Wow. A dirty MAF sensor can really screw things up

[Mark K 2]

Check engine light came on. Truck started bucking and was slow starting from a stop. Felt like it was starting out in 2nd gear. All this 50 miles from home. Started worrying about the transmission; it was that bad. Got home and went to the car parts store to borrow their reader. Aha! Threw a P0102 code. Cleaned the MAF with CRC contact cleaner.



Voila. Runs like new. I never realized the MAF sensor could do that.

 

[swshawaii]

Found this MAF sensor thread interesting.

Now about cleaning. You would THINK that they'd get pretty dirty being in the airflow (think about your furnace filter for example) yet they rarely need attention, why? Well a little known fact is that on engine shut down a circuit heats those little platinum elements to about 1000 degrees...CENTIGRADE!... burning off any contaminants. So, if yours is dirty, you may have lost that function... never say never but these rarely need to be a source of worry cleaning wise. There are plenty of stories where cleaning the MAF improved an idle, but ME ? I have to wonder if the self cleaning cycle was working correctly. I'm not guessing cleaning the MAF needs to be high on your Saturday automotive "to do" preventative maintenance list.

 

[scott degroot]

They stopped using the "self cleaning" mafs a looooong time ago as they caused more problems than they solved

 

[swshawaii]

Thanks l1tech, had to be a reason why dirty MAF sensors are so common.

I understand how heating ANY object to 1832 degrees could cause problems.

 

[EddieS'04]

Good info........:supercool: