With no signs at all I got in my mazda after stopping at shops, push the starter, it turn over but lost rpm immediately and stopped. Several attempts same thing. Turned over but died immediately. After getting it towed home, I tried the next morning, same thing for several attempts then drained battery. Got auto elec out, 4 hours later after all error codes were cleared, the air intake sensor code can up? Disconnected the sensor and the car started straight away! Plugged it back in, car stopped straight away. I called mazda who said that no sensors had been sold as of yet? I drove car without sensor connected, it jolted on low speed to stop but ok while cruising. I bought air flow intake sensor reconnected and problem solved. Running perfectly once more. The mechanic thought it was fuel pump problem initially because of behaviour of the car turning over. Hope that helps any future Mazda owners or auto elects experiencing same symptoms.

 

I've had a CX5 with very similar problem. Cause was a local mechanic serviced it, didn't refit the air filter box lid properly. Dirt & debre got sucked in without being filtered, something got stuck in/on the AFM messing up its output signals.

 

I had the same problem with my 2014 CX-5. The engine turned over, then died. After watching some YouTube videos on how to replace the sensor, I followed your suggestion, disconnected the MAF sensor and the car started right up. Got the new sensor at the dealer because no other auto parts stores had it in stock. Believe it or not, it was cheaper at the Mazda dealer than special ordering it at 4 major parts stores. The replacement took 2 minutes, at most.

Thank you for posting this solution. It saved me a bunch of time and money!