1987 2.4L. What is this little guy inside the air filter housing and what does it do? Also, is MAF sensor cleaner good to clean the throttle body with?
As far as the cleaning fluids go... carb cleaner is generally not the same as MAF sensor cleaner. Carb cleaners are high-strength solvents, often made with chemicals like acetone and methanol. MAF cleaners are generally made with stuff like isohexane. They're both flammable, but one of them is better at cleaning carbon build-up, and the other is safe(r) for electronics.
Well, I cleaned the MAF sensor with CRC MAF cleaner, let it dry for a reasonable time. Also in the process used the same spray on the inside of the MAF port (where the little sensors go into the body) and with a Qtip wiped out some gunk. As it was drying I took some time to clean some gunk off of the throttle body near the mounting gasket.
I put it all back together and now the engine will fire up as usual, but stall out and die unless I feather the accelerator. What did I do wrong? Is it possible that I did not let the MAF air dry long enough? Did I create a leak after cleaning the 32 year old gunk around a sealed area?
Are you sure everything was 100% dry before you started it? A puddle of MAF cleaner sitting in your intake manifold (even a small puddle) can cause similar issues.
Worst case, I'd think if you were digging around inside the MAF port with a Qtip (where those small wire sensors are) while the sensor was installed, it's possible you damaged the MAF sensor itself (if those sensing wires are bent, damaged, or broken, the sensor must be replaced). Visually inspect the MAF sensor to make sure the sensing wires are still in good condition.
Most times though, this sort of thing is usually caused by failing to reinstall everything correctly. Make sure you didn't forget any vac lines, clamps, etc, and that everything went back in it's place correctly. Go back over all the seals and make sure nothing is leaking. Run a smoke down test on the intake as a last resort.
MAFs are one of the few things you hold in a way you can't touch the filiments, hose it down gently, and set it aside someplace it will be safe so it can dry out. repeat as needed till you're sure its clean.
they're pretty close to as sensitive as oxygen sensors. sharp impacts and drops or getting in there and poking the bits will ruin them in most cases. housings are usually fine to clean out, but if its integrated, you're better off just hosing everything down with spray cleaner.
and always with the part out of the vehicle, just in case.
That would be your intake air temperature sensor.
As far as the cleaning fluids go... carb cleaner is generally not the same as MAF sensor cleaner. Carb cleaners are high-strength solvents, often made with chemicals like acetone and methanol. MAF cleaners are generally made with stuff like isohexane. They're both flammable, but one of them is better at cleaning carbon build-up, and the other is safe(r) for electronics.
Well, I cleaned the MAF sensor with CRC MAF cleaner, let it dry for a reasonable time. Also in the process used the same spray on the inside of the MAF port (where the little sensors go into the body) and with a Qtip wiped out some gunk. As it was drying I took some time to clean some gunk off of the throttle body near the mounting gasket.
I put it all back together and now the engine will fire up as usual, but stall out and die unless I feather the accelerator. What did I do wrong? Is it possible that I did not let the MAF air dry long enough? Did I create a leak after cleaning the 32 year old gunk around a sealed area?
Are you sure everything was 100% dry before you started it? A puddle of MAF cleaner sitting in your intake manifold (even a small puddle) can cause similar issues.
Worst case, I'd think if you were digging around inside the MAF port with a Qtip (where those small wire sensors are) while the sensor was installed, it's possible you damaged the MAF sensor itself (if those sensing wires are bent, damaged, or broken, the sensor must be replaced). Visually inspect the MAF sensor to make sure the sensing wires are still in good condition.
Most times though, this sort of thing is usually caused by failing to reinstall everything correctly. Make sure you didn't forget any vac lines, clamps, etc, and that everything went back in it's place correctly. Go back over all the seals and make sure nothing is leaking. Run a smoke down test on the intake as a last resort.
adding to this;
MAFs are one of the few things you hold in a way you can't touch the filiments, hose it down gently, and set it aside someplace it will be safe so it can dry out. repeat as needed till you're sure its clean.
they're pretty close to as sensitive as oxygen sensors. sharp impacts and drops or getting in there and poking the bits will ruin them in most cases. housings are usually fine to clean out, but if its integrated, you're better off just hosing everything down with spray cleaner.
and always with the part out of the vehicle, just in case.