I bought an aftermarket MAF sensor on EBay for about $45.00 or so. After two road tests of 200 miles each it delivered 25 mpg local and 34.5 mpg highway.. Warm idle at a light is still not as smooth as glass.. I am putting back the Denso unit with unknown mileage on it to re run the tests... Hoping for a smoother like glass idle and will gladly give up some mpg to get it. Tail pipe ends have absolutely NO soot at this time