I'm looking for a Maf screen. Anyone know where I could find one, or know how to make one like the original one?

 

My best guess would be a junkyard... go after the Camaros, because the Firebirds have the elbow glued onto the end- makes it hard to get a nice straight shot at the screen. If you have a set of picks, you should be able to pry the plastic retainer loose without cracking it. I doubt the yard would even know what the screen was for (if you left the MAF on the car and just took the screen to the counter)!

 

dunno if yours is the same size.. but check out ones for an SN95 Mustang (94-2004)

 

Why in the world do you want the screens???? Are you making the worlds largest Huka????? The screens are only a restriction to your airflow. if you are wanting to use your old MAF for a core, you can put the unit in the return box sideways and they will probably never look. I've done it twice (albeit I glued the screens back in one before I took it down there......)

If you think your MAF is bad, spray it with electrical contact cleaner and try it again. You'd be surprised at what that will do for one. Especially if you are running reusable air filters that require oiling........ You can get the cleaner at the auto parts store.

:werd:

 

maf screens straighten the air so that it reads correctly..

 

Bingo!


There are no thirdgens in the local junkyard, surpisingly. I guess I could try the Stang ones.

 

Captain C, FYI the V6 MAFs are NOT hot-wire MAFs. They share virtually no operational characteristics with the V8 MAFs. They *need* the screens to read correctly. On a v8, sure. The screens may die. V6? After going through hell with my car with the screen off and finally finding out how the MAF operates, I'm fairly certain it was running lean as hell.

As for making one? I don't even want to ponder what it would take to get the original honeycomb style... sounds like it's time for a junkyard roadtrip.

 

Thanks for the info on the V-6 MAF's!!!! I have never even looked at one before....

Third-Gens in my area are next to impossible to find in the junk yard too. See if you can find a guy with a V-8 and talk him out of his screens (If they are the same size)

 

I actually pulled the screen from my MAF and the car threw an error code. It's a shame, because that screen is a restriction you can actually test! (Take screen out, blow on your hand. Then hold the screen above your hand, and blow thru the screen onto your hand again. Much less air.)

Captain, in case you're curious about our MAF's, we have a flat orange "frequency film" that vibrates when air passes over it. Low frequency = low air speed, High frequency= high airflow. If the film gets warped/bent/creased, the MAF is junk. It's an easy visual test for a bad MAF if no code is getting thrown. We also don't have a burn-off relay, the MAF is a 3-wire connector (not 5), and they're made by AC/Delco (not Bosch).

Are they the same size as a v8? What's the inside diameter of our MAF's... it's 2.5 inches, isn't it? (Or is it 2 inches? I forget.. haha)

 

The V-8 ones are 3 inch but due to the junk inside only flow like a 2.5 inch. Port the MAF and it will idle erratically and make you go lean an the most inopportune time...... They have a thick film version out now that is suppossed to be really good. I bought one and the car ran like garbage, violent surging problem. Turns out it was coincidental with another problem.....

I'm looking into conveting to a MAP sensor to eliminate the airflow restrictions. I'm investigaing wiring harness issues for the conversion. I donwloaded everything I can think of from this site and links to others......

 

About the elec contact cleaner trick.... where do we spray it? I don't have the dough at the moment for a new MAF and the only option is... (gulp!) eBay...

 

Don't think that'll work on V6 MAFs.. that's a hot-wire maf trick.

 

Why go new? Just go after a junkyard one; give it the visual inspection (frequency film must be perfectly flat, no ripples/bends/creases/etc) and give it a shot. Heck it's so easy to change that maybe you can talk the yard owner into letting you bring it back after you try it in the parking lot!

 

depends on your V6

Also, on the 3800's w/the angled tb's (like mine) they do run wrong w/o the screen in.

Just measured our MAF opening, it is 3" across. 3800 is bigger, so if youcaint find a third gen, there are other possible donors

 

TomP, I don't know about where you live, but have you been outside lately (not to be sarcastic)? It's like below zero here right now and it don't get much warmer than that during the day... And the snow on the ground and cars, and the fact that our Chevy don't get much in the way of heat, means I ain't going anywhere until at least April. My local junkyard had a couple of MAF's, I believe, but they were no good (rusting electrics and other damage)...

Oh, and to clear up the opening size issue, the openings on the ends may be 3", but the MAF is shaped like a carb throat and decreases in size towards the hot wire assembly and then gets big again to concentrate all of the air in the middle of the unit so it can be measured.... (venturi principle, I believe...)

