GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

ok.. so I took out my MAF sensor a few weeks ago wondering why my idle was so bad..the sensor appeared to be... brown in color.. looking like a q tip.. would this be ok? or is it dirrty?

No, it should look like a piece of thin wire...if you have the "q tip" effect, might wanna clean it.

ROFL alright.. I thought so.. it didn't make sense at all.. I'll get some brake cleaner and wash it out

I just took out my MAF as well, it looks pretty brown as well. My engine light has finally got to me, and I've got no more power in my car. Does this mean I have to get a new MAF? Does anyone know the part number for it? And would I be able to buy it at a toyota dealership?

The brown Q-tip is part of the air temp sensor. It should be shiney when clean. The MAF bits are up the tube. I suspect that those with problems have oiled filters. Nothing like more and oily dirt to gum things up.

Quote, originally posted by CyBeRjUnKiE »I just took out my MAF as well, it looks pretty brown as well. My engine light has finally got to me, and I've got no more power in my car. Does this mean I have to get a new MAF? Does anyone know the part number for it? And would I be able to buy it at a toyota dealership?I forgot to disconnect the battey once when removing the MAF, and I fried it. I went to car-part.com and found a used one from an 03 corrolla. Used it was 50 bucks... the new ones were close o 200!!!When it was fried, the car went into safety mode, and would not let me rev past 3k. The new one has worked for me for over a year now .

Quote, originally posted by Faultline »I forgot to disconnect the battey once when removing the MAF, and I fried it. I went to car-part.com and found a used one from an 03 corrolla. Used it was 50 bucks... the new ones were close o 200!!!When it was fried, the car went into safety mode, and would not let me rev past 3k. The new one has worked for me for over a year now . Yeah, that was my mistake. But before I took it out anyways, my car was acting up really weird. The car was gettin no power and Engine light started flashing, then it would stay on. After that when i drove some more, it would start to flash again. My sis thought it would have been the CAI, but after taking out the MAF I fried it putting it back on. Anyways, got a new one installed and everything seems to be okay hopefully. If I get problem again, I think I'll take off the CAI and install the original parts again and take it to the dealership to figure out what the hell happened.

The MAF sensor sounds fragile, or at least susceptible to death Has anyone written up a how-to on removal and cleaning? Sounds like it might be a useful maintenance thing to do, but right now I'm reluctant to mess with it for fear that I will kill it.

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »The MAF sensor sounds fragile, or at least susceptible to death Has anyone written up a how-to on removal and cleaning? Sounds like it might be a useful maintenance thing to do, but right now I'm reluctant to mess with it for fear that I will kill it. I am going to clean mine soon again , I havent tried with the new one. I used some electronic cleaning spray last time. My MAF is in a new location because of my turbo system. Mine is right befor the the throttlebody. It was pretty simple, just 2 screws to remove, then pull it out. I think there are some threads over on Spyderchat,. or newcelica , or Matrixowners that I will read through before I do it. The main thing is to make sure you either take out the right fuse, or disconnect the battery before doing it. I remember arcing the MAF with a spark from my screwdriver , and that is all it took. But like I said, I forgot to disconnect the battery.

Quote, originally posted by CyBeRjUnKiE »The car was gettin no power and Engine light started flashing, then it would stay on. After that when i drove some more, it would start to flash again.Interesting that a new MAF sensor fixed that...I was always told a flashing CEL indicated a misfire condition...Then again, if the engine is getting an erratic reading on the airflow, perhaps it's altering it's timing to accodomate for the erroneously reported airflow factor...I guess it does kinda make sense...Never mind. LOL!

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish »Interesting that a new MAF sensor fixed that...I was always told a flashing CEL indicated a misfire condition...Then again, if the engine is getting an erratic reading on the airflow, perhaps it's altering it's timing to accodomate for the erroneously reported airflow factor...I guess it does kinda make sense...Never mind. LOL!I just got a call from the dealership. Apparently, the problem wasn't caused by the MAF. The MAF I blew up myself, but the engine light was from something else. Apparently if you blow your MAF, you won't be able to rev up more than 3000RPM. So that eliminates the MAF since I was able to REV up more than 3000RPM until I blew it by trying to clean it. Anyways, after picking up my car yesterday with a brand new clutch, the car is back there again this morning. Apparently there was some crustation forming around the spark plugs. It was colored pink or a reddish color. I was told that the Head Gaskets was blown and that the reason for the crustation was the coolant leaked into the engine and got mixed with the oil. Therefore it blew the head gasket and the reason why I was having the crustation over the spark plugs. I know the crustation is true since I did see it before, it looked like foam insulation or something. Anyways, I hope this solves my problem. The car is now in the shop and will be there for several days, they said it'll cost over 3000 dollars to repair, thank God that I was still under warranty. I guess this explains why my coolant was lower would miraculously go down. My friend and I didn't find any leaks and I guess we know why. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping to get my car back in tip top shape. With as many warranty claims I've brought this car in, I think by the time I get it, it will be like new....hopefully.

hiya,when I did my SHort Ram install, I noticed the brown-ness of the thingie in on the MAF sensor. I honestly thought the whole brown drop (q-tip) looking thing was a drop of oil that shouldn't have been there. I looked around everywhere and didn't see any other dirt so I left it alone.But after reading this post, I thought I'd try cleaning mine. My idle, since putting in Royal Purple Oil was higher than usual for warm weather. It was idling close to 2K when it's normally 1.5-1.6K. I did recharge my air filter in late Feb so I thought it might help.Well, it so far has. My (cold) idle is back down to where it used to be. I don;t really know if this helped or if it was something else, but it seemed to have improved things a bit.Dave

How did you go about cleaning it.Jim

Hi Jim...I pretty much followed what was discussed here and at http://www.newcelica.org/. 1. disconnected the battery.2. unscrewed the 2 hex screws holding on the MAF from the intake tube. (be careful not to lose these)3. pulled the MAF out carefully. I left it plugged in so I put a plastic bag behind it to catch any over-spray.4. carefully spritzed some carb cleaner (was recommended to use a none residue brake cleaner but this stuff said it was safe for O2 sensors so I figured it was ok). didn't use a lot. just sprayed the plastic housing and the brown drop looking thingie.5. let it dry. Dries fast though. Give it no less than 10 minutes though.6. carefully put the MAF back in and secured it. Don't over-tighten the screws though! Just make is snug but not too tight.7. reconnect the battery ( then prayed that I didn't screw something up)That's about it. Simple thing to do really. Before cleaning, I would start the car and it would rev up past 2000 rpm then settle around 1800 rpm (cold). But now, and before the oil change and oil recharge on the intake filter, it revs up to 1800rpm and settles to 1500 rpm (cold).Dave