Cleaned my MAF sensor today

[blee]

It took them long enough, but the local auto parts store finally got a few cans of CRC Mass Air Flow Sensor Cleaner on the shelf last weekend. I picked up a can along with a few things to pull the thrust arm ball joint (rut-roh...) and got around to using it today. It's about as easy as you'd expect. Just to be thorough, I removed the wire clip and one of the MAF screens to thoroughly spray the wire and thermistor.

The result is a dead-smooth idle where I used to have some annoying oscillations. This won't get rid of the up-down idle hunt that comes with sudden throttle changes; IIRC, that's more or less to be expected with the fuel management software that came with these cars. In all other cases, though, I can definitely tell a difference. Not bad for $6 and 10 minutes.

While I was under the hood, I replaced the hood struts. The hood now slide forward the way it should when I pull the release handle. Again, not bad for a few bucks and 10 minutes. :)

I was doing all of this work while waiting for my penetrant to work its magic on the nuts and bolts holding my thrust arms onto the front suspension. Sure enough, they came off easily. The ball joints, however, did not. In fact, they never made it off today. I bent a couple of tools in the process. Busted tools are going to be dealt with soon, but I haven't given up yet. Next step is to rent the ball joint separator kit from the parts shop next weekend. I've read through all of the related threads here, and that's about all I've got left before I have to find a shop or friend with air tools.

[Sidney Rough-Diamond]

Interesting.Is there any reason I should not do the same with the MAF on an M60 ? Must do the same with those hood shocks. Those things are so weak now i have to use a jack handle to prop the hood when working on it.

[markus]

i was curious to see how well that worked. next time im in autozone ill have to pickup a can. since we dont have it at work.

also those balljoints are going to be tough. it took me A LOT of effort with a pickle fork and a hammer to get those bastards out.

[RallyD]

it worked wonders for my m50. Idle and off idle responsiveness was greatly improved.
on the m60 when I went to take off the intake pipe, I found that it was cracked and leaking air. and this was between the MAF and the throttle!! Well lets just say that after I repaired that and cleaned the MAF it was a totally different beast. well, as much of a beast as a 'lil 530 can be.

haven't had the chance to check but for the ball joints, could you heat up the knuckle with a propane torch?

[markus]

hey rallyd. i shipped the cd changer today. you should have it thursday or friday.

[blee]

Theoretically, there should be an increase in responsiveness and possibly gas mileage. I only have 40 miles on the clean MAF, so I can't tell for sure, but so far I'm running 20% more miles to the gallon. We'll see what happens after a week of stop and go, though; today's commute wasn't very heavy. I suspect I'll see 10% at most, and even that would be a real stretch.

The MAF sensor cleaner is basically a solvent strong enough to clean the gunk off the super-thin wire in the sensor housing without doing any damage to the plastic parts. I suspect that careful use of carb cleaner would work just as well, but I wasn't going to risk it on 15-year-old equipment. As long as you have a MAF and not the older "door flap" AFM, you should benefit. I think the M20s had AFMs, but I don't know about any of the other engines. I've heard of this also working wonders on newer cars whose owners use K&N-style oiled filters, since the oil can sometimes be drawn into the airflow and onto the MAF wire(s).

As for the thrust arms...well, we'll see how it goes. The local shop does have a front-end tool kit, and the separators look beefy enough to work. I hope they do!

[632 Regal]

it helps to heat the area with an acetyline torch and it should pop right out if you work fast

[SC David]

I was thinking of doing this with my MAF...

...but then I realized :(

[Jehu]

I bought a can of MAF Cleaner and mentioned it to my Mechanic .He said If the MAF Sensor needed to be cleaned, if it was hindering performance i;d have a code.He didn't get any code for it so he said i;d basically be wasting my time. I have been using Lucas gas treatment and noticing on the OBC a mile or so increase in average MPG .I'll probably get to spraying the element when the weather finally stays warm for a while and my soul thaws out.