Yesterday I went to clean the Mass Air Flow Meter on my car. When I was trying to get it out, it was not coming out by hand. So I grabbed a pair of pliers and pinched onto one edge of the MAF connection flange, to make sure I didn't break it. I finally got it out and I saw something fall as I was pulling it out. On the side of the MAF there is a little panel that is held in by some type of adhesive. See picture marked with red for this little panel area.
I'm lucky that somehow this panel got stuck at the MAF area or it could have easily went into my intake system. I didn't take any pictures at the time as I was too busy cleaning out the old adhesive that was more like sticky mushy gunk then anything at this point. I finally got it all cleaned out, being careful not to damage the wire and resistor on the other side. Used some Permatex Black Silicone Adhesive Sealant to attach the panel back to the MAF. The Permatex directions says it takes 24 hours to fully cure. So I have been waiting patiently for the adhesive to fully cure. Got the MAF back in the car and took her for a nice easy drive. It works perfect, so no damage had been done. I wasn't getting any weird readings on my Durametric and no CEL. Glad I decided to clean the MAF and found this before it became a major issue for me.
I didn't feel like getting back into the engine bay after the drive to check the MAF and make sure that panel is still fine, but tomorrow I am going back in there to make sure.
Wonder what made the adhesive give out like that? You would think Bosch would use something that didn't turn into sticky mushy gunk and let that panel come off. Or maybe the CRC MAF cleaner isn't very friendly to that adhesive over time? I have cleaned the MAF on a yearly bases with this stuff.
