mass air flow sensor

[76C10Stepside]

Originally Posted by richards72chevy

Removed one spark plug today and it is extremely black on one side and brown on the other side.Another weird thing I noticed was my exhaust getting really hot in a short period of time.Less than a minute.I coulnt touch the front of my catylatic converter but the back of it was just luke warm.Do these become clogged over time?

Brownish or tan color with little or no visible wear on electrode is "normal". Black is not normal. Pull ALL the plugs and check each one against this chart. Clean and gap each plug or replace them if old:



How long since the last tune-up (oil/filter, plugs)?

As for the catalytic converter, they do get hot (that's how they cook the unburnt gases), but it usually takes awhile for them to heat up, and I'm pretty sure they should not be hot at the front and cold at the back. Yours may be cooked. They do have to be replaced eventually. Bad O2 sensors and other problems can also shorten the life of the catalytic converter. Code P0040 indicates bad O2 sensor.

Is your Check Engine/Service Engine Soon light going on?

The OBDII codes are here.