Found the main reason these MAF's go bad

[VadersV6]

I dont even have 75 bucks for a new/used maf, and I barely made it to work this morning. 35 miles between 10mph and 50 takes a while. Kept having to pull over cause it was bucking so severely and wouldnt accelerate...Id jump out, pop the hood and smack the MAF with a screwdriver, and most of the time it would get me a few more miles. After pulling over the 8th time, I just unplugged it and it ran ok, but is gutless cause its in limp home mode. Theres a 4 mile, 6 degree grade I have to climb up on the 241, and by the time i was nearing the top, I was at 8psi and moving 30mph. Anyway, I got to work and popped it off, and snapped off the viewing lid, and it took about an hour just to get all the potting gel out with acetone and a horsehair brush and get a clean board to work with. Fortunately I caught a couple loose parts floating in the gel. One is a TINY IC chip with 6 leads about .001" in diameter. Im going to have to pull some serious magic with the microscope and solder some leads on and get it back on the board somehow. But the main issue is this. When Id squeeze the circuit board housing or tap it with a screwdriver, the engine would bog up and down. When I got this apart, 1 of the tiny hair sized leads that run from the main connector pin (from the car's wiring harness) to the board, had broken loose. They did a real crap job and I can see its easy for these tiny jumpers to burn up at the ends, and you end up with an intermittent connection. Unforunately, they used resistance welding to weld the lead ends on, and not solder. So thats another challenge to figure out. So basically, these tiny jumpers will burn up like a fuse if the line sees a surge. So if you have enough patience, its possible to fix the MAFs yourself....as long as that tiny IC chip doesnt fall off and you need an electron microscope to get it all back together, lol.
Now I just want to know how the AF reading on my scanmaster still works with it unplugged. I was always told that was the MAF reading...????????

 

[quickt]

Good info But you need to get out more LOL

 

[bison]

Good info But you need to get out more LOL

I agree.
The reading is probably the default reading based on several parameters. Its no longer measuring airflow but needs some number there to have the fuel/timing mapping work properly.

 

[boostingbuick]

Wow. Far too much work for me. I just bought a translator and meter. Now I can just go to a junk and grab a used meter to get me by. Those old meters were only good as gm units. Those aftermarket ones are so bad. Plus I would not solder just the leads, it would be everywhere.

 

[VadersV6]

I do this stuff at work. Its not like Im doing it at home, lol. I tried to fix it but the IC chip that fell off..I was unable to get it back on. So Im stranded at work and need to get a new MAf somewhere. I cant believe I sold my translator a couple months back for 90 bucks. Now my other maf dies and I cant use my LS1 maf. Figures. I have no money to my name and have no idea why. I dont buy anything for myself.

 

[TurboDave]

There's a minimum default reading in the MAF tables in the chip. I believe it to be "3".

 

[TurboBob]

the default reading is based mostly on TPS, with some other influences.

With the MAF unplugged, you can see the AF reading on the Scanmaster change as you press the throttle.

Bob