i installed a k&n filter shortly after purchasing my Z. it seemed to be running fine but i took it into the dealer to get some warranty work done, and they said my maf was a little dirty because of the oiled gause filter that i was using. but they also wanted $750 to do my brakes that were only at about 50% and said it was a must do issue! so i took the maf issue with a grain of salt. well i recently added an ati procharger kit and it uses a k&n filter (or equivalent) for filtration. well putting on the new filter it had a chance to suck in a little more oil from the freshly oiled filter. i started to have idling issues with it but just figured it was because i added the ati and had done no tuning plus added larger injectors. well the problem got worse and actually so bad the car would die if taching down from high rpm's. i figured i would give it a shot and pull out the maf and shoot some carb cleaner down through it to clean it out. well after doing so, the car runs almost perfect now with a rock solid idle, and my a/f gauge is now reading more towards a 14.7-1 ratio (used to read rich) and gained a hugely noticable amount of power just from doing the simple cleaning. i just used an off the shelf aerosol carb cleaner, but make sure to let the cleaner fully evaporate before assembly.
so if anyone is having some weird issues going on this might help you out. i'm not looking for opinions on this (but sure they will come up) just sharing what i had run into. this maf cleaning will now become part of my regular maintenance routine.

 

I did the same. Noticed the maf was a little dirty and so cleaned it with 99% Isopropyl alcohol. (just filled a plastic bag with alcohol, imerged maf and shaked it).

 

hey i see your running the ati procharger with the 12 psi pulley, just wondering if you have had the bottom end built up...i know this is off topic but im very curious to see how its running...have u gotten it dyno'd yet? info info

Thanks,
Ben Y
AAM

 

no dyno yet. i am in the process of pricing out the greddy e-manage, forged pistons-rods, and a return fuel system too right now. so far with alot of searching i am up to $3300, which is a price i can't pass on!!
i don't drive the car too hard and only seen 11psi once or twice, but no problems yet. has been on for about 1.5 months now. but i am creating lots more boost at low rpm so i don't need to drive it too hard to get'er moving quickly.
i plan on putting on the e-manage first and tune it in just to see if it will hold up under full boost with 12psi to see what it will push. should be pretty high #'s i'm guessing. when the bottom end is swapped, i plan to hit 20-22 psi, and show up some of the turbo guys that think supercharging is not the way to go. i do like the smooth power band of superchargers though.

 

What's for dinner.... "Shake N'Bake MAF"

 

Good tip...............

 

Interesting. I didn't realize MAFs were so rugged. I was always under the impression they were very sensitive, and cleaning them the way you guys have cleaned them could ruin them. Good to hear you had success with your methods and didn't ruin the things!

 

uh, i did bust the wire on the maf on my vette by cleaning it with a brush. so hence the aerosol can. hahahha

 

I wouldn't poke the maf with anything

that's why I use the bag tactic. 99% isopropyl alcohol is completely harmless to electronic components and evaporates almost intantly leaving no residues...

MAF came out cleaner than brand new

 

The MAF sensor is in the pipe directly behind popcharger right? I know you guys are talking SC's but for me being NA, i just wanted to make sure i'm on the same page. I've been having some rough idling issues as well and thought this might help. If i were to just get an aerosol can of isopropyl alcohol and spray it on the MAF this will work??? How much do u use?

 

brake cleaner workalso or only carb cleaner? i have both autozone brand aresol cans... juss wondering

 

i personally just used the carb cleaner. i don't think it is as aggressive as brake clean, but not sure. just spray a liberal amount down through the maf. you will see once you open it up how it is set up. just besure to let it dry completely before powering it up again.

 

Correct, the MAF sensor is right after the filter. That's why folks who over-oil their filters often have problems getting some oil residue on the sensor, which affects its ability to do its job. Rather than finding an aerosol can of alcohol, you might just do the plastic-bag method described above. Or any other method that submerges the MAF in the alcohol. The MAF sensor is installed in the little MAF tube that is bolted to the airbox. You can actually remove the sensor itself from that tube, which will make cleaning much easier and likely more thorough than if you try to spray alcohol into that tube.

Like was mentioned above, be sure not to poke or prod the MAF sensor itself (so you don't break the little sensor wire(s)), and be sure to let it dry 100% before plugging it back in. The nice thing about alcohol is that it will evaporate very quickly, so drying time should be pretty short.

 

so 99% isopropyl alcohol is safe for sure?? i'm in the middle of cleaning my filter and re-oiling it...... i should clean the maf too using th shake 'n bake method described above eh?

kind of paranoid here.

 

Ditto. I'd like to know also. I just cleaned/re-oiled my popcharger yesterday (to get the blue back) after 2200 miles and it didn't dawn on me to check my MAF.