Aftermarket MAFs: reasons to avoid them

[1st6.0GTO]

OK thanks

[sickREDsierra]

thanks man. i still only have about $20K invested, with all the go fast goodies and accesories (including the total price of vehicle). i got a deal on everything i have purchased so far...my good friend works at a body shop, so he can "get" me parts...like that southern comfort bumper cover...he "got" it for me, then color matched it....all for $100. good friend to have! those escalade color matched handles.....$15
color matched mirrors...$15 billet grille insert...$30 so on and so forth. only thing i bought new was the cam...he took the valvesprings off a car like yours!

Well, its a great job, and a fantastic price. The only thing I'd change would be to color code the body molding. I need a new truck soon, have 192k on my S10, thinking of building one just like it. What kind of gas mileage you getting with it? Did that year come with a stick? I prefer shifting myself.

you may could have gotten a 5 speed with the 4.8 motor, but i think all 5.3 and up were a4... and i still get 19-20 on the highway, i usually average 18+ for all around driving, and its making a bit more power than it came with.

and i probably will paint that molding sometime soon, its an ongoing project....my six month old son comes first, then the house, then the truck.....so its always last priority. wait...his mom is last priority

[1st6.0GTO]

OH just wanted to post this link, found it via the LS Tech forum, about porting the stock MAF.
http://www.installuniversity.com/instal ... /index.htm
Click on install doc's then maf porting.

By removing the center divider how would that cause a problem. Just asking.
Also here is another article about porting the stock MAF.

http://www.installuniversity.com/instal ... /index.htm
click on tech articles and then maf, under eliminating KR.

[1badC6]

So for 2007 LS2 C6 Should I keep the screen or not???
thanks in advance
Mike

[06MonteSS]

as I replied in your other thread you started...

if it has a screen in it, keep it in there!!

that's what I meant by "keep your stock MAF, however it is..." meaning - however it is currently, keep it that way...

do not remove anything... you're only asking for trouble if you do...

[LostAngel]

As lew said, keep your MAF screen in. Don't change the MAF at all, some cars CAN benefit from it with a FEW horsepower...but nothing major at all (at least in all cases I've seen). Lew helped me tune my '07 C6, and didn't lead me wrong at all.

[zl1c5r]

SO DO I PUNCH OUT THE SCREEN THEN ON MY A4 2001 LS1 CAMARO ? 150 SHOT , HEADERS , AFTERMARKET MAF , SLP LOUND MOUTH , 373 GEARS , BUILT TRANS , IM NEW HERE JUST REGISTERED YESTERDAY , I AM GOING TO DITCH THE AFTER MARKET MAF , SO DO I PUNCH THE SCREEN OR NO , THANKS GUYS , YOU ARE ALL WAY OUT OF MY LEAGUE AS FAR AS INFO , IM JUST A LITTLE GUY WITH A TOY , BUT ILL TAKE ALL THE HP AND TRQ I CAN GET

[06MonteSS]

no... keep the stock MAF.... and keep the screen in it...

AND STOP YELLING AT ALL OF US....

[tomp]

MikeL and others,

Please help me understand...maybe you can email me or send me a PM and tell me which manufacturers use tricky methods in their MAFs? I have ran both the Granatelli and Volant (also made by Ganatelli) and both have produced very definite noticable improvements. Granted, I haven't had it dyno tuned either way, but I know for a fact that performance is much better than with stock GM MAF!!!

How can we state here, that these MAFs dont improve air flow, when the entire center bracket on them is opened up and there is addiotional sensor in this opened-up area that is totally blocked by the OEM MAF?

I am running the DS Predator tune and if these MAFs skewed my VE, then why do I get positive gains when using them?

I have been modding engines for 25 years and no an improvement when it's there. Not that it matters much, but I train Harley techs on fuelie tuning on the HDs - I just only have done bikes but very familiar with the processes involved.

Thanks guys and I look forward to your reponses...

[mikel]

Pretty much any non stock GM style MAF is using a 'curve' that does not match the factory software very well.
This is in an effort to lean the engine out.
The problem, as has been explained here, is that after applying a canned performance tune like the one in the Predator, you run the risk of being too lean as the tunes are based on the stock MAF output, not the tweaked output being produced by the aftermarket MAF.
So, in order to get the most out of these somewhat overpriced MAFs means youd have to have the car custom tuned with a wideband to dial it in, which is overkill on a most stock applications.

