problem - misfiring cylinder being the most likely source although there are other possibilities.
I'm hoping that if I change out the o2 sensor, it will improve my gas mileage as someone said it would earlier. Did any one here have the same problem, and if so, did changing out the o2 sensor fix it?