MAF
Sensor Maintenance
By: iMR2
Please
refer to the service manual before working on any electrical components.
Damage may
result if safety precautions aren’t taken.
UPDATED: 3/16/2002
The Mass Air Flow sensor is crucial to the fuel systems operation. This is
the sensor that the engine computer uses to measure how much air is entering the
engine so that it may properly deliver the proper amount of fuel. A dirty MAF
sensor
hot wire may cause several problems to include: difficult start, poor
acceleration, pinging, rough idling, to name a few. This whole procedure
should take you less than ten minutes.
| Locate
the MAF Sensor on the air intake pipe just behind the air filter box. |
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| Disconnect the MAF Sensor wire harness
by pressing the tab and pulling. |
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| Remove
the MAF Sensor from the air intake pipe by removing the two phillips
screws. |
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| Inspect
the platinum hot wire inside the MAF housing. |
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| This
is the carbeuretor & throttle body cleaner I used.
Other brands of carb cleaner should work as well. The main
thing is to use a cleaner that will not attack plastic or leave a
residue on the wires. |
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| Spray
cleaner on to the platinum wires liberally to clean off any built on dirt residue. You may want to remove the rubber
o-ring around the housing to prevent the possibility of the cleaning
agent making it brittle. |
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| Here
is a close up shot of the two beasties you are trying to keep
clean. Clean them, but keep in mind they are delicate so don't
break them. |
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| Replace
the cleaned MAF sensor back into air intake pipe. You
can see the air temperature thermistor on the side in this view. |
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| Zip
it up and you're done. Check the MAF for dirt and deposits
every time you check the air filter, and that should help keep your
engine running at top performance. |
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| Here
is a before and after MAF cleaning dyno chart plotting torque over
RPM. There's no magical power gain, but it's a good idea to
keep your engine maintained. |
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