Back in July '99, I removed the Mass Airflow Sensor Screen on my '97 Camaro.
The reason I did this was to see IF this would offer any performance or gas mileage
increases. So for the past month and a half I have kept an eye on my mileage and
overall driveability. I went to a dyno facility a few weeks back and unfortunately
it was NOT a very good experience... Problems with heat and the dyno operator...(grrr)
pretty much ruined my attempt to get a good comparison WITH and WITHOUT the screen
installed. I went to the dragstrip and once again heat was a MAJOR factor. Not to
mention track problems as well.... So I didn't have any luck with either attempt to
get a good performance comparison.
On Saturday, September 4th '99, I decided to do another kind of comparison test.
After work, I pulled my Camaro into the shop and hooked up a TECHII scantool. I
wanted to get input readings from the Mass Airflow Sensor WITH and WITHOUT the
screen installed. So here are the results:
At idle:
(the idle had been a little choppy since I removed the screen)
I saw the fluctuation in idle speed with the TECHII...
730-760 RPM
and the MAF Sensor reading was very erratic... (I'll explain why in my summary)
4.68-4.94 g/s
(grams/second)
After taking that reading, I increased the RPM to 3500 and took
readings at this speed as well. Once again, I saw fluctuation
in the MAF Sensor reading...
3500 RPM
19.60-19.73 g/s
I installed the MAF sensor screen and conducted the same test. But
interestingly enough, the idle was MUCH smoother upon the reinstallation
Here are the numbers:
at idle:
760 RPM (MUCH smoother)
5.6-5.75 g/s
3500RPM
20.97 g/s
Summary:
The Mass Airflow Sensor can't get an accurate reading with the screen.
This is because the screen is used to smooth out the turbulant air in
being pulled into the engine. If the screen is removed, sure there is
suddenly less of a restriction... BUT, the computer can not measure this
accurately. In fact, if you noticed the numbers above, the MAF sensor
was sending erratic and LOWER numbers to the PCM.
Removing the screen will do nothing for your performance in a 3800 seriesII v6.
The lower MAF input and erratic readings make the computer think it's getting less
incoming air than it actually is. That will do you no good. It clearly affected
the idle quality in an adverse way. It did nothing for throttle response OR gas
mileage. So... In my opinion, this mod is a waste of time and energy. If you
have any questions please email me. I will be more than happy to discuss this
or anything else with ya.
Later...
