how to clean Mass airflow

[kelso44]

I have a 2000 tundra, and I am trying to figure out how to clean the mass air flow correctly. I understand that you have to be gentle with it, but when I talked with the service guy at my local dealer he said specifically, 'don't clean it' and he was serious! he said it would ruin it. I think he is being a bit overprotective - what suggestions do you have?

thanks!
kelso44
www.ScuffAwayPainter.com

[keninsb]

Kelso44 you are going to get some differing opinions on this no doubt. I cleaned my MAF using CRC electrical contact cleaner and Q-Tips. I was VERY careful with it and basically barely touched the wires with the swabs. I let the contact cleaner do most of the work. It worked fine.
You may want to check out these threads too:
CEL on now did I mess up the MAF sensor?

Engine knock/ping on '02 4.7L, any ideas?

Hope this helps.

Ken

[fastone01]

Same here but I just use regular carburator cleaner. Just be careful touching with the cotton swab the 3 wires. Spray with whatever you use alot.

Originally Posted by keninsb

Kelso44 you are going to get some differing opinions on this no doubt. I cleaned my MAF using CRC electrical contact cleaner and Q-Tips. I was VERY careful with it and basically barely touched the wires with the swabs. I let the contact cleaner do most of the work. It worked fine.
You may want to check out these threads too:
CEL on now did I mess up the MAF sensor?

Engine knock/ping on '02 4.7L, any ideas?

Hope this helps.

Ken

[Picasso]

My truck was having some drivability issues and I decided to clean the MAF sensor to see if it would help.

I used a very soft model paint brush dipped in 70% Isopropyl alcohol and gently brushed all three wire elements in the MAF sensor. This worked very well. The dirt on the wires was slight but visible which became more apparent after the cleaning.

The improvement that this made was very noticable. Idle is now almost completely smooth. Responsiveness and low end torque is significantly improved. The increasing exhaust growl that was occurring at around 2200 rpm has returned to the level that existed when the truck was new.

A few months back, I replaced the air filter and discovered a couple of days later that I hadn't reseated the top of the air filter housing correctly. The truck ran horribly. Before discovering the problem, I drove a few hundred miles. After reseating the cover correctly, engine performance improved but didn't return to the same level. This was most likely the result of the unfiltered air flowing through the MAF sensor.

If you're having engine performance issues, you may want to check the air filter housing and the MAF sensor, especially if you've just done something to the intake system like I did. It's amazing how sensitive the air handling is on our engines.