Clean your MAF

[immortality]

if your car has a MAF sensor, clean it. it takes 15 minutes and the difference can be like black and white. this is especially true if you run any sort of aftermarket oiled filter.

to cut a long story short, the missus car was slowly getting more sluggish, throttle response was getting worse, fuel economy was dropping like a brick (not really but it sounded good ) this was all accumulative over a long period of time so wasn't noticed.

when i removed the MAF sensor one of the 3 Hot wires was black with crap, the 2nd was approx 70% covered and the 3rd maybe 20%. there is proper MAF cleaner that can be purchased from your local automotive outlet. otherwise use electrical contact cleaner. me, i didn't have either so i used some carb cleaner, then i blew it out with LOW pressure air to ensure all the solvent had completly dried off.

first start was quicker, don't know if this was related to that problem, as soon as i gave it some gas it moved, shock horror pulled out of the street (rolling)i gave it a little gas and she kicked down a gear and went. previously this would have required a fair amount of throttle to achieve the same thing. long term fuel usage sat at 13.6ltrs/100km on the trip computer. i have reset so we will see what happens there

happy cleaning

[delcowizzid]

nice now just to get that new brake booster in your car now aye.its allways good when you find a simple fix.as far as im aware the frequency MAFS arnt actually hot wire like the old vl'sL they have a chip in there that senses the air draging over the wires when they get covered in crud they get thicker and stickier meaning they get pulled on harder by the air flowing past them pulling harder on the chip.but all in all allways good to clean them.

[MG's VH Wag]

Might sound a bit stupid but where is the MAF sensor located lol? I want to clean it now

[delcowizzid]

if you are meaning on youre VR there isnt one on VR .VS upwards

[MG's VH Wag]

Ok thanks, no wonder i didn't know where it was lol.

[immortality]

after having a chat with Steve for MACE, apparently this is also a problem on cars with standard airfilters. definitly worthchecking.

[DannyboyDS]

someone should tell CXCXCX....... he is having fuel consumption issues.

[Gus The Snail]

any pics of this item and where it is located on a VS please???

[padrickz88]

its located on your intake piping from the airbox to the throttle body......

might have a look at my mums on her vt, her economy isn't great...

[immortality]

any pics of this item and where it is located on a VS please???

it's fitted in the intake pipe, just after the filter box. gotta undo 2 hose clamps and remove 1 plug at the bottom.

when cleaning be very carefull. the wires are very thin and you'll be ****ed if you brake one.

from now on, i'll be cleaning mine when i do the oil change. should ensure no further problems in that area

[immortality]

nice now just to get that new brake booster in your car now aye.

i wish, the missus just got her new lounge suite. she thinks the car can wait

[PSYKO PHOENIX]

gutted about the lounge suite!

any chance of a few quick pics? i wanna make sure ive got it all sorted before i atempt to clean the lil buggers!

[Chappo_1]

I’ve pinched a picture from the painting engine cover thread. I have drawn a green circle around the MAF. First time I ahve attached an image.....hope it works.
Cheers.

[PSYKO PHOENIX]

nice lookin engine!!!

so i just unscrew that and use a bit of maf cleaner to clean the wires??

[Magifil]

Correct, two clamps to undo and disconnect the sensor wires. Then there is a mesh thingy held in by a circlip. Carefully lever the circlip out, remove mesh and wash away. Make sure its all dry before you reinstall.

[danja]

I give mine a squirt every time I do the oil, only takes 5 minutes and does make a difference. If you do it regularly you won't notice much, but if you go from very dirty to clean you'll notice it, doing it regularly keeps it top notch all the time.

I've tried the specialised MAF cleaner, I'm convinced its just rebadged electrical contact cleaner sold for twice the price - smells the same, looks the same, evaporates the same. So contact cleaner for me, never tried carby cleaner.

[delcowizzid]

ide be very cautious about using carby cleaner as it melts plastic and just about anything else due to the toulene in it and im sure buying the proper cleaner is cheaper than a MAF sensor when you melt something important inside it.

[immortality]

yeah, i woulda used contact cleaner but i was out and hadn't brought any new cans yet so carb cleaner it was. having said that, i spray'd it straight through the MAF so very little actually acumulates inside the MAF sensor area.

i'd certainly suggest it should be part of a regular maint shedule. i wonder if Holden do it when they service cars?

[ephect]

hah i highly doubt it, they're lucking to lift the bonnet

will put this on the todo list this weekend, got some free time on sunday providing the weather holds up.

[89 vn]

MAF in the same spot in a V8 VS?, as they have much shorter intake pipe

[delcowizzid]

V8 vs will be MAP so no MAF in there well the manual version at least

[immortality]

early results are in. fuel usage is now sitting at 12.3ltr/100km on the trip computer. this is mostly around town short trips. haven't changed anything else on the car so thats a marked improvement from 13.6ltrs/100km

still got a vac leak through the climate air system so better results are still to come

[frase]

is there a good way to remove the mesh screen?
ive done it before but this time i tried and i seem to be damaging the mesh and getting nowhere...

[Ado]

Interesting thread, ive completely removed the mesh from my air flow meter
and haven't been running that mesh insert for close to a 1 yr now, i havent noticed
any abnormalities to vehicle driveability etc however i cant guarantee it wont
potentially do harm to the air flow meter in the long run one good thing ive noticed
after reading the posts ,, i guess mines maintenance free.

[immortality]

i damaged mine some time ago when i removed it so i haven't had it in for a while.