Free Mod: Modify your maf!

[instylz]

Heres something from another site on this :

The Mass Airflow Sensor can't get an accurate reading without the screen.
This is because the screen is used to smooth out the turbulant air in
being pulled into the engine. If the screen is removed, sure there is
suddenly less of a restriction... BUT, the computer can not measure this
accurately. In fact, if you noticed the numbers above, the MAF sensor
was sending erratic and LOWER numbers to the PCM.
Removing the screen will do nothing for your performance in a 3800 seriesII v6.
The lower MAF input and erratic readings make the computer think it's getting less incoming air than it actually is. That will do you no good. It clearly affected the idle quality in an adverse way. It did nothing for throttle response OR gas mileage. So... In my opinion, this mod is a waste of time and energy.

That said, hardly any of you knew the correct answer so maybe you shouldn't have bashed the guy. Yes, its been proven it actually decreases mpg and hp but theres no need to call the guy a 'ricer'. You people are being pathetic. Instead of bashing people on the board maybe you should point them in the right direction.

excellent post! I agree some people should think before they voice thier opinions in a negative way.

 

[Brian MP5T]

 

[shaolin]

^^^hahah butthead's head keeps twitching...it's not a tumahhh...

 

[Notorious]

this has got to be the most ghetto mod i ever heard of

 

[Mach 3.5 Turbo]

Well sheeeeit people, back off a little bit. This is all that KY posted, maybe you all should read it again:

On everyones MAF sensor there is a little black plastic honeycomb that you can remove. Not sure if there are any real gains to be made, but it slides right out and will probably improve flow.
Gcotton tried it today and said he thinks theres a difference, but who knows.

Shouldnt hurt anything either. Enjoy!

In my book, that doesn't make him a ricer or anything like it. Hell, mine was in cock-eyed when I put my cold-air-intake in, so I took it out. I still get 30-32 mpg consistently, and I idle fine. I certainly didn't feel any power increase, but who cares? I just didn't like the looks of the damn thing. If any of you have taken fluid mechanics you might realize that air doesn't "straighten out" as it goes through the waffle like many of you have claimed. It's not play-doh, it's air. You're not going to extrude a column through the waffle and have it perfectly waft past the MAF sensor, it's just going to get turbulent again on the other side if it even was before the screen. There's a plain and simple explanation for the thing being there:


When you get your air filter changed, you have to take the "lid" off of your air cleaner. At this point, you can see straight into the MAF. Most people wouldn't stick s*** in there, but some might. Therefore, to protect us from ourselves, they put a little waffle in there so we can't jam screwdrivers and toothbrushes into the hotwire. Since I'm not a complete moron and I can change my own air filter, I went ahead and took it out. Did it hurt anything? Probably not. Did it help anything? Probably not. Just quit busting people's balls for trying to get a little information out.

 

[KyRaceFan]

Well sheeeeit people, back off a little bit. This is all that KY posted, maybe you all should read it again:


In my book, that doesn't make him a ricer or anything like it. Hell, mine was in cock-eyed when I put my cold-air-intake in, so I took it out. I still get 30-32 mpg consistently, and I idle fine. I certainly didn't feel any power increase, but who cares? I just didn't like the looks of the damn thing. If any of you have taken fluid mechanics you might realize that air doesn't "straighten out" as it goes through the waffle like many of you have claimed. It's not play-doh, it's air. You're not going to extrude a column through the waffle and have it perfectly waft past the MAF sensor, it's just going to get turbulent again on the other side if it even was before the screen. There's a plain and simple explanation for the thing being there:


When you get your air filter changed, you have to take the "lid" off of your air cleaner. At this point, you can see straight into the MAF. Most people wouldn't stick s*** in there, but some might. Therefore, to protect us from ourselves, they put a little waffle in there so we can't jam screwdrivers and toothbrushes into the hotwire. Since I'm not a complete moron and I can change my own air filter, I went ahead and took it out. Did it hurt anything? Probably not. Did it help anything? Probably not. Just quit busting people's balls for trying to get a little information out.