Thanks

[jah81592]

James, you stated a lot of what i already said, perhaps you needed to read a little bit more of what i wrote before you opened up. BTW, you need to get a little more help from ranger to help out your driver mod.... I'm only a .5 second behind you in the quarter, with no wot afr dial in yet, with an 06 ls2. I'm not impressed at all with your tuning or driving and since neither of those are that great, I'll pass on your opinon as well.

Man, you are tough.

I dont think he was stating anything in particular towards you, so you shouldn't take it so personally.
Here we have a very experienced tuner, who has likely tuned over 1000 different cars, kindly taking his time to explain his personal first hand knowledge of the GM MAF system,and you rip him for it?

I dont know man.....

FWIW, pretty much EVERY tuner in the GM world would agree with the things he says, in any case except a SD tune, but if you know a better way, then by all means....

I support James with his statements. The stock GM maf is hard to beat.

mike...seriously...if someone was THAT great and knowledgable about tuning, whether it be him (jsk06c6) or anyone else, they really wouldnt fool around with a handheld in the first place. this is a great "safe" tool for the novice, but you must agree that when the serious mods begin, the DS is beyond its capability, and people step up to mail order PCM's or a full tuning suite..

I agree, the predator is a great first tool. This spring I'll move up to hptuners and a wideband, but I'm just a novice, and I did a lot of reading and chatting, and found out how good a tool diablosport has come up with and wanted to play around with it while I learned enough to dip into something that is much more dangerous to use if you dont know what your doing. To be honest, I would have liked to stay with the predator if a CMR single license was available.

I know I get heated at times, but only after getting attacked... There are a lot of opinions out there, I seem to stick with the opinion of people actually driving the cars they work on, that are making the numbers to back up what they say. In this discussion on aftermarket MAF's, I've talked to people making great times with their cars and what they think (you have plenty of time waiting int he staging lines), and when the numbers are there, all I can do is take their word for it.

With the right tuning software, you can take ANY MAF from ANY vehicle and make it work, but that doesn't mean you will get the optimum performance from it. When I have the right software, will I use an aftermarket MAF, no actually, I'll change my current setup and use a MAF and modify the intake from a C6 ZO6, to accept the halltech filter I current use because its a better setup than the aftermarket MAF and C6 Z06 intake.

So, in retro spect, the aftermarket MAF I was thinking of using was better than what I currently have, but not as good as the better OEM unit I can use with the right software. So I was right, and I was wrong. The important thing is, I learned and changed my opinion of using ONLY an aftermarket MAF with the setup I am going to use.

If you contact a custom tuner your Diablo handheld will support all the mods you can throw at the vehicle. The only benefit going to HP tuners would be being able to tune the car yourself. One interesting thing is once the limits of the stock meter have been met I have used custom curved meters which work well. These definately require tuning as the car will not start and run. Before I get slammed I only recommend these meters on higher hp cars which have exceeded the limits of the stock meter (blower cars are usually around the 525-550hp level), otherwise I recommend using the stock meter.

[mikel]

LOL, glad this came up again guys....heres a dyno from my buddies 00 Vette, made 786 rwhp, pump gas, through a stock 85 mm GM MAF at 12 psi....nothing to it....
(people should worry more about running out of fuel system capacity rather than what MAF is on the car!)

[trickedsierra]

I removed the screen on the MAFs on my 2003 GMC Sierra 4.8L Will this hurt my truck i just bought a predator for it but haven put it on yet ???

[SikNastGoat]

Your MAF can only take in as much air as your throttle body, therefore it would be useless to have a larger MAF than your throttle body. I dont know what the size on yours is but on my ls1 the throttle body is 75mm and the MAF is 75mm. Removing the screen helps throttle response but you can't notice a power difference. maybe 5hp at the fly.

[Hiperfart]

Kind of funny hearing all sides here. I have modified factory mafs and removed the obstructive core and screen from the center while recalibrating the fuel trims correctly i have found that the mod adds an additional 15-30 whp over just a custom tune. I have seen back to back consistency on my dynapack dyno. we have installed somewhere near 70 of these modified meters and only one was an issue since the hot wire was damaged during the mod process. By the way i have only seen 1-2 whp by removing just the screen. I have used these meters on stock to 500 NA wheel hp. and no problems. I would however not recommend doing this on a blown application it causes to many issues for the average tuner to deal with but i have successfully made them work with extensive tuning. So there you have it 70x it worked for me