Tib was running rough today. Felt like a bad plug. Threw a CEL before I brought it to the shop. I don't remember the exact code, but basically said that the MAF was failing. The guy at the shop thought that it might be having trouble reading the increased airflow from the I/H/E and suggested upgrading. Doesn't sound right to me. At least not the failing due to too much flow. I could see that the MAF could go bad, but from what I understand the stock MAF is good even with F.I. up to like 260hp. Any suggestions? Is it just a bad MAF and if so what would could cause it to fail?

 

The MAF can read that much air flow, I had a CEL a few weks ago, make sure to make all the clamps really tight that fixed mine, which had to do with a small leak in the intake or exhaust

 

The RD MAF's rarely go.
LC Accents,... that's a different story.

Anyway, yeah, the I/H/E WON'T make the Maf go.

Questions I have:
1. Did you mess with the MAF at all like take out the screen?
2. Is it plugged in correctly?
3. Is it pointing in the correct direction. You can see the arrow on the MAF, it should be pointing to the Intake Manifold.
4. Make sure all the connections are on correctly, including your IAT (The one that goes into the pipe of your CAI) and make sure it's not bent / broken.
5. What's the code,... maybe we can get a better idea.

And when was the last time you did plugs and wires?

 

Are you using a oil coated foam filter? If you over do it with the oil and the MAF gets covered in it it could wreck it.

 

good point on the filter.. could try cleaning it, if it is near death, you have nothing to lose. Just remember that usually all electronic parts are non-returnable.

Got a junkyard near you? As are MAFs are pretty reliable, might be worth trying one from a wreck.

 

I did just clean and oil the filter. I bet that's it. I had the plugs and wires checked out while it was at the shop. They are fine. As soon as I get a chance when I get back from my business trip next week I will check it out. Gone to Vegas. Thanks for the help guys!

 

Just an update and a warning for others. Finally got around to checking out the maf to see if it got mucked up. It was totally clean. But in the process of looking at the maf housing I noticed the grid that is before the sensor had two fins in the center that were slightly bent. I don't know when or how it happened. But I believe it was causing air turbulence and that the sensor was having trouble reading the air.
I was able to straighten out the fins which were directly level with the sensor. Tib runs smooth as butter under all conditions now. Who would of thought something so small would have such a big affect!

 

Glad you fixed it man, a LOT of folks take that screen out thinking they will get better airflow.

It does nothing but screw up your air readings.

 

The MAF's film reads a little bit of the incoming air and calculates for the larger remaining amount of air. So even a slightly off reading could cause a big screw up in the overall air calculations.