Erich_870

Hey everyone, I'm in a real bind!

About a month ago my check engine light came on MINUTES after I left on a 1200 mile drive to catch a ferry in Canada as I moved to Juneau, Alaska. I stopped at a dealership and they said the code was for a dirty MAF. I cleaned it as soon as I got up here and pulled the EFI fuse and every thing was hunky-dory until tonight. Last time I had a BEAR of a time getting those two little screws out with out stripping them. So much in fact that I actually took the whole air box out so I could make sure I had tons of pressure because those soft screws were just stripping like Pam Anderson!

Well tonight the light came back on. I was at the dusty work site I’m inspecting, so I figured it was dust related. The last time the MAF was pretty dirty. Well now I seriously F-ed up one of the screws. It is toast. So now I have to figure out how to get it out, but more importantly I have to find a replacement.

Please, I need your collective auto expertise to find some new screws and for that matter the best way to get that messed up one out! I was going to look for a craftsman easy out tool I’ve seen on TV, but maybe some on has a better idea. I’ll post some pics soon just incase that will help.

Thanks,

Erich

jimbo74

go to tthe hardware store... my local ACE always has wierd little metric screws and bolts that my toyota uses.....

calrockx

yeah, i lost one of those screws once. i picked up a similar one at my local hardware store, lowe's it was.
good luck.

Erich_870

How do I make sure they are the right size and thread count? I had a hell of a time finding the little screws for my rear wiper in my 87.

Erich

Erich_870

What do you guys think of these drill-out screw removers?

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...ab=del#tablink

I just worry that those screws are so soft these won't work.

No guts, no glory right?

Erich

jimbo74

bolt removers work fine....

as far as making sure its the right pitch, take the screw with you... they have little things there that tell you what size it is....

Erich_870

Sounds like a plan. I'm hoping I can get those drill-outs up here before the light comes back on. (Crossing fingers) Sears says they won't ship up here, so I'll have to do some investigating, but I think we have a small catalog store up here.

Thanks guys!

Erich

Ken

I know how you feel. I half-stripped out one of my MAF screws just this past weekend. I was sweating bullets until I found a screwdriver with a wider head, and was able to get the screw out with that one.
If you still have enough of the head left, see if you can find a wider screwdriver to catch onto it.

As for replacements, what other have said.

Erich_870

My Craftsmen Screw-out is on its way, but I'm pretty sure my MAF Sensor is on its way out. I looked at prices for a new one and I found this: https://www.1sttoyotaparts.com/partscat.html

Only $100 bucks Am I dreaming!? I thought it would be $400 like the one above it for a 4 banger.

Someone please tell me if it's not true before I get my hopes up!

Erich

Erich_870

- Update from yesterday -

We finally have some nice weather up here again and I had some free time Sunday so I got back on replacing my MAF. I ordered a new one and received it a couple weeks ago. I also bought a corded Dremil tool. I have a battery powered one, but it doesn't keep a charge any more.

I set out by cutting the wing off the side of the MAF with the bolt I could not get out . I had some sort of clear jelly shoot out on my leg when I got a little too close to the actual sensor housing, but after about 15 minutes I had the sensor out and just the bolt and a small ring of material still attached to the air box.

The next step I thought would be easy, I would just take some pliers and grab the little screw and just twist it out. It all seemed to be working until I realized it was just spinning, no unscrewing to be found :cry: .

So what the heck was I going to do, it wasn't supposed to be like this! The girlfriend suggested I cut a slot in the top of the screw and try using a screw driver. I didn't really see how that would change things, but it was worth a try.

The cutting attachment proceeded to cut a slot and heat the screw up enough to melt the plastic on the air box and out slid the screw and the brass insert that had been inside the plastic air box. I about at this point until I realized that I could mix just a dab of epoxy and set the brass insert back in.

Got it out, mixed it up, set it back in, let it cure, and voila! So far so good

Oh, by the way, I found some metric Allen head set screws to replace the old crappy brass screws and my MAF shouldn't cause me any trouble again.



Erich