Wants to die upon startup and big loss of power on highway

I call it a wire because that is what it is. A MAF is technically called a Component if you want to get all technical.

 

Well, he's cleaned it with that special cleaner 2 or 3 times, and it's running somewhat better than it was yesterday, he says. It's certainly not sputtering and dying like before. But not running nearly as well as it was before he did the maintenance that brought the problem on, though. He's just gone out to disconnect the battery and let the computer reset to see if that will help. I've got a fuel filter on order (it looks like the original filter is still on there) and am eyeballing a new MAF sensor, minus the housing, just in case.

 

Just FYI. When you unhook the battery to reset the computer, the engine will run rough at first. The computer needs to gather information from all the sensors to fine tune the settings. In other words drive it around for about 10mins to get to allow all the data to accumulate. The engine should be as smooth at it was before you contaminated the MAF.

 

He's just come back in after re-hooking up the battery and says it's even better than before the disconnection, so it's working it's way up there. He sprayed the cleaner on the MAF a half-dozen times and disconnected the battery for a couple of minutes. He started it up after the re-hook and it died once. After restarting, it ran better but still not right, then drove it down the road about a half mile and came back and it's much better. Way better than yesterday, so maybe the drive to work will give the system enough time to set things a little more on course.

Thanks so much for your help, guys!

 

Hey guys, I just wanted you to know that I did end up ordering a new MAF sensor (part number 22250-75010, not including the aluminum housing, on ebay for about $38!!), and it straightened everything right up. It never did really recover from it's semi-mediocre choppiness and dying, but a replacement sensor did the trick. I also got him a new fuel filter, though he's going to pick a day with a little more time in it to replace that, as it appears it's tucked away in a not-very-accessible area.

Thanks again for helping brainstorm this!!