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Have you ever tried cleaning your MAF sensor ?


carloverguy2017
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Recently engaged a freelancer to clean my MAF and Throttle Body.. cleaned liao Check Engine Light ON!!

He said drive few days will clear by itself... drive drive drive no clear..

So send workshop to check.. fault found.. EVAP Valve Failure.. Zzzz.. related or not? I dunno..

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Unless your car is 1995 or before ........ Most cars these days are Thick Film sensor lor ...... it is SELF CLEANING one de.  My last Kia Carens 2006 built is already self cleaning lor.

And why fix it when it is no broken lor..

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What is the problem that makes you think about cleaning MAF sensor? As said above nowadays MAF sensors won't get fouled so easily. If your car is hunting for idle RPM it is much more likely to be a vacuum leak. Some vacuum leaks are small enough that they don't throw a code/check engine light.

Don't bother taking it out to clean unless you actually have a problem and are searching for a solution. Depending on design it can be quite fragile and easy to damage, or make dirty, when it is taken out and not handled carefully.

Edited by Calikura
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On 1/17/2020 at 8:43 PM, Ody_2004 said:

Recently engaged a freelancer to clean my MAF and Throttle Body.. cleaned liao Check Engine Light ON!!

He said drive few days will clear by itself... drive drive drive no clear..

So send workshop to check.. fault found.. EVAP Valve Failure.. Zzzz.. related or not? I dunno..

he probably accidentally knocked your EVAP hose loosen or something ?

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23 hours ago, Macrosszero said:

One school of thought says that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

On  the other hand I believe what Scotty says more than you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPfOyfQOYeo

Yes you are right. But I am not wrong either.
What the key note to take home from both our video is never use a CARB CLEANER.

A contact cleaner especially for electrical contacts don't leave residues once it evaporates. This is what is crucial to cleaning MAF sensor.
So you are right, as long you don't use inappropriate cleaners, you can clean them. But otherwise, if unsure, leave them alone.

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I can totally agree we don't need to clean them. But that's just maintenance.
I am old school and prefers to check my car as long as I am comfortable with and have some confidence that nothing I can foresee will fail.

Sometimes doing basic maintenance can help identify problem in future.
Actually when I took off the sensor, i notice that the O-ring has already cracked.

This is one advantage of checking before it fails.

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15 minutes ago, carloverguy2017 said:

I can totally agree we don't need to clean them. But that's just maintenance.
I am old school and prefers to check my car as long as I am comfortable with and have some confidence that nothing I can foresee will fail.

Sometimes doing basic maintenance can help identify problem in future.
Actually when I took off the sensor, i notice that the O-ring has already cracked.

This is one advantage of checking before it fails.

i second your thots. majority of drivers they only know how to drive but when it comes to maintenance they are lost. they leave it to workshop to decide what is best for them. workshop say pay $1000 they pay $1000.

A preventive maintenance is always a good practice. i too do maintenance on my ride.

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It is not mandatory to clean, but I did it anyway cos its easy and cheap. Bought a bottle of CRC MAF cleaner for the job as it seems to be what every online/youtube guide uses. Around S$25. Cheaper contact cleaner also can do it.

Car is 6 years/100k old and never cleaned the sensors before. I did the MAF and boost sensors as these 2 are easy and straight forward. I followed the guide from my car specific FB group. There are some others like boost solenoid, throttle body etc which are more complicated and may create problems so I did not do those.

Took around 5 minutes each, excl waiting for drying.

I did the MAF first. Subtle feeling of cleaner smoother engine. 

1 week later, did the boost sensor. Subtle improvement in the feel of the turbo boosting at lower level. Its like there was an inconsistent tiny leak in the boost somewhere before. Now that leak is mostly gone. Not all gone, just getting a more consistent torquey feeling at low end.

I emphasized that the effects are subtle. Maybe if your car is old and dirty enough you may get better results. But for the efforts and money spent, very worth doing it.

 

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Supercharged
On 1/17/2020 at 11:24 PM, Apple-Tree said:

Unless your car is 1995 or before ........ Most cars these days are Thick Film sensor lor ...... it is SELF CLEANING one de.  My last Kia Carens 2006 built is already self cleaning lor.

And why fix it when it is no broken lor..

that's what I understand too, the ECU will pass a current momentarily to the platinum wire to burn away the oil and dirt stuck on it every time when the engine is switch off 

i don't clean the air flow sensor of my cars,  current car 240,000km, previous car 270,000km, both idle swee swee, fc also stable like when it was new

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20 hours ago, Columbian78 said:

It is not mandatory to clean, but I did it anyway cos its easy and cheap. Bought a bottle of CRC MAF cleaner for the job as it seems to be what every online/youtube guide uses. Around S$25. Cheaper contact cleaner also can do it.

Car is 6 years/100k old and never cleaned the sensors before. I did the MAF and boost sensors as these 2 are easy and straight forward. I followed the guide from my car specific FB group. There are some others like boost solenoid, throttle body etc which are more complicated and may create problems so I did not do those.

Took around 5 minutes each, excl waiting for drying.

I did the MAF first. Subtle feeling of cleaner smoother engine. 

1 week later, did the boost sensor. Subtle improvement in the feel of the turbo boosting at lower level. Its like there was an inconsistent tiny leak in the boost somewhere before. Now that leak is mostly gone. Not all gone, just getting a more consistent torquey feeling at low end.

I emphasized that the effects are subtle. Maybe if your car is old and dirty enough you may get better results. But for the efforts and money spent, very worth doing it.

 

Aiya, want smooth Engine LIKE BRAND NEW, change PRE and POST O2 sensor lor.  LIKE BRAND NEW !! I change at 120~140kkm wor .....can't remember the exact mileage.....

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Twincharged
On 8/21/2020 at 7:59 PM, Apple-Tree said:

Aiya, want smooth Engine LIKE BRAND NEW, change PRE and POST O2 sensor lor.  LIKE BRAND NEW !! I change at 120~140kkm wor .....can't remember the exact mileage.....

It’s more of the pre that makes a diff. Post is just to check if your cats are functioning or not and just throw a check light if they aren’t. 

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2 hours ago, Mkl22 said:

It’s more of the pre that makes a diff. Post is just to check if your cats are functioning or not and just throw a check light if they aren’t. 

Because hor, O2 Sensor aging is characterized by delay response.  The qualifying lag between pre and post is only 15ms lor.  New Pre is faster compared with the now slower Post.....

Somemore mine is a NB 02sensors and it is cheap USD40++ ea ba (Original Kia from Korea).  Might well change 2 lor to prevent CEL from lighting up lor.....

 

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