Well, recently i have been trying to get someone to swap MAF's with me, but there are no garaged/wrecked 8 owners willing to swap, so i did the next best thing, I cleaned the MAF. I removed the MAF from its location, and whiped the brown bulb down with a mildly damp napkin, all this black shit came off of it. When i relpaced the MAF and started the car, idle was as smooth as ever! Stayed at 850 and didnt budge! Normally, my idle varies from 700-1100, but now its solid! Will see if this effects MPG, but i doubt it. Anyone with some insight on this? Good/bad idea?

get a better filter you dirty young troll...

I clean them with a good carb cleaner and they seem to smooth right out.

Brown bulb you see is the IAT sensor.. :o

I clean them with a good carb cleaner and they seem to smooth right out.

Brown bulb you see is the IAT sensor.. :o

yea...i told his ass to use some brake cleaner. should've known if he was so smart...

yea...i told his ass to use some brake cleaner. should've known if he was so smart...


He's not a tech Dan, like you and I.

Lets give him a little slack this time? :p

He's not a tech Dan, like you and I.

Lets give him a little slack this time? :p

just this once...he called me OLD MAN.

just this once...he called me OLD MAN.


Ouch..never mind that last post.

Lets flame him!

i heard he's got this weird fetish for shoving dead rodents up inside his dash.

i heard he's got this weird fetish for shoving dead rodents up inside his dash.


Maybe he can soak them in brake/carb cleaner and floss his IAT before the dash trick?

I will harass you both when i get back from class....

TrollGuy, you missed the most important part......

The brown thermistor is only the temperature element. The real 'dirty work' is done by the wire sensor. You probably didn't see it - you have to look up inside the MAF.

Oil on THIS wire is the cause of wrong mixtures.

S

I recall Dan posting about the MR2 forums replacing the MAF..

I wonder if they share a common ground/duel feedback for the IAT/MAF as the Rx8?

Hey Snap-on,Sorry this is off the thread , Are you a Mazda Tech ? I have only one dealership here , ONE tech that isn't worth a damn . I have a ringing noise between 2500 rpm till about 5000 rpm . It alarmed me , so I took it , had the tech ride with me . Of course , he heard "nothing" but said he would check it out . He thought is was "pinging". I've always ran V-Power Shell , even added octane booster , and it still does it . Any ammo you can give me to go back to them with?

It's probably the SSV opening and closing...kinda sounds like a hisssrattle???. It is normal for the motor. Around 3.8-4.5K

No, it sounds like metal rings banging against each other , put it this way , with the windows up and the radio on at a mild level , you can hear it ...it use to only do it under a load ,today , letting off the throttle , I was coasting when it got to 3000 rpms it made the noise . So , I tried it in netural , and it made the noise ..below 3000 rpm doesn't do it , above 5000 rpms it doesn't do it . With the windows done and driving next to a car it is loud . I've thought about recording it and sending it to Mazda . Sorry , I can't beleive it would be normal . Sorta sounds like a high pitch tambourine spinning .

Why do these sound similar?

...Around 3.8-4.5K...

...below 3000 rpm doesn't do it , above 5000 rpms it doesn't do it...

:eek:

maybe a faulty bearing in one of the pulleys?? i don't know the Renesis motor enough to tell you the exact and specific parts. but if the Renesis motor does have an idler pulley or a self-tensioning pulley, it could very well make sounds like you're describing.

There's an idler on the AC belt, I believe.

Back to the MAF... I have a can of the old chlorinated brake cleaner lying around. Now, I know it will knock holes in the ozone layer and all that, but just as a hypothetical, is it safe to use on the MAF? The housing looks like it's pretty solvent-resistant (nylon maybe?), but I don't want to melt it by accident.

Could someone post a pic of what we are reading about here for the uneducated? I can't seem to clear the cobwebs these days...working 15 hour days and non-stop at that is driving me in the ground.

Could someone post a pic of what we are reading about here for the uneducated? I can't seem to clear the cobwebs these days...working 15 hour days and non-stop at that is driving me in the ground.


I have the manuals here but no scanner.. :(

Basically we are discussing what Abbid thought was the MAF (mass air flow) sensor. When you look into the sensor (mounted in the intake tube by two screws) you see a small brown bulb. This is the IAT (intake air temp) sensor.

The MAF wire is hidden inside the sensor and uses a feedback to the PCM based on the feed voltage and the amount of resistance in the wire. As the wire cools it has a difference in ohms and the PCM can detect the amount of air based on the reading in the wire.

How's this

Thanks K.

First he says it's ring, then he says it's banging.

He doesn't know what he is talking about.

A ring is close to a whistle, if that is what he is talkig about then it's a normal noise.

Now back to the MAF. Don't oil your air filter too much.

Thanks K.

My pleasure.

Some have posted here to use brake cleaner - I thought you said carb cleaner. Aren't they different? Or are they the same solvents. I'll go read the cans... :o

My pleasure.

Some have posted here to use brake cleaner - I thought you said carb cleaner. Aren't they different? Or are they the same solvents. I'll go read the cans... :o


I use carb cleaner.

Any type of cleaner that will disolve the oil on the sensor and evaporate quickly will suffice.

With compressed air at my disposal I gently shoot air into the sensor to speed the process.

The off-topic rattle might be the cat shield. Mine did it too sometime ago, I just pushed it around a little and it stoped.
As for the MAF, I agree. After I had my oil shot in the air intake, the car ran like crap (CEL and whatnot) until I cleaned that sensor. And indeed, mounted in the upper part are 2 tinny electronic components (look along the "tube") that are the "heart" of the device (not the brown bulb one, though you should clean that one too).

