MAF question

[Chris]

ok, so when people clean the maf, does anyone clean the bulbous bit on the outside?  Mine looked fairly dirty, so I gave it some careful dabs with cotton wool to clean it up a bit, but then read that I should've been cleaning the 2 small wires right down in the housing...

Here's a pic of the bit I mean..

[Ernie Ball]

Another, related, question: what do you use to clean the MAF?  I saw some "Electrical Contact Cleaner" at Halford's.  Will that do the job?

[Anonymous]

The wires are the most important part but clean it all anyway. Don't touch it with anything   s:shock: :shock: s:shock:  , just spray cleaner on it.

Use Wynn's fuel injection intake & carb cleaner from Halfrauds.

[heathstimpson]

The wires are the most important part but clean it all anyway. Don't touch it with anything   s:shock: :shock: s:shock:  , just spray cleaner on it.

Use Wynn's fuel injection intake & carb cleaner from Halfrauds.

Thats the stuff I use as well. As above donot actually touch anything on it just spray and allow to dry naturally. All the muck comes off   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

[SimonC_Here]

Take off the rubber o ring in case the carb cleaner eats it!

Simon

[GSB]

Ideally you need a solvent spray that leaves no residue. Some electrical sprays actually leave a protective film on when your finished. These types are no good. A good way to tell is to spray some on some glass. If it dries off almost immediately, and leaves no residue, then its fine. If it leaves anything other than clean glass behind though, dont spray it on your MAF...

The little bulbous bit is in fact the temperature sensor, and is as important in the MAF's function as the flow measurement. The ECU takes the measurement of airflow, and and using the temperature it will then derive the actual mass flow(kg of air per second), and thus the oxygen content of the air. Hotter air contains less Oxygen per unit of volume (cubic metre / cubic foot etc.), so the ECU will add less fuel to make maintain the correct air/fuel ratio.

Conversly, when the ECU detects cooler air going through the MAF, it will add more fuel. Cooler air is far denser, and thus contains more oxygen per unit of volume than hotter air. The ECU can then add more fuel to the mix in order to maintian the correct air fuel ratio.

The benifit of this is that your car can draw in more oxygen when the air is cold, which means that it can burn more fuel in an efficient manner, which of course means more power. This is the reason the most aftremarket intake kits dont work, as the draw warm air from the engine compartment, rather than cooler air from outside.

[Anonymous]

ok, so when people clean the maf, does anyone clean the bulbous bit on the outside?  Mine looked fairly dirty, so I gave it some careful dabs with cotton wool to clean it up a bit, but then read that I should've been cleaning the 2 small wires right down in the housing...

I cleaned my MAF last week. It makes such a big difference when you reset the ECU at the same time. Really wants to rev much better.

Anyway, you need to clean the two wires inside the housing. I use Halfords Electrical Contact Cleaner, all it needs is a few sprays and they are clean. Then leave it to dry for a few hours while the ECU resets (note, resetting the ECU may lose your radio presets). Last time I did clean that bulbous bit, used the same contact cleaner, not sure if you are supposed to but I figured it was better clean than not.

Taking the rubber O ring off is probably a good idea. Although the last couple of times i have forgotten and it seems to be ok.

This little bit of maintenance is well worth doing and makes the car feel loads faster if only for a short while.

[Slacey]

Definately use carb cleaner, and remove the O ring. While you are in there, pop the top off the airbox, remove the filter and spray short bursts of the carb cleaner into the airbox, this will also clean the air tracts, throttle plate and idle control valve.

[Chris]

definately agree about the revving freeer thing, for the first few days then it was even more of a pleasure ripping through the rev range than usual, but the effect seems to have worn off again now, on me at least anyway..

Grant - in the nicest possible way, you truely are an mr2 geek!   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:   There's no point in fighting it anymore...   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

[GSB]

Grant - in the nicest possible way, you truely are an mr2 geek!   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:   There's no point in fighting it anymore...   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

  s:oops: :oops: s:oops:   Don't, I feel like such a bloody anorak sometimes...  s:roll: :roll: s:roll:

[Darth Paul]

[kanujunkie]

point proven then Paul,

and is that a model railway i spot too??

[Anonymous]

Quick question guys, you all say not to touch bits on the MAF waht is the likely result if you do? and how can you tell?

[Ernie Ball]

Quick question guys, you all say not to touch bits on the MAF waht is the likely result if you do? and how can you tell?

I think the likely result is that you'll break them.  You can tell if they are lying in pieces...  s:) s:)

[Anonymous]

Did this job yesterday, along with an air filter recharging. Having read the various opinions, I opted for CAC Electrical Contact Cleaner, as the label on the can states prominently: Leaves No Residue. This must be the US equivalent of Halfords.

There was a fair bit of muck building up on the temperature sensor part of the MAF, and the spray took it right off. I gingerly brushed the internal contacts with a narrow cotton swab but didn't seem to pull anything out, so I concur that swabbing probably isn't necessary or a good idea. Don't know whether the air shield enclosing the filter at the entrance of the inlet duct catches enough air to negate engine bay temps, but at speed I imagine it does. In any event the "whooosh" sucking sound is worth the money.