 

yup, but devianb is looking for the screen, not neccessarily the MAF itself.

 

Well, I need the whole thing. And if I could get the car to the junkyard, I wouldn't be here talking about it (no reg or ins and not running)...

 

well,...........I'm gonna have some parts left over from the sale of the 3.4. Let me finalize the goodies that stay, and hose that will go to the "Acert Frost Beige Power" project

 

I had taken my Maf screen out in the first place because it was fairly beaten and broken. I have been without one since 2000. I Haven't had any codes from not having it.

Does it matter what style of screen it is? I mean does it have to be the honeycomb style, or can it be like a grid style, etc?

 

LOL, yep, I'm one state below you (says so under my picture to the left). In fact, because of this f'ing cold weather, my dashboard cracked right down the middle yesterday night. I got into the car Saturday morning, and saw 4 huge cracks. I'm still cursing... I always thought it was heat that cracked dashboards.

 

The sun leaches all the plasticizers out of it then the cold cracks it.

I have well oiled my dash. That black magic oily stuff. In the summer I spray it on thick over a a few days till the bottle is gone. leaving it thick and goopy as the sun bakes it in. I also do that to my bra to keep it soft.

Same reason you should use silicons spray on your tires [and only silicon spray] the sun leaches it out and dry rotes your tires.

 

Teh hot cold thing is quite a mystery to me. The cold contracts the road, right? I believe most ashphalt compunds have some rubber in them so they have some sort of thermal expansion/cracking resistance to them. But, come spring, all the roads around here that were re-paved the year before look just like the ones that weren't and some are worse.

I saw something in an older kids' science encyclopedia I used to have: What do you expect to happen when you tie a coffee mug to a cut rubber band that is supported so that it allows the cup to hang off of the ground, when you hold a candle near it? You expect it to expand, right, just like the air in the sky? On the contrary, the opposite happens. The rubber band contracts, pulling the cup up towards the table or support mechanism. That is the part I don't understand.. Why is rubber the exact opposite of the air and everything else in this world?

That explains why the dash cracks when it is cold out. The vinyl on the top is trying to contract at the same time the foam rubber underlayment is trying to expand...

At least I think I got the above right... I have not seen that book in forever...

Oh, and it wasn't the temp that cracked my dash pad.. I did on pure accident. I was removing it last year so I could put my new speakers in and I accidentally pinned it between the head rests of my seats... CRRAACCKK! It also looks like a mouse took a large bite out of it as well... Oh well, just another thing to replace...

Oh, and the heating trick I have used on my serp belt before. Just once, because after that is was stretched... I took it out of the cold garage and put it in a sink of hot water whiel I went and put my new alt in... then I put it under my shirt for another hour to make sure it was warm and then I installed it. It was tight, not so loose I could turn the alt by hand if I wanted to, like it was before I warmed it up.

 

I had the EXACT same thing happen last year in the cold and I was cursing a storm. It wasn't till this last Christmas I got a newer one without major cracks. I found out from a website it's hot and cold that damage our dashes. If you go to www.justdashes.com they can explain. From what I understand the foam under our dashes is what they call open cell which allows for expansion and contraction. It's this process which expands and pushes the vinyl out and pulls it back in that kills it. Their dashes that run about $400 plus you have to pay shipping to them and back use a better foam. They will rebuild the dash by hand and use a thicker new vinyl that is UV resistant. Classic Industries is now selling the reproduction dash but probably uses the same foam the GM pads did. I have about 3 cracked up dashes in my basement from various Ebay deals gone bad and refunded for and such. JustDashes told me they would give me $50 credit for each dash up to 3. However, when you think sending it to California where they are it's a slim discount but better than none.

So moral of the story if you can keep the heat or cold out your dash will last longer. So that means a garage and in the summer the use of a windshield sunscreen can help.

 

I was a little off about the foam expanding and contracting here is a better idea from the website I mentioned.


Q:
Why is a Just Dashes Restoration better then a good used or original (OEM) part?
A:
Just Dashes uses a closed cell high density polyethylene foam in combination with a thicker gauge (.045) vinyl that makes for a superior quality part, better then the original. It will withstand decades of harsh sun and blazing heat and will not crack. The reason being is that the new closed cell foam expands and contracts at the same rate as the new vinyl, which is formulated with modern day UV inhibitors. Original dash pad foam was porous and open cell causing it to expand and contract with temperature changes creating stress cracks when the surface of the vinyl skin became brittle.