Mass air flow sensor cleaner vs electronic contact cleaner

[Dos_Box]

I have to clean my mass air flow sensor next week (sluggish acceleration) and many on the Lexus forums are saying that you should use a mass air flow sensor cleaner such as this:- Air Flow Sensor Cleaner: Amazon.co.uk: Car & Motorbike

However, some are also saying you can simply use electronic contact cleaner such as this from Maplin:- Contact Cleaner : Electronics Cleaners : Maplin Electronics which is £5 a can cheaper than the air flow cleaner. Looking at the specs of each, it seems they both do the same job but one has been labeled as a 'specialist' product and charged more for.

Thoughts?

[plexer]

Probably just carb cleaner anyway.

[synaesthesia]

^ *exactly* what it is. Use contact cleaner; even WD40 does a great job if you have nothing else to hand.

[reecec]

On the second from last question page:

 

Q: Would this be suitable for cleaning a Mass Air Flow sensor on a car?

 

Kevin - 17/12/2008

 

Maplin says: We can see no reason why not.

[Sirbendy]

Agreed. Nowt complex about a MAF sensor..

[Dos_Box]

Cool. I'll go to CPC on the way home (not far from my house) and get some electonic contact cleaner from them

[Gibbo]

Electrical contact cleaner will be fine. Do not use carb cleaner or WD40!

[Sirbendy]

Carb cleaner is quite vicious..I bought a can last wekeend to blast out the Astra's throttle body, and I'll probably do the Skoda while I'm at it..heh. Trying to start the Astra afterwards is always fun...clouds of smoke as it all burns off.

[plexer]

Seems to be a bit mixed with on web reults with it swinging toward not using carb cleaner on one and also some saying leaning it doesn't help:

 

MAF sensor cleaning

 

Ben

[Sirbendy]

To be fair, the only definitive way of telling would be to take before/after output readings and monitor it...

[Oaktech]

Electrical contact cleaner will be fine. Do not use carb cleaner or WD40!

 

 

 

what he said... carb cleaner and WD40 will leave deposits on the maf which will, likely as not, make it worse!

 

switch cleaner on the other hand is designed to leave no deposit.

[synaesthesia]

modern carb cleaner shouldn't leave any deposits - the old stuff used to and that was EVIL stuff, especially if you accidentally breathed it in :|

Forgot about that with WD40 though, however if you're wiping it off properly anyway it wont make much of a difference.

[Dos_Box]

Well, I stopped off at CPC on my way home, picked up a tin of contact cleaner, and cleaner blasted the sensor (that is a figure of speech BTW!). WOW! Has it ever made a difference. The acceleration has returned and I noticed a few more MPG's being shown on the computer when on cruise control.

[Gibbo]

It really is amazing how a bit of preventative maintenance improves performance or prevents issues creeping in. Sadly I think working on your car at the weekend is a lost art.

 

I know someone who had a very minor window leak, the result of a bad fit from a windscreen company coupled with a failure to clean the water channels - block with dirt and debris from parking under trees. But he never did anything about it and the leak meant over time water running onto his BSI unit, which eventually failed. So now he's ranting "Crappy Peugeots and their lousy electrics".

[Dos_Box]

I'm off to Leicester for the day tomorrow. It'll be interesting to note the improvements over a long journey.

As regards to preventative maintanance, I really think that Android apps like Torque Pro can once more put the emphesis on vehicle maintenace back in the hands of owners rather than garages if used correctly. Primariliy becuase only the garages has access to expensive fault finding and performance diagnostic hardware which was out of the reach of most people price wise if all they wanted one for was infrequent home use.

The readings and reports I've got from mine have not only saved me a fortune (about £400+ to date) and cross referanced with online foums and enthusiasts groups allow you fix and maintain you car far better than in the past decade.

You do, of course, have to have an idea about how to work on mechanics first though!

[Sirbendy]

Torque interests me, but in the absence of an android tablet I'll stick to my OPCOM/VAGCOM for the family vehicles...not quite as swish, but more useful with more functions. Agreed though, you do need a way of looking at the actual data flows to see anomalies. I often leave the netbook running a log when I take the Astra out so that I can review readings in excel later on. Things such as knock sensor retard values, cylinder timing changes and sensor/shift/pressure readouts are quite revealing.

[Gibbo]

I really think that Android apps like Torque Pro can once more put the emphesis on vehicle maintenace back in the hands of owners rather than garages if used correctly. Primariliy becuase only the garages has access to expensive fault finding and performance diagnostic hardware which was out of the reach of most people price wise if all they wanted one for was infrequent home use.

 

Absolutely. I do lots of diagnostics for people who are happy to get and install the parts themselves. I recommend Euro Car Parts but only because I use them myself, but there's no expensive diagnostic cost nor pressure from the garage for them to supply and fit the parts.