Cause of MAF sensor failure

[edwinwilks]

I reckon you're on to something here - my second MAF went out just like the first one - just about 8-10 miles after a major detail which included wet-look stuff on my tires.

I put the stuff on from time to time but usually in the evening when I've finished washing the car and won't be driving it for the next 12+ hours (enough time for it to dry out a bit???) , both times my MAF has gone out it's been when the detailing (including a good heavy dose of shiny glop on the tires) has been followed immediately by a drive.

My theory is that some gets in through the intake after being flung off the left rear tire then take a little while to permeate the filter (and I've found a darker, 'wet-look' stripe on my old filter to correlate with this) before migrating to the MAF to cause havoc. It seems a bit like I'm accusing silicone of conspiring to destroy my MAF (and I'm pretty sure it's not sentient really) and I've nothing but circumstantial evidence to back it up. It does however suggest to me that I might be able to put up with dull tires, just in case.