A different sort of FI question, because my alfa made me do it Options

[mmichalik]

So yesterday, I'm driving to the gym in my Alfa and it starts throwing codes on the dash.
I get the car back home, put the scanner on it and ultimately it was a P0101 code that put the car into limp mode and shut off a couple of other functions in the car.
I knew I didn't want have the luxury of getting a new Mass Airflow Sensor quickly so I went to the auto parts store down the road and got me a can of the MAS Cleaner.
30 minutes later, part is clean and back in the car and the code is gone.
But all of this got me thinking, did the original FI on our cars use a wire senor for the MAF or did it use something even more analog then that? I mean, it was almost 50+ years ago when it was designed.
I've always been afraid of the FI on the cars but, I've been toying with the idea of getting a FI kit from one of the vendors that are now producing them, for the 2056 that I am building.
Yesterday's experience intrigued me and maybe the FI isn't so difficult after all....

[technicalninja]

I think he's talking about an OBD2 Alfa; something later than 1996.

Please tell us what you are working on.

Every single MAF sensor I've worked on (a shitload!) is what they call a hot-wire sensor and every single one will need to be cleaned during its life.

You running an oiled cotton gauze filter (K&N style)?

You're going to RUIN your MAF with the air flier oil.

You'll have to clean it constantly unless the MAF is a good distance from the filter and even still it will require more frequent cleaning.

I use a dedicated "Electronics cleaner" and then blow dry with 20 psi air.
It's a chore to regulate 175 to 20. Takes me three regulators but I go through the BS as I want to blow the wet cleaner off the wire but i don't want to blow the wire away and you can trash one with 90 psi air.

So, yes cleaning MAFs is completely normal. I would consider that process as a PM that gets done automatically every 30-50K along with removing and cleaning the throttle body.

Doesn't have to be Alfa or European. Anything with a throttle body and a MAF needs these.

The L-jet 914s used a spring-loaded flap on a potentiometer to send the ECU airflow data. AFM (air flow meters) were also used by many and have been replaced by MAP and MAF sensors.