MAF question?

must be the time of the year for everyones MAF to go bad. had to bring my GF to Marshfield clinic (hospital) about 40 miles away from my house today. took the GT...stopped at "The Store" for gas (which i NEVER do) and filled it up with 93 octane. car ran fine all the way there...all of a sudden on the way back the car was spitting and spuddering, no SES light though...so i figured it was bad gas.

got into town and my car just died at a stop light...finally got it to start again but had to keep my foot on the gas cuz it wouldnt idle SES light was also on after car died. thats when i thought for sure it was a MAF. stopped at auto zone...had the code pulled, and sure enough P0102 MAF circuit low input.

so i was going to buy some MAF cleaner...however i do not have the tools to get the sensor out since GM used torx bits on everything, so i just unplugged the MAF thinking that would fix it for the time being.

now the car just does the same thing!? MAF is unplugged but everytime i stop at a light or anything the car just wants to die. any ideas??

can someone tell me what size torx bit it is to remove the MAF? I'm either gonna have to buy one...or else see if one of the parts stores will rent it out or somethin.

Pretty confident the MAF itself has had a stroke .. cleaning it isn't going to remedy the problem. It's the cheapest option as a trial, but inevitably a replacement will most likely be in order. I'm also pretty confident as I replaced my own a few months back that GM used T-15 tamper-proof torx screws to retain it. Mine demonstrated the same characteristics while unplugged .. PCM used default values as compensation for lack of MAF input which would allow it to run, albeit poorly, and would generally wanna stall coming to stops .. however it didn't give me the buck/lunge/jerk while driving at speed, nor did it crap out and load up which were some of the symptoms of my MAF failure. Most of the time it would be 'normal' .. then on a whim it would start loading up, chugging sooty black rich exhaust, then pack up and puke right in the middle of the road.

quick question for Tim if he see's this. did you get the 72mm TB, or the N* TB for your GTP? MAF my cost is around $165 and i really thought about just getting the TB like you did for the extra money.

I'm seriously considering tearing the top end off the SE and throwing it on the GT. i see on ZZP that the 72mm TB no longer comes with the MAF...and the N* requires PCM programming. I'm at a loss here :confused:

Most L36 and L67 SII 3800 engine GM cars that I've worked on for the MAF sensor used a Torx T20 tamper proof (security) bit for the two retaining screws.

I have the stage 1 ported zzp t-body. I have no clue on the size. Sucks they no longer a MAF to go with it. I dont even see a place where they are selling them anymore.

I think you may be OK running a N* without programming, but I am not sure. Problem is with the N*, if the SC inlet isn't opened up, it is overkill and quite spendy.

I have the stage 1 ported zzp t-body. I have no clue on the size.

Tim, the size of the throttle body or MAF screws? :tongue:

Last time I checked my ZZP Stage 1 TB was 72mm and the MAF screws are definitely Torx T20 TP. :lol:

Oops sorry Bob. I thought he meant the size of the t-body bore. I think ZZP did away with the tamper proof screws and made it an allen screw instead.

i got to thinking about why in the world ZZP doesnt offer the MAF with the TB's anymore...and i think i came up with a legitimate reason. The TB has a core...so when you return the core it would come with the MAF that was in your TB. of course for the price they arent going to put a new MAF in...so the MAF in your TB Tim is probably reman? thats the only logical explination i could think of.

anyways...i just ended up getting a Delco MAF from the local GM dealer yesterday for $190.00. car runs great once again.