Rxxne237

Hi All,

I cleaned my MAF last night and drove to work this morning and the CEL came on! Went to Autozone and they said it was a P0037 (secondary oxygen sensor inadequate reading). Could I have caused this by cleaning my MAF? I'm having a hard time believing it's a coincidence.

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Not related. Assuming you cleaned the MAF with MAF cleaner and not something else.

Rxxne237

I used electrical contact cleaner. I know it's unlikely they're related BUT, what if now that my MAF is clean is measuring more air, the ECU is measuring a greater discrepancy between intake oxygen and exhaust oxygen converted by the catalytic converter due to a failing o2 sensor, and the threshold to throw a CEL has been crossed?

wannawankel

9k is right - only use MAF cleaner to clean MAF sensors. Contact cleaner is mainly difluoroethane and n-hexane/isop alcohol. MAF cleaner is mostly hexanes with some hydrocarbons and CO2 propellant. completely different recipes - leading me to suspect that the contact cleaner changed the surface of the MAF by solubilizing some of the resin on the probe.

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Yep, what he said, . But seriously, I have heard of people ruining MAF sensors before by cleaning it with different solutions other than MAF cleaner.

tgaffner

I concur

Rxxne237

You're kidding!! Oh jeez. Someone should update the "Congratulations, you got an 8." post then because in the DIY it references it says to use contact cleaner.
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tec...7/#post2927771

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Take much of what you read here with a grain of salt and do your homework before deciding who to take advice from. That "congratulations, you got an RX-8" thread is pretty useless and stupid IMO. Jon316G is pretty knowledgeable, but only MAF cleaner should be used to clean a MAF sensor.

That said, it could just be a coincidence that this code popped up after you cleaned the MAF.

Rxxne237

Ok thanks. Bearing in mind this new knowledge though, could there be any relation between these two incidents or is it just coincidental?

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

See my last post, I edited it while you were posting.