Dude, I cleaned my MAF ! - 986 Forum

NickCats · 06-19-2007, 07:06 PM

First, let me thank each and every one of you for all your great contributions to this forum...

Let me preface this by saying I have NEVER worked on a car before ( let me put it this way, I take my car to the dealer to have a lightbulb replaced ! ).

Last Tuesday, I got my first CEL ( P1123 & P1125 ) :

http://986forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11687

Well, I got it again today, so I went and bought the Torx bits and cleaner, got out the owner's manual, got to the engine ( I finally got to see it ! ), opened up Mike Focke's website, removed and cleaned the MAF, and got everything back together again ! Hopefully this will fix the problem, if not, I will replace the MAF next...

I never knew how easy it is to "do it yourself" ! Thanks, everybody. Maybe I'll even try and do my own oil change next time...

Nick

blinkwatt · 06-19-2007, 07:31 PM

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.

06-19-2007, 07:38 PM

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 · 06-19-2007, 07:39 PM

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 · 06-19-2007, 07:47 PM

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 · 06-19-2007, 07:56 PM

Quote:

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 · 06-19-2007, 09:08 PM

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

AUDIOGUY · 06-20-2007, 04:14 PM

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 · 06-21-2007, 12:30 PM

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

Perfectlap · 06-21-2007, 01:17 PM

who has a DIY for replacing the MAF? I've got 40K on the clock now and the idle doesnt sound as smooth as it a year ago.

Perfectlap · 06-22-2007, 07:52 AM

p.s.
Mike Focke's site says to spray the MAF cleaner into the "hole with the wires". Can anyone elaborate on that point? I don't want to spray the wrong part on maintenance and end up spending $250 to buy a whole new MAF.

djomlas · 06-22-2007, 09:24 AM

once you take it out you can see what htes talkinga bout.
BUT, i sprayed the whole thing, all the wires, you cant harm anything.

and as for taking it out, well...once you get to the engine, its right there, just unbolt 2 screws, pull it out and clean it.

but on renntech poeple had bad experience just taking it out and cleaning it, as it seems that the MAF doesnt like to be taken out or moved around, so they end up getting CEL even though they didnt have one before. just a tought.
i cleaned mine couse of the CEL, and it was already out for the EVO intake...

MNBoxster · 06-22-2007, 09:46 AM

Hi,

A dirty MAF is only one possibility. The other is that the MAF has failed (which also is the case in a high % of these CELs).

If dirty, a thorough cleaning (read THOROUGH) can loosen the dirt/oil accumulations and everything will work as new. It's generally a good idea to do several sprays with the Cleaner, as each successive spraying removes some more of the dirt from the Hot Film. If you just spray it once, or not thoroughly, the solvent will flash-off and redeposit the dirt/oil in it's place, the idea is to flush the bad stuff away.

Many who have attempted to clean the MAF and were unsuccessful I suspect either had a Failed MAF (in which case cleaning won't do a thing), or didn't thoroughly clean it.

You can hook a multimeter to it and see what readings you get. There is a specific voltage range for a MAF which is still serviceable. If outside this range, replace the MAF. Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

djomlas · 06-22-2007, 09:56 AM

do you know what the readings are sopposed to be?

Peer · 06-22-2007, 10:54 AM

AUDIOGUY wrote:
> A clean MAF cant hurt anything at all.

Would it be a good idea to clean the MAF even without any CEL..?

-- peer

Perfectlap · 06-22-2007, 10:58 AM

how about this, can the MAF fail without a CEL?