Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting best way to clean MAF?

I'm hoping this is why my car is running so funny. (rpm's surge at idle) but how do you clean the MAF without breaking it? I've heard carb cleaner? or Q-tip w\something on it? Thank you in advance for any help.

It is probably best to not clean the MAF unless you can see some contamination baked on it. If you feel you must try, use electronic parts cleaner spray. It must be something that does not leave any residue. Don't take the MAF apart to get to it. You should be able to see the nicad wire by removing the MAF with it's housing from the intake duct.

If you suspect the MAF, try cleaning the connections first. You can often clean it suffeciently by disconnecting and then reconnecting it about a half a dozen times.

You should also check for vacuum leaks as well as clean the throttle body and idle air control.

  I cleaned my MAF a while back, and although there was no visible contamination on it before, cleaning it solved a persistent P0171 problem I was having.  I cleaned the MAF according to a simple procedure I'd read somewhere in this forum.

  All you have to do, once you've removed the MAF, is to first spray it real good inside with ordinary carburetor cleaner.  You can see the two wires when you look in the front end of the MAF; that's where you spray.

  Afterward, you spray it again, this time with non-residue brake cleaner.  This is to get rid of the residue left by the carburetor cleaner.

  That done, you simply reinstall your MAF, and see if it helped.  It might solve your problem, or it might not.  In any event, it's a simple and cheap enough procedure that it's well worth trying, before you try anything more difficult or more expen$ive.