Thanks. (yippy)

 

[DiscreetSpeed]

Well sheeeeit people, back off a little bit. This is all that KY posted, maybe you all should read it again:


In my book, that doesn't make him a ricer or anything like it. Hell, mine was in cock-eyed when I put my cold-air-intake in, so I took it out. I still get 30-32 mpg consistently, and I idle fine. I certainly didn't feel any power increase, but who cares? I just didn't like the looks of the damn thing. If any of you have taken fluid mechanics you might realize that air doesn't "straighten out" as it goes through the waffle like many of you have claimed. It's not play-doh, it's air. You're not going to extrude a column through the waffle and have it perfectly waft past the MAF sensor, it's just going to get turbulent again on the other side if it even was before the screen. There's a plain and simple explanation for the thing being there:


When you get your air filter changed, you have to take the "lid" off of your air cleaner. At this point, you can see straight into the MAF. Most people wouldn't stick s*** in there, but some might. Therefore, to protect us from ourselves, they put a little waffle in there so we can't jam screwdrivers and toothbrushes into the hotwire. Since I'm not a complete moron and I can change my own air filter, I went ahead and took it out. Did it hurt anything? Probably not. Did it help anything? Probably not. Just quit busting people's balls for trying to get a little information out.

lol i took mine out(thumb)..................yaaaah im a ricer (yippy)

 

[Brian MP5T]

The point of the "Waffle" is to protect the sensor from balistic dammage. So ******* leave it in as it makes no performace improvements.

 

[Black Molly]

I know this is a old thread but I thought the same thing and did some research here on this matter. As for you need a waffle to even out air flow I consider that BS. I have a 02 Harley truck and it DOES not have a waffle. In fact look at many after market MAFS and they do not have a waffles. Does anyone have Dyno sheets one way or the other and not all this, welll I assume it does this or that?

 

[livelyjay]

The point of the "Waffle" is to protect the sensor from balistic dammage. So ******* leave it in as it makes no performace improvements.

He is correct, even though he doesn't spell too well. The first function is to protect the MAF sensor, as it's replacement is over $200 from the dealership. The second, and most debated function, is what it does to the airflow. This was discussed mightily on the Lancer forums and it was believed that the waffle creates a type of vortex inside the MAF so it gets a more accurate reading. Weather that is :bs: or not doesn't really matter, because removing it DOES NOTHING.

 

[fr0st]

The point of the "Waffle" is to protect the sensor from balistic dammage. So please don't leave it in as it makes a little bit more throttle response and works very well.

there,

fixed it for ya.(spank)

 

[Black Molly]

I really do not see how it does nothing. The one thing that we all lust after is more air to go in and more air to go out so we can go faster and faster. Any type of restriction is going to cause less air to go in thus less HP. Is my thinking faulty? If so we do they have bigger MAFS? As for protection that is why we have air filters. Once again on my truck there is no waffle and it works just fine and I have not had to replace it. Someone has to have a g-tech or dyno sheet to prove this matter one way or the other. I am not saying that it will or will not for sure make more HP, less HP, or NO HP change. I just want proof one way or the other or nothing. ANYONE?

 

[fr0st]

mine is off and will remain that way.. the car is better.. it doesnt take out 3 seconds on the quarter mile, but its alot better..

this can be confirmed by other users as well

 

[2.0t03speed]

yep i took mine out and instantly noticed the car ran smoother combined with my dsm afc i have no hesitation at all

 

[crashkelly]

I really do not see how it does nothing. The one thing that we all lust after is more air to go in and more air to go out so we can go faster and faster. Any type of restriction is going to cause less air to go in thus less HP. Is my thinking faulty? If so we do they have bigger MAFS? As for protection that is why we have air filters. Once again on my truck there is no waffle and it works just fine and I have not had to replace it. Someone has to have a g-tech or dyno sheet to prove this matter one way or the other. I am not saying that it will or will not for sure make more HP, less HP, or NO HP change. I just want proof one way or the other or nothing. ANYONE?

