JoeyC20

So, i just bought some MAF sensor cleaner and took out the maf sensor. Im really not sure what im looking at and what is supposed to be cleaned.

I see the plastic thing with the deep holes in it and on the side of that a silver prong thing with a glass ball at the end. Am i supposed to spray all of this?

Thanks for any info


Joe

LuckyPablo7

Yes, just read the intructions...if im not mistaken they say to be carefull not to spray the wires.

JoeyC20

Eek. well i read the instructions. I guess not every Maf sensor is the same. The intsructions definitely didnt say to not spray the wires. I did spray just about everything becauce i wasnt sure what to or what to not spray. I hope everything is good.

sciontc_mich

the wires down the tube (looks like dental floss) are the MAF sensor wires, the amber bulb on the outside is the IAT = Idle Air Temperature sensor. Clean both of them, and allow to dry before you put it back in

*they just say to be CAREFUL when spraying the wires but you can spray it gentle spurts from the can onto the wires to clean them.

JoeyC20

Thanks. I do actually notice a difference since cleaning it. The car drives a lot smoother. The IAT was all dirty with dust and oil.

sciontc_mich

yeah the IAT (amber bulb) always gets this oily grime on it. But yeah I make it a habit to clean it once a year, sometimes twice. Glad it's all good for you now!

OPPOSITE-LOCK

Hmm. I just bought MAF cleaner and cleaned what I thought was the MAF.

Thing is, I dont recall seeing any amber bulbs or anything. It's the sensor on the intake, just above the battery.

sciontc_mich

yes its to the left of the air cleaner box on the plastic/rubber intake tube. Two screws on either side of a square that says "Denso". The amber bulb on the 05-06 was on the side of the maf sensor, its for the idle air temperature. Maybe the newer one isn't the same?? have to check the part brb to update this

update yes the part number is different from the 05-06 to the 07+, probably because they updated the engine slightly.

here's a picture of the one i know from 05-06, does yours look like this? the little amber colored bulb is on the left of the main tube in the following picture. that's what i was talking about.
http://aipelectronics.com/ebay/MTOYM/fulla.png

OPPOSITE-LOCK

http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/im.../A17450057.jpg

That's what mine look like in my 09. Much more squared.

Anyway the car started right back up and ran perfectly fine. I guess it's good maintenance practice. My sensor didn't look dirty at all before cleaning but all well.

sciontc_mich

yeah that is much different. the "amber bulb" that i was talking about is still there, albeit much smaller on the newer one, it's on the side there of that picture. the mass air flow wires are down that main tube, so they did keep both sensors, just look slightly different now.

for some reason the older ones like the ones most of us have, were getting dirty really quick. Looked like hydrocarbons to me, has an oily residue to it when you look at it. Maybe the newer ones have less of this problem?
but glad it worked out for you! that's great!

EasternSnap

I have a habit for letting check engine lights come on for my MAF sensors. (Not just tC). Whenever they do I clean it and the CEL goes away.

Can this decrease the life of the sensors if I only clean it when CEL comes on, or is it actually better to clean it every so often? I know this question sounds obvious but I just got to hear it from someone

I try not to touch the MAF not because I don't trust myself cleaning it, because that little thing cost so damn much. hehe Thanks in advance people.

OPPOSITE-LOCK

Personally, I believe in preventive maintenance.

As for breaking or harming the sensor, based on my experience today I'd say you have to be pretty reckless to harm it.

Take out 2 screws and pull it out of the intake. 4-5 good sprays with CNS or maybe it's called CNC Mass Air Flow cleaner and let it sit in the sun for 20 minutes. Reinstall.

sciontc_mich

yeah i also believe in preventative maintenance. Usually every year or 15k miles I clean the MAF sensor. I couldn't wait for a check engine light, i was down to about 14 mpg when I figured out what was causing that. Since then have never seen it again, because I always clean it.

OPPOSITE-LOCK

Once a year sounds like a nice round time to clean it.

Especially when you consider it ony takes $6 and 20min.

EasternSnap

I know they are somewhat difficult to break. I only got 10k miles on the tC, but on the 4runner a CEL came on not long ago (close to 80k) and it was the MAF so I cleaned it, I even used a qtip (I have been recommended by almost everyone that using one is not a good idea, but I was gentle and noting bent).

I just want to know if having a dirty MAF will actually effect driving to the point where I can 'feel' it. As someone else has said earlier in this thread. Besides the part where a CEL comes on. hehe.

I will take your advice in cleaning it every so often. 15k miles sounds good to me. Have a good night folks.

Spr4yedTc

iTrader: (-1)

spray those things down like if they were covered with SARS, haha

sciontc_mich

well you can feel it, on mine when it was really dirty, the idle was rough, where usually i can't feel the engine, this time i could. Plus my fuel economy was down to 14mpg. lol yeah that i could feel in my wallet. lol cleaned it and popped up to about 25mpg

EasternSnap

Oh ok so rough idle are symptoms I should keep a feel out for. Well my MPG has been bad since day 1 but that is all my fault. But it is good to know that a 6 dollar can brought your mpg up around 11 mpg's.

blitztc06

do you think this will cure a P0171 cel code? i checked the maf sensor and the amber was black one side and clean on the otherside, will the cleaner get off the black stuff

sciontc_mich

yes CRC's MAF cleaner will clean off that oily-black residue, I think that's accumulated hydrocarbons from the engine that settle there. just spray gently on the amber bulb, both sides and down the tube (look closely you'll see wires, that's the MAF sensor). Be careful when spraying those wires, they're delicate. The amber bulb is the IAT = Idle air temp sensor.

from the quick google search for P0171 the cure looks like first step is to clean the MAF sensor. so go for it, should work, let us know how it goes