Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General Some questions.

I just cleaned my MAF sensor because it was realy dirty.

What exactly does that sensor do? Adjust air temp into the engine and air/fuel mix? If so how does the two little sensors know these readings?

I was going to clean out the inside of my throttle body untill I noticed the warning not to spray any cleaners into the throttle body. :rolleyes:

Is there a safe way to clean it out or is it best to just leave it?

Ford dealer says that they don't clean them, they just replace them instead because of the "special" coating inside it. :rolleyes:

Stephen

The MAF measures the amount of air (mass) that passes through it. The computer reads the mass and the temp of that mass and calculates how much oxygen is in it. Then, it figures out how much fuel to add to that oxygen. :p :p

The teflon coating on the TB is crap. It doesn't do what it was designed to do: Keeping the EGR and PCV "residue" off the TB plate.

It doesn't read the temperature of the air. Some engine also use an intake air temp sensor.

The Mass Air Flow sensor uses a hot wire to measure the air mass. The wire is kept at the same temperature, and the current needed to maintain the temperature is used to determine how much air is flowing past it. Most of the time it works very well and is extremely responsive. The vane air flow meter which was in common use prior to the common use of a MAF sensor was not nearly as responsive. The vane air flow meter was a flap (or vane) that hung out into the airflow. As the airflow increased, the flap moved. The flap was attached to a reostat which provided a value for the processor to determine the airflow. The mass of the vane or flap kept it from being very responsive.

I hope that I will notice even better performance from the Zetec after cleaning the MAF sensor!
But even if I don't, it needed to be cleaned. With a heavy foot driving 80% Hwy and 20% City, I was getting an average of 24 MPG. From what I've been reading here at the CEG, that is not that bad!

The teflon coating may be crap but if I understand correctly, I would be asking for trouble if I were to spray a cleaner down there! Is that true?
The dealer was saying that doing so may cause the movements inside to stick.

Stephen

I would be more worried about using a 'spray' to clean the MAF sensor.

The TB can and should be cleaned with throttle body cleaner

Speaking of different ways to measure air, lets not forget Mazdas genious VAF. :rolleyes:
Lets completely block the path of air with a spring loaded cone........

One more question on the MAF sensor,

I kept the wires on to it and just removed it from where it was mounted so that it could be cleaned. The question is, should I have reset the PCM?

Thanks in advance,

Stephen

TTT

i really don't think you should be taking apart this sensor or spraying it with any cleaner...I mean, wiht 65k miles on my car, the maf and sensor are clean...it's just the tb and plate that were dirty.

It was dirty so it got cleaned! :p I used what the dealership recommended to clean it with, I figure that they would know what is best to use when cleaning it.
I didn't actualy take it appart, I just pulled it out from where it was mounted.
It's cool that your MAF sensor is not dirty but my MAF sensor was filthy!

Stephen