MAF cleaning

[ptf18]

Have 2 '02 Fords. One is S/T and the other is my Ranger Edge. Both vehicles have around 210k on the meter.

I was looking at ways to increase MPG with both vehicles...that another story...and thought I'd try cleaning the MAFs as I never have (owned the cars since new).

I removed the MAF in my Ranger. Sprayed the sensor wires with MAF cleaner and "assumed" I was GTG.

Not so fast grasshopper. I got out my 10x magnifying glass and examined the wires. The elements (wires) were FIRMLY encrusted with a blackish colored film. At first I thought is was some type of "insulation" but additional spraying of the cleaner revealed a shiny, silver, bare wire.

I reinstalled the MAF and upon start up the Ranger "seemed" to idle "better". Will have to take it out for a drive. Hopefully I'll notice some type of difference.

Kind of surprised this "cleaning" is not mentioned in the owners maintenance manual.

 

[boominXplorer]

They definitely need to be cleaned at some point but most of the time people clean them trying to fix a problem. I recently had a 2013 f150 5.0 that sounded like a box of rocks under the hood when accelerating, popped the hood and noticed the airbox wasn't clipped down all the way. Part of a sunflower seed had made it into the sensor and threw everything off.