Maf Translator to buy or borrow

[highboost]

hey guys, im chasing a problem and i think it may be my translator, does anybody have a good used i can buy or borrow to confirm? i dont want to spend $200 on a new 1 and have it not be it....
out of 3 different mafs, the original that came with the car, the reman i bought and 1 i took off a friends running lt1 trans am i get 3 different readings......so i feel faily confident this is it but after all the money i have dumped into this car trying to fix it, not that confident lol.
im in the wichita area if somebody local has a loner for an hour or 2 also

thanks in advance!

 

[TurboBob]

a failure in the translator is a rare occurrance, so lets look at things first.

when you say readings, what are you referring to, what are the actual readings?

when the MAF signal stops, its sometimes hard to tell, because the ECM switches to its backup calculation which is based on the TPS. You can tell this is happening by looking at the MAF signal on a scantool with the engine off and pressing the accelerator, if the MAF reading climbs, the ECM is not getting a MAF signal.

Let me know

Bob

 

[highboost]

a failure in the translator is a rare occurrance, so lets look at things first.

when you say readings, what are you referring to, what are the actual readings?

when the MAF signal stops, its sometimes hard to tell, because the ECM switches to its backup calculation which is based on the TPS. You can tell this is happening by looking at the MAF signal on a scantool with the engine off and pressing the accelerator, if the MAF reading climbs, the ECM is not getting a MAF signal.

Let me know

Bob

The car sits key on engine off, at 5grams per second with 1 MAF , another is 10gps and the know good 1 we pulled off a perfectly running trans am is at 6, non of them go above 200gps air flow. Using scan master and power logger.
We have spoke of the problems I was having in a different thread I thought they were resolved but they just quit for a while....I'm to the point of gasoline and matches lol

I know you have told me my o2 readings at idle don't make much difference but I know it is because it's the indicator to when the car starts running poorly. O2 levels normally stay at 775+ but they start dropping to zero and everywhere in between and the car instantly runs like crap! It pops through the exhaust off idle and when idling it shakes pretty badly.
Things I have replaced are the mafs as mentioned, few different O2 sensors currently using a denso, pcm twice, had Eric burn a new chip, crank sensor, 3 different delco coil packs and modules, plugs, wires fuel pump, rebuilt the accufab fpr, intake gaskets, replaced all vacuum lines, replaces the 3 prong oil pressure sender pigtail as it was melted, tps sensor, iac......I'm at a loss.....

But all 3 mafs give different readings but the reman I bought and the 1 off the trans am both work fine on the trans am....

 

[highboost]

Also when I opened the lid to the translator there was some corrosion from what appears getting wet

 

[TurboBob]

maf reading with the engine off is not really predictable, but idle should be. the exact O2 reading at idle is not that important, but its behavior is. heading towards 0 (lean) is not right.

what are the settings in the translator, and how corroded...? there may be hidden corrosion or other damage that is not visible though.

Perhaps post some pics?

Erics chips switch to open loop idle after a keycycle or so, if the idle airflow is not consistent the chip will not compensate.

what are the block learns doing at idle and cruise?

Bob

 

[highboost]

The translator is set to 3" now with switches set to Eric's instructions for the chip. I have also tried the 3.5" setting as well, but I was told by full throttle speed to set it at 3" MAF even thought it's a 3.5" lt1 maf.
The corrosion was on the red and black solder connection on the board, I took some deoxit to it to clean it up some, also the board mounting screws inside are corroded. The previous owner had it mounted pretty low and appears to have been wet, he also only had 1 screw partially holding it in place, but it was not secure......
The Blms are 118 at normal idle and around 124 at cruise but when it acts up they go to around 105.
I also forgot to mention I took the injectors to a guy locally and had them cleaned flowed and checked over well. He said they were all good and a flow matched set as well.
I can normally get about 20 minutes of run time out of it before it starts acting up.
When it's not running right the motor lacks power and the turbo seems to spool alot more just for normal driving.
I would post power logger files but for some reason it will not record anything.
I do have a cell video at idle of it if it will help any though.

Thanks for your help Bob!

 

[highboost]

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The pink and black wire on the left we're the corroded ones between the 2 and the corrosion was linking the 2 together

And here are the screws that mount the board

 

[highboost]

Also if this helps any, the car has a ta49 turbo, 42.5# injectors, 3.5" lt1 MAF, 3" thdp, accufab fpr, had Alky but it's disconnected, racetronix 255lph pump, and turbo tweak chip. All stock internaled 70k motor

This is the car
http://www.turbobuick.com/threads/1987-gunmetal-gray-t-type.440723/page-5#post-3734136

 

[TurboBob]

make sure there is no corrosion on the bottom of the board, but it doesn't look that bad. Show me a pic of the MAFs.

Do you have a fuel pressuure gauge? The wierd shifting of the fueling is wierd. Maybe take the MAF adjustments and spin them around a few times in
case the switches have gotten funky with age.

I can check the unit on the bench here if you need.

Bob

 

[highboost]

my rail mounted guage reads 43 line off and about 37 line on. i will test that switch thing and let you know.
the bottom of the board is clean. also something to note when it starts acting up you can smell raw fuel from the exhaust so it seems the pcm is trying to compensate for the initial lean condition.
here is the video i took of the power logger. notice the timing advance and int goes down to 100 when i bring it off idle too....

 

[highboost]

top is the used of the trans am bottom is the reman unit, the 3rd i had to turn in as a core
openings measure 3.5" across

left is off TA right is the reman

[/IMG]

 

[TurboBob]

id be interested in seeing PL logs comparing normal idle vs bad idle. I want to compare all the data, its tough with a video.

to record hit the space bar while its monitoring, hit escape to stop, F3 S to save the file.

You should not need to run the switches set for the wrong MAF, any trouble codes? I can't see the top of the screen to see if there are any.

 

[highboost]

no trouble codes, mike at fts said te translator did not recognize a 3.5" lt1 maf and i should run it at 3" setting, hence why i switched it. so i will switch it back.
now ervery time i tried to save PL files it only saves about 1 second for some reason.
i will get the car out tomorrow and drive it and try to record it again and post them for you to review. i will drive it long enough to get it to mess up so you can see the difference.

thank you again very much for taking the time to help me out with this! i would love to be able to take the wife out cruising in the car....lol i have owned it since feb and have not been able to enjoy it yet

keith

 

[TurboBob]

the 3.5" LT1 is within a couple % of the Aluminum LS1 MAF, so they can be interchanged (both the sensors, and the settings)

low 20's for ignition timing at idle is probably not too far off. I'm not sure what Eric's chips idle at, mine are around 25.

when you change the setting, reset your ECM, then see where things go.

 

[highboost]

i couldnt get them to replay, maybe you can....1st is while it was running pretty decent, 2nd it all went to hell

 

[highboost]

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