Dude, I cleaned my MAF !

[blinkwatt]

Feels awesome to work on your car huh?

I don't want to burst your bubble but I tried cleaning mine....worked for 150 miles then the CEL came back on. I ended up just buying a new one.

I had mine cleaned by the dealership. Totally got overcharged but at the time I was not able to do it myself as I was on a vacation. Long story short I havent had a CEL in 10,000 miles. You may get lucky.

[Grizzly]

I got an 1125, so I bought four new O2 sensors. I haven't had time to install them yet, but I just know in advance that they're not going to be my problem and I'm going to need a MAF also. That's just how my luck runs.

Congrats on fixing it yourself Nick. You'll be amazed at what you can do once you get over the apprehension of not being able to put it back together. With a good manual, time and a little guts, you can tear that car down to the unibody and put it back together yourself. When you get into bigger projects, zip lock bags, a Sharpee and a video camera are your best friends.

[NickCats]

Thanks bogg and blink ! I did give djolmas a call on my way back from Auto Zone. He had the same thing, cleaned the MAF and the CEL came back on again. I figured it is worth the $15 for the Torx and cleaner to give it a shot before dropping $200 for a new MAF. I guess time will tell and I'll let you know what happens...

Griz, why go after the O2 sensors first ? I guess that might be the next step if the cleaning / replacing the MAF doesn't work.

Nick

[Grizzly]

Originally Posted by NickCats

Thanks bogg and blink ! I did give djolmas a call on my way back from Auto Zone. He had the same thing, cleaned the MAF and the CEL came back on again. I figured it is worth the $15 for the Torx and cleaner to give it a shot before dropping $200 for a new MAF. I guess time will tell and I'll let you know what happens...

Griz, why go after the O2 sensors first ? I guess that might be the next step if the cleaning / replacing the MAF doesn't work.

Nick

Well, I did it because I only got an 1125. If I'd gotten a code on the right bank also, I'd have suspected the MAF. Since I only got one, I figured it was the O2 sensor. Rather than replacing one at a time I decided to do them all at once.

[djomlas]

sweet man, hopefully that will get it solved, time will tell.
mine still shows up every other day

[AUDIOGUY]

Good job Nick! A clean MAF cant hurt anything at all. My CEL was on for 6 months and then one day went out and has been out for another 4 months... who can tell. I did notice a difference in performance now that the car has been running without the CEL on. It is definately better. You should check your air filter while you are there...
quite easy!

Best of luck!

[NickCats]

Thanks for the info, Griz !

djomlas, does you car run any worse with the CEL on ?

I have noticed the car runs a lot better since I cleaned the MAF, but it may just be a placebo effect...

AUDIOGUY - I did take a look at the air filter while I was in there. I had it replaced last year at 30k ( car has 42k now ) and it looked pretty good !

Question - when you get a CEL, I thought it would stay on until you got it reset ( or unhooked the battery ) ?

Nick