Anyone know if the MAF is an expensive part? Even though it’s not in the maintenance schedule maybe replacing the MAF every 30,000 miles would not be a bad thing?

MAF sensors usually cost over 100 bucks.

i guess investing in an oil catch can might actually be worth it. how much blow by do these rotaries produce? apparently a significant amt...

I would also like to add that you can use alcohol and a q-tip to clean the MAF or you can go to an Advance auto parts store and get this small can of electrical cleaner which I use that is mostly alcohol based and it will make them wires look so shiney and silvery when clean. I posted in another thread the name of this product and the website, you will just have to search for it if you are interested.

Maf P/n

L321-13-215 (same as Mz6 and mz3)

Someone find out from Tommy what he sells them for..

Hmm just checked mine.. (car is an early production model w/ almost 17k miles) The MAF has absolutly no oil on it.. took a q-tip and some rubbing alcohol and no dirt oil came off of it.

What are you guys doing to cause all of the blow back anyway?!

makes the 8 a bit more responsive

http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=42701
http://www.rx8club.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=31809

Hmm just checked mine.. (car is an early production model w/ almost 17k miles) The MAF has absolutly no oil on it.. took a q-tip and some rubbing alcohol and no dirt oil came off of it.

What are you guys doing to cause all of the blow back anyway?!
Some owners have noticed oil in their intakes and on their air filters. Some or all of this was apparently the result of the clods at the port spraying oil into the intake to allow them to start a flooded car. There are some threads on this topic so if you're really interested, do a search and read the posts.

Oil got into my intake do to a small leak in one on the oil cooler lines, seemed to get sucked right in when the VFAD opened.

http://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php?p=817954&postcount=4

( the seeds were left by a mouse FYI )

Thanks for the explaination and illustration! That is what I figured he was talking about, but I am having a rough go of things lately...too little sleep, hurt back (pain killers and muscle relaxers and still not a good night's sleep), 15 hour work days and way too little time to enjoy my car.

FIY: the "pink" side faces the engine - and this is where the oil came from! About 200 mL of it! You do not want to see how the MAF looked after that (or clean the airbox and the tube).... the CEL was blinking for 20 sec. due probably to poor AFR.....

Got an oil catch can installed now - but did not catch anything just yet :) Maybe in another 12000 miles........

Maf P/n

L321-13-215 (same as Mz6 and mz3)

Someone find out from Tommy what he sells them for..
He got back to me, not too much to spend every 40,000 miles.

$102.13 in stock.

Regards,

Tommy
Rosenthal Nissan Mazda
8525 Leesburg Pike
Vienna, Virginia 22182
1-888-450-3220 / 1-703-749-6451
www.finishlineperformance.com

Hmm just checked mine.. (car is an early production model w/ almost 17k miles) The MAF has absolutly no oil on it.. took a q-tip and some rubbing alcohol and no dirt oil came off of it.

What are you guys doing to cause all of the blow back anyway?!

Ditto (except I have 36K miles).

He got back to me, not too much to spend every 40,000 miles.

$102.13 in stock.

Regards,

Tommy
Rosenthal Nissan Mazda
8525 Leesburg Pike
Vienna, Virginia 22182
1-888-450-3220 / 1-703-749-6451
www.finishlineperformance.com

i wanna say mazdamart posted they have them for like $75 if you are really interested :D

Just checked my filter (build date of 6/04) and it has oil ALL on it too... I have had no issues with drivability, but will get a new filter and clean the MAF anyways in the morning. If any changes occur, I will let you know. In respects to the off topic whistle, my car
(now @ about 8k miles) has suddenly developed the low RPM whistle-most noticable in 3rd gear under light load around 3k. I believe this is a normal function of the intake or jet ports. Either way, I will have it checked during the next service. (BTW when he compared the sound to the banging of metal rings, I believe he was refering to the reverberation of the rings, not the initial clank-much like the sound of a tuning fork.)

Max, I took my car into the dealership here , they finally said yes there is a noise at 4800 rpm , they didn't know what was causing it and have a call into Mazda for help . I take back in tomorow . Hopefully they will find the noise . I hope to hell this isn't normal !

Maf P/n

L321-13-215 (same as Mz6 and mz3)

Someone find out from Tommy what he sells them for..


I wonder if this is still the original vendor part, or has Mazda changed its supplier. I just remember everyone saying early on, that all MAF's were not created equal. (Part of the reason for all the Dynos being different.) If this part is of a newer make?, maybe the QC was controlled on it better than before. Just a thought. It might be a good recommended spare part to have...

Max , today the dealership finally found out what the ringing noise was! The trans vibration dapner shield mounting bolts where loose causing the noise . Noise is all gone now . Might get it checked , it took them 3 days to find it . Snap-On thanks for the input , I told them it might be the idler arm , and all of a sudden they took me serious and agreed the ringing noise wasn't normal after all , So thanks !

Thanks, I'll give them some suggestion about your experience when I take it in-it is rather annoying. Cleaning my MAF didn't change much, but it looked clean to begin with anyways.

For an update, i have NOT been able to go below 220 MPT no matter how spirited i drive. Im averaging 230-250 MPT now. This has definately helped my situation a bit.

Hey that's a good idea Nemisis.

I'd like to se someone DYNO their car with the current MAF and then with a new one installed.

There are many threads about cleaning the MAF. As I just did (1. soapy water, 2. rubbing alcohol, 3. carb cleaner, 4. blow compressed air to dry) I took also a picture so that everybody knows what we need to clean - not the temp sensor looking like a brown bulb but the two little things inside - see the yellow circle in the pic. Do not stick anything in there as you will damage those tinny things... only solvents go there :)