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-   -   DIY : Cleaning your MAF Sensor for Rs 120 (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-do-yourself/87939-diy-cleaning-your-maf-sensor-rs-120-a.html)

The Mass Air flow Sensor sits between your air filter and intake manifold. It measures the density of the air and the flow and intake manifold. In a nutshell, it is a mesh thingy with wires on it. In its life, it will collect muck which escaped the filter, oil from those K&N's and corrode slowly due to the air.

Performance will deterioriate and you will find the car loses its edge, acts a little fuel starved especially when cold, inconsistent behaviour in different weather.

In the case of the Skoda, a new MAF is Rs 12000. In the UK, one can get remanufactured ones for about Rs 4000 on exchange for your own. But before you do that, consider cleaning your sensor yourself.

All you need is

1: 100ml of Iso Propel Alcohol - any chemist has this
2: A ziplock bag
3: Screwdriver
4: Damp cloth

First remove the sensor - it might involve removing the airfilter housing. Begin by removing the subassembly containing the filter.

In picture below - you will see the MAF sensor detached.





Remember one must never touch the mesh in case it disrupts anything.
Clean the housing with a damp cloth and get rid of most of the muck . Put the MAP sesnor into Ziplock and pour the alcohol into the mesh portion.

Seal bag and shake, then let it soak for 15 min. Pour the alcohol out and add a fresh batch again on the mesh and repeat.



Remove sensor and let it stand till most of the alcohol evaporates. Then refit.

Restart car -don't expect wonders until 10km later once the ECU realises that the MAF is hopefully more effective.

My Skoda has a gained a little torque and less stuttery during a cold start. note MAF sensors do eventually fade out. This only helps prolong the life

fantastic low cost solution ; it would be great to see more such solutions coming in on the Tech. Stuff forum.

Lot of low-cost DIY's coming from you!

You know that thing about 'necessity' and 'inventions' - reckon you should be thanking Skoda! :)

Fantastic Ajmat!

I can relate to this one!!! Folks in the USA can try this out in case they face this problem...

While in the USA, close to the vehicle registration renewal date, my Check Engine light came on. Now registration renewal requires the vehicle to clear the emissions test. At Autozone, the issue was diagnosed as a Mass Air Flow sensor issue. Cost of replacement - about 150$. I tried the easy way out first. Disconnected the battery, let the codes get reset. Took a 20 mile ride to make the engine 'learn' the current characteristics after polling each component. Bing! the light came one. Came back to Autozone hoping for something like a faulty tank lid. Nope - MAF again.

The guy suggested using a MAF cleaner spray (7$). I decided why not, if there is a possibility to save 150$. Bought that, removed the sensor and used the spray as indicated.

That done, took the car for a spin. No light after 25 miles - I dropped in at the first emission center. Vehicle cleared the test and I slept easy that night. Penny Saved is Penny Earned.

Ajmat, thanks for sharing such wonderful DIY. You have immense knowledge on the vRS and simple DIY that save time, money and also increasing the product life. Recommend you start a thread dedicated to such maintenance tips instead of separate threads. I see you have also started one on the sunroof drainage system. Just a thought that it would benefit all by having all such DIY solutions in one place.

Cheers,

Ajit - it will be great if you can merge the other thread (sun roof drain pipe) with this one or to any other thread which may actually help other skoda owners find solutions in a single thread. You can add tags (drain pipe, leak, MAF sensor, cleaning, etc) so that one can get link to that particular thread whi;e searching.

Now for the question: do all mpfi cars get this MAF sensor. if yes, does it sit in a similar location in a Palio?

So that's why you needed the IPA.

You know I should have done this on the Lancer as well. FE was going down and low rpm response had become pretty weak as well. i had the K&N so it definitely must have picked up extra dirt.

I actually bought a MAP cleaner spray. Sadly, US travel regulations means I canot carry it in my baggage and you do not mess around with the TSA folks

Viddy - what IFA ?

IPA is Iso-Propyl Alcohol.

By the way IPA is the perfect way to wipe down a car after a proper wash. It dries up the car and removes the static charge.

Excellent Idea Ajamt. Sorry to bounce your thread. Please PM me if it is irrelevant here

Have you come across how to clean O2 sensor. I have a blocked O2 sensor in my Palio and the Mechanic says it can be cleaned and the showroom people say that it must be replaced. Was just hoping if I can save abt 4.5K by cleaning this?

To add to what ajmat suggested, the MAF can look different on different vehicles as what Ajmat has cleaned is actually a SiMAF (Integrated Mass Airflow Sensor) which is the sensor and its mounting assembly. The sensor looks like this :



Behind the white shield are 2 filament wires and air flows thorough it for the sensor to detect. You should never touch these as that can damage the gap between them, not to say the sensor itself.

I would say that they do not require cleaning very often, the last time I checked in my Safari at around 30K, the wires were still shining with very little carbon on them.

You can even use a MAF cleaner or for that matter any electrical cleaner spray (like used by mobile shops). But don't clean it if its not required.

Would a dirty MAF result in a substantially decreased FE?

most definitely. I have seen decrease in FE and power drop in my remapped fabia. About 10-15% drop in FE. I have been using electric contact cleaner from Wurth India.

Thanks. Do you remove the MAF and do it as described here or directly spray on?

I always disconnect the MAF and clean it with the spray from both sides. let it dry for an hour than fix it. Cleaning is must every 10000kms.