What should a Clean MAF sensor look like?
02-28-2010, 07:58 PM
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What should a Clean MAF sensor look like?
Hello All,
I am a mechanical newbie, so bear with me. My check engine light came on and the error was running too lean bank 1. So, doing a little Googling and found a dirty MAF *could* cause this. So I found some good directions and cleaned it. The thing was pretty dirty and I was very careful not to exert much pressure on it using a qtip. I mostly used MAF cleaner to do the dirty work. Anyways, here are the before and after pics. Is the "bulb" like tip supposed to stay so black?
I am a mechanical newbie, so bear with me. My check engine light came on and the error was running too lean bank 1. So, doing a little Googling and found a dirty MAF *could* cause this. So I found some good directions and cleaned it. The thing was pretty dirty and I was very careful not to exert much pressure on it using a qtip. I mostly used MAF cleaner to do the dirty work. Anyways, here are the before and after pics. Is the "bulb" like tip supposed to stay so black?
02-28-2010, 08:14 PM
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Yep that's good! Looks much better. My tip has never been clear, no matter how much I spray it. AFAIK the little wires are what do the sensing. Did you clean the other set of wires too?
I guess not. Where are the other wires? I sprayed a little down the plastic shaft.
02-28-2010, 08:41 PM
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They are down in one of the plastic shafts, they are hard to see, I can't remember off the top of my head where they are, but they are there, look down the shafts in good light and you should see them
02-28-2010, 08:51 PM
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That's not the critical part of the MAF.
You have to look down the tube for the real platinum wires that need to be cleaned.
When you look into the tube, you will see to "wires" that look like this:
That is what my dirty MAF looked like AFTER I sprayed it with MAF cleaner several times. It was filthy before I sprayed it. Note the reddish brown crud still coating the wire.
Here is what a new MAF looks like:
Nice and clean.
I then decided to clean my old MAF a bit more by soaking a Q-tip in MAF cleaner and gently rubbing the wire until the brown crud came off (I DON"T ADVISE DOING THIS. DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK). Here's how it came out:
After I cleaned my MAF, I did some research and found out why it is a dumb thing to do to scrub your MAF wire with a Q-tip. This is what I was scrubbing:
(Photo courtesy of a K&N video on YouTube)
How I didn't break the wire is beyond me. I won't be touching my MAF wires anymore with anything other than a jet of MAF cleaner.
You have to look down the tube for the real platinum wires that need to be cleaned.
When you look into the tube, you will see to "wires" that look like this:
That is what my dirty MAF looked like AFTER I sprayed it with MAF cleaner several times. It was filthy before I sprayed it. Note the reddish brown crud still coating the wire.
Here is what a new MAF looks like:
Nice and clean.
I then decided to clean my old MAF a bit more by soaking a Q-tip in MAF cleaner and gently rubbing the wire until the brown crud came off (I DON"T ADVISE DOING THIS. DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK). Here's how it came out:
After I cleaned my MAF, I did some research and found out why it is a dumb thing to do to scrub your MAF wire with a Q-tip. This is what I was scrubbing:
(Photo courtesy of a K&N video on YouTube)How I didn't break the wire is beyond me. I won't be touching my MAF wires anymore with anything other than a jet of MAF cleaner.
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