I opened my MAF and the stopper the holds the sprung gear came out, what are the consequences if I didn't put it back in exactly the right spot?

Thanks

 

The measurements made by the AFM will be completely wrong, and the ECU will adjust fuel and timing improperly. The engine could either run like crap, or blow. Pick up a new AFM, as there's no way I know of to figure out how much tension was on the spring initially.

 

Thanks for the reply, picking up a new one. It seems like it varies between units as well, I matched it to a broken one I had and it ran like crap.