Ruiner - great, I happy that it fixed your problems too. 300 miles and no issues yet for me.

John - ever thought about contacting me after you promised to? (UPS and Wheels)

Jags

 

Dock, I am glad that it worked out so well for you. I assume that you got to drive it? So, the hesitation that you talked about in the high rpms is now gone?

I still need to make it up to your place and datalog your car. I'd be curious to see how your fuel trims measure up to mine with your new programming.

For everyone else with questions/concerns on this DIY cleaning: I've run my car for the last 2 days with no ill effects for about 100 miles. I've datalogged my fuel trims and they are MUCH more stable than they were when the MAF was dirty. There have been NO CELs (knock on wood) and the car's response is more smooth and crisp. I figure that the worst I will be out is the price of a new MAF.

 

That's great news! You are really putting the MAF to the test. I am around 100 miles with no codes as well. The "cold starts" really shine where they previously were sluggish and the car "bucked" under low-speed throttle. I'll continue to monitor as well and will put this into my maintenance during oil changes if the results stay positive.

 

I cleaned mine tonight (30 minute job) and it absolutely eliminated the low speed stutter.
Seemed to rev quicker but that's just an impression.
Thanks again Ruiner.

 

Where did you find the cleaner? Radio Shack or something?

 

any hardware store...just got mine...try it this weekend

 

Hey Ruiner - based on your knowledge of the numbers read on your data log, would a slight MAF problem, causing somewhat skewed FT's, degredate power levels? To what degree would you estimate? I've noticed some bucking in just off idle speeds in first and to a much lesser degree in second. I don't remember this happening when the new MAF was installed. Perhaps a little more oil has been sucked off the filter and stuck to the MAF? I'm going to pick up a can of your reccomended spray and see if it goes away. If I'm real ambitious, I will do a before and after datalog also.

 

It will degrade performance levels more on the low end than on the top end I do believe, but don't take my word for it. Under harder throttle, the car thinks that it is running somewhat lean, so it tries to add fuel (at least that is what my LTFTs showed and symptoms on the net showed as well). Under WOT, you are in a closed loop mode anyway. If you are still too lean, your timing will retard to the point at which knock no longer presents itself. That cuts power. Just realize that you aren't getting extremely accurate air readings and your fuel system will inject fuel based on what it "thinks" is a correct reading. It might be high sometimes and low others. You get the idea. That will affect optimal power. It could be 5, 10, or 30hp for all that I know. It probably varies on a variety of conditions.

My numbers, however, were bad enough to trip a CEL code (P0175 and P0172). The thread below explains a bit more.

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...threadid=30929

Basically, my STFTs were sitting around -20 to -25% for both banks while at idle. That would eventually throw the CEL. The code was only tripped at idle, however. Idle/low speed is where metered air really has an issue with fuel management.

Contaminating the MAF with oil from a filter is highly possible and most likely the cause given the power of the turbos to suck in large amounts of air under full boost. Mine was contaminated and I have a stock filter that was replaced 5k miles ago!

Like I said, just get an electrical cleaner (Radio Shack, Home Depot, Ace Hardware, etc) that leaves NO RESIDUE. That is the most important fact. Once it cleans the MAF, leaving no residue enables the MAF to function as it was intended without obstruction(s). Try measuring your car's air flow as well. Do a few logs: Air flow, RPM, O2s, STFT, LTFT, throttle position, etc. Mix them up and see how they interact with each other. Then, clean your MAF and create some new logs to compare. My STFTs were night and day. After a hard run, my STFTs are around -4 to +4% instead of -20 to -24% across the board.

Maybe this will fix your problem, maybe it won't. It can't hurt to try as long as you are careful. You will do no harm to the MAF. If it doesn't work, at least you rule out a contaminated MAF as being the cause. Good luck and let me know how it goes!

 

Radio Shack, Ace Hardware, Home Depot, etc. Just make sure that it is an electrical cleaner that leaves NO residue. That is the most important aspect. You can clean the MAF all that you want, but if you leave a residue, it defeats the purpose.

 

Ruiner, I've been having very similar problems as Dock (Atlanta) and want to give this fix a try but I have a few questions. Everything I've heard about MAF's is that they are very fragile, what should I be careful about when removing and cleaning it. How do you remove the elec. plug from the MAF and since I have been useing a BMC filter it probably makes sense to switch back to a stock one after cleaning. Could this problem affect boost levels. Can't wait to give this a try.

 

Forgot to mention that I have not had any CEL issues at all. Can the MAF be contaminated with oil and cause problems like Dock explained yet not cause any CEL issues.

 

You remove the plug by pressing the pressure release switch on the top of the plug. As for the MAF being fragile, it is surrounded by plastic and rather sturdy. It won't be easy to damage as long as you don't bash the MAF with a hammer or other heavy tool.

Yes, it could affect boost levels somewhat, but you don't have to remove the BMC air filter after you clean the MAF. If it gets sluggish, you can always clean the MAF again.

 

I have had about 5 or 6 CEL instances (all the same CEL codes) over the past month and change. Typically, it would only happen during wet, rainy days. I could drive all week if the weather was nice and dry without seeing a CEL - typically 50-200 miles of driving or so. It would still be sluggish and have the same symptoms, but there would be no CEL.

Dock didn't have any CELs; I don't remember him having any, at least. I think that you could have the same issues and not show a CEL....yet. It takes a few cycles for CELs to generate and come up. If the conditions aren't right, you won't get a CEL even though there is restricted/sluggish performance.

 

Thanks Ruiner, I'm going to do it by the end of the week and I'll post results. Thanks, these problems have been bothering me for a while.

 

No problem. It should honestly take you just a few minutes. Just make sure to let it dry in a clean, dry place. There shouldn't be any problems.