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MAF screen...

Edmond

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 1, 2001
Messages
5,218
Location
Louisiana
Corvette
2003 Z06
Hello,

I have 2 MAF's and was considering cutting the screen off one of them to hopefully gain a few HP.

Will this do me any good in terms of performance?

I won't damage my vehicle in any way will I?
 
In theory, removing the screen will smooth out air flow, and raise HP.

If the MAF sensors have screens on the front and back, I'd remove the one off the back, but leave the one on the front. The filiments in the sensors are very delicate, and if anything at all slips by/around your air filter, and there is no front screen your MAF sensor is dead, and possibly more.

Jason
 
I agree, I removed the screen on the engine side of MAF some time ago. I hesitated to remove the entrance screen. They do indeed impede air flow and their is a slight gain with their removal. By itself it will be unnoticable, but if a number of minor mods are made they add up to significance.

In addition to removing the screen, I added; airfoil, underdrive pulley, K&N air filter, aftermarket high flow catalytic converter, DynoMax mufflers and good wires. Added altogether, the difference is noticable.

Good luck,
 
Like Edmond, I have a spare MAF so I pulled the screens off both ends. With that and the coolant bypass only, the car felt like it still had power higher up in the revs.
[RICHR]
 
So should I just remove the engine side or both sides of the screen?

I have an open lid and K&N up front.
 
Theres a Corvette superguy here in the city. He has like 6 C4's 3 of which he races at the track. He told me to remove BOTH screens as it will give you 18 Ft-Lbs at the wheels (Guess the Mod is substantial)

I asked him about the Cut out air lid. He said his racing C4's have them cut out and the screens removed, noticing a difference in power at around 20-30 Mph. (Air flow is moving then)

He did say as a caution:

RUN a K&N filter and look after it! makes sure all the cloth and wires are ok and to keep it very clean and oiled. If a particle of Chit makes it way into the MAF without a screen and nails the wire.....350 Bucks down the tube.

Im doing it! Even Granalti (Spell Checker) MAF sensors have them out.
 
BigRed said:
He did say as a caution:

RUN a K&N filter and look after it! makes sure all the cloth and wires are ok and to keep it very clean and oiled. If a particle of Chit makes it way into the MAF without a screen and nails the wire.....350 Bucks down the tube.

Im doing it! Even Granalti (Spell Checker) MAF sensors have them out.

BigRed,

Thanks for looking out for us! And thanks for the valuable information.

How should I go about getting the screens off?
 
TPIS, which sells MAFs minus the screens, lists the procedure in their book on SBC power tips. Essentially, when you're looking at the MAF you'll see a thin plastic ring with a seam just behind each end of the MAF. This ring is what holds on the screen. If you use a *very* sharp knife you can very carefully pry the ring away from the rest of the MAF (it's glued, but once you break it free in one spot it'll go easy). BTW - I'm not liable for any cuts, contusions, bruises, bruised egos, Eggos, crashed computers or any other disaster that this procedure may cause.

I've also heard of people using an Exacto knife and cutting every wire where the screen goes into the MAF housing. However, I'd think that unless you were careful you'd leave pieces of screen around the edges and that might block airflow (or worse come loose and get into the engine).

TPIS also suggests using a hacksaw to remove the cooling fins for the circuitry inside the MAF. These fins stick up from the bottom of the sensor, below the wires, and use the airflow to cool whatever is inside the bottom of the housing. They say that unless you live in a desert climate then you don't need that extra cooling capability and will pick up another 20+ CFM of airflow. Me, I left them, but it's something else to contemplate while you're in there.
[RICHR]
 
Rich,

Do you feel any gains on the lower end of the RPM's?
 
Not to bust anyone's bubble...but I did the maf screens and airfoil and open intake and did not see any real difference. But when I changed the chip for a hypertech stage 1...now there was a difference...
 
Eagle's right off the line theres NO gain here. Only at 30Mph up will the 18 ft-lb's show itself but at that speed thats not a "neck breaking" Mod.

But it is a Mod! LOL

The guy with the C4's said to simply cut it with a razor or a sharp knife flush with the plastic but if a guy wanted pull the MAF apart and do it properly.

JUST DON"T TOUCH THE WIRE!! Think of it as the Red button you don't want to push LOL
 
I took the gamble and removed both screens on my old 85, I lost the bet. It lasted about 2 weeks, and I was buying another 350 dollar MAF. If there is any pickup in horses it's not worth $350!
 
Edmond, what I noticed most was the feel at the high end. My particular engine would really run out of steam just below 5k RPM (even with K&N) but with the screens gone and the airfoil (I did them at the same time - for some reason I said coolant bypass in my earlier post but I meant airfoil) the car has power to maybe 5100 before it dies off. Putting on an open lid helped even more (did that later on).

With the open lid and K&N, the car SOUNDS better at the low end. I don't think the MAF screens did anything for off-the-line performance.
[RICHR]
 
MAF screens

Ok, the MAF on the L98 doens't really apply to the later OBDII style MAF rules. First- Cut the screens on both ends...all they do is prevent damage to the delicate hot wire inside, due to moronic owners who drive w/out air filters or dont keep them clean. That's the first step in performance for the Sensor, you can go even further and take a blade from a hack saw and cut the heat sink fins (that's the real gain). be careful and take your time. The lilttle wire within the small barrel is very delicate. make sure there isn't bugs and grime on it. I don't recomend modifying a factory MAF from the OBD II systems from GM, b/c it destroys Calibration....and you will LOSE HP! THE HONEY COMB SCREENS ACTUALLY SMOOTH FLOW OUT AND GIVE A BETTER READING FOR A PERFECT A/F RATIO!!!! This mod is for the 85-90 corvettes. (or equalivialnt MAF style)
 
Vrotate said:
I took the gamble and removed both screens on my old 85, I lost the bet. It lasted about 2 weeks, and I was buying another 350 dollar MAF. If there is any pickup in horses it's not worth $350!

How did that happen? Did something get through the filter and into the engine?
 
The little "sensitive wire" everyone is talking about is true, get something on that and the entire car will not run. The MAF goes through a "cleaning procedure" every start up. It burns all foriegn materials off of itself. That alone should tell everyone that it is extremely sensitive and delicate, the screen is on there for a reason... How much horses are you really going to loose with a little honeycomb screen! The risk is entirely too great. If it would give the car 15-20 horses then fine, but it doesn't...

Vrotate
 
Re: MAF screens

Fastvette1989 said:
First- Cut the screens on both ends...all they do is prevent damage to the delicate hot wire inside, due to moronic owners who drive w/out air filters or dont keep them clean. (or equalivialnt MAF style)

This is completely NOT true. The screens are there to straighten the airflow before passing over the wires for an accurate reading. It has been a carry-over engineering design, as it was used in the trucks, camaros, and other GM cars that have a long and curvy air induction design. Curves will cause the air to swirl or vortex. The screens help prevent this at the point of reading. However the corvette has a straighter air induction design, thus not really necessitating the screens (hence they are not found in the zo6's). The computer is designed to read the air with the screens in, but will learn to adjust later.
 

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