1996 Mitsubishi Montero SR - No Start, No Injection Pulse, MAF 5V Issue

Afternoon all!

First, I'm new here and have picked through a lot of 5V ref topics here trying to get an answer, and appreciate yalls input. This particular vehicle is wildly underrepresented online as far as troubleshooting/repair/general knowledge documentation is concerned, so wanted to make sure I do my part and post this up.

Sort of a rookie question here: My mass airflow sensor on this vehicle is both an atmospheric pressure sensor, and an intake air temp sensor in one (unsure whether this is pretty standard or unique to this design). I know that I need to unplug my thermistors in a given 5V ref circuit to test that circuit properly. Now that being said, this reference circuit is a single-sensor circuit, just meaning that the 5V output from the ECM goes exclusively to this particular sensor. No other shared sensors on this circuit. The voltage is carried by a single black and red wire.

This particular wire appears to feed the temp sensor side of the component. When I back-probe this black and red input to the MAF WHILE PLUGGED IN, I get a low voltage (3.42V). As soon as I unplug the MAF, that voltage jumps to the appropriate 5V.

So my question is as follows: Is this indicative of a short-to-ground inside the MAF itself, or because this appears to feed the temp sensor side of the equation, is this normal?

Thanks for any input and sorry if I'm interpreting fundamentals incorrectly.

Just want to make sure I attach the applicable part of the wiring diagram below. I can provide a more comprehensive view of the diagram should it be requested. Thank you!