The Mass Air Flow (MAF) Sensor is used to measure the amount of combustion air flowing into the engine. The vehicles engine controller then adjusts the fuel injectors to get the correct air/fuel mixture.
If the sensor is dirty, it will send the wrong information to the computer, robbing you of power and economy.
My Mirada is 15 years old and it has a little over 70,000 miles on it. I suspect the sensor has never been cleaned, so I bought a can of MAF sensor cleaner and put this on my project list.
Getting at the sensor is fairly easy, If you have a new air filter, now’s a good time to replace it also.
Remove the top of the air filter chamber, you’ll need to remove the rubber intake hose from the top of the chamber.
You can probably clean the sensor without removing the inside of the chamber or disconnecting the plug, but I decided to remove it so I could have a better look.
Use a can of MAF sensor cleaner and squirt the two wires shown in the photo. Squirt them from both directions to make sure they are good and clean and no residue or dirt remains. Thats it. Put it all back together, install a new air filter, and your good.
