Question regarding "air temp sensor"

[Nick R]

Ok now some people might remember from a few threads back that I had a CEL light after the oil change, that with some opinions, I attributed to a spark plug lead coming undone during idling after startup. Well it hadn't turned off and we took it to Autozone to get the code read. The thing came back as Air temp sensor. Well silly us we forgot to plug the Air temp sensor back into the intake hose after we did the valve cover gasket job. Now call me crazy, but how exactly does an air temperature sensor in an air intake know it is in the wrong place? Would I be right in assuming this is probably a MAF sensor, and the reader just sees it as an air temp sensor?

 

[dwendt44]

It only knows that it's sensing too hot temperatures.
Under hood temps. It tells the computer what the outside temp is.(more or less).
A MAF is much more sophisticated than this little guy is.

 

[mechtech2]

Having the intake leak was the real problem, if it ran bad. It had to be running different.
But depending on where the sensor was sitting, it could have told the computer some wild reading that red flagged it.

 

[Nick R]

Well... I did notice it was significantly more sluggish than normal. At the time, I simply attributed it to the oil being maybe thicker than the old dino oil. And yes... It was sitting just inches from the valve cover and actual engine block. That would probably set it off, huh? Hah. Does the 2.2 even HAVE a MAF sensor?