um yeah your filter might save you from things outside the car getting into the pipe and then shooting into your turbo( or throttle body if you dont have a turbo) but what about if something breaks in your filter...some jackass mechanic had my intake off the car and closed the hood on it and it crushed a plastic piece that held my filters shape...I was really glad the maf waffle was in because it stopped all the small plastic fragments from shooting into my turbo and completely destroying it...


the same thing could very easily happen in a car crash...front end damage causes your airbox or intake filter to rip off leaving the maf and a pipe...with no waffle broken s*** will gladly get sucked in their....

Point being IT IS THERE FOR A REASON!!! You will get NO gains from removing it, you are better off relocating for better more even flow(thats what I did)

 

[Mach 3.5 Turbo]

I really do not see how it does nothing. The one thing that we all lust after is more air to go in and more air to go out so we can go faster and faster. Any type of restriction is going to cause less air to go in thus less HP. Is my thinking faulty? If so we do they have bigger MAFS? As for protection that is why we have air filters. Once again on my truck there is no waffle and it works just fine and I have not had to replace it. Someone has to have a g-tech or dyno sheet to prove this matter one way or the other. I am not saying that it will or will not for sure make more HP, less HP, or NO HP change. I just want proof one way or the other or nothing. ANYONE?

Yes, removing a restriction from the intake tract will make an improvement. In much the same way that getting a haircut makes you run faster, removing the waffle will increase your overall intake efficiency. It's just so small a gain that you'll never notice. I'd be willing to bet that cleaning the trash out of your backseat or driving with less gas in the tank would both make more noticable improvements. However, I did take mine out just because I thought it looked stupid and because I was hoping for that miraculous 3 second quarter mile gain from a simple mod.

Since I wrote the comment above (what, 2 years ago now?), I've graduated and now I work as a powertrain engineer for a major auto company (not telling who). Trust me, the waffle is there to keep idiots from sticking stuff into the MAF that doesn't belong there. If someone or someone's mechanic is stupid enough to do something that causes shrapnel flying through the intake tract, then I guess the waffle does help you. I'm not going to assume that this kind of thing will ever happen to me since I do my own work and am confident in it.

 

[Black Molly]

okay so what I am reading now is it may give you 1-3 HP MAYBE but there is a risk just like any other mod. Has anyone had negative effects that are documented?

 

[_Sloteg_]

Ok,last month I removed this baffle gimmick to see what would happen or if anything at all would happen.Well I did this without my wife seeing me touch the car or me telling her a word about it....So, later on that night we got into the car to go to the store I started the car and the first thing I noticed was that the idle was smoother but,I still didn't say a word to her about doing anything to the car or the better idle well, while we're on our way to the store she say's.....

"Did you do somthing new to the car?"

me:"No why?"

Her:"it seems like you changed your spark plugs or somthing, the Idle is not as rough as it was and the car isn't bucking that bad today"


I was floored that she noticed this without me saying anything to her!

All and all,did I gain any HP? I don't really care it has smoothed out the idle a bit and made this thing a bit more driveable for me and thats more then, I expected out of doing this so, it's staying out!

 

[JaredB]

Just go and buy a MAF cleaner at Advanced Auto parts. If you clean it every time you clean or change your air filter it will continue to read cleaner air and not get caked with dirt and crap in the air when it flows through the intake. I just did this for the FIRST time yesterday (because i just found out about it) and loved it.

Can you back these claims up with some data? Its got to be there for a REASON. they dont just engineer a honeycomb pattern for nothing...

 

[jeffmsp]

just use a multimeter to see if you even making differences in readings on the maf. takes 5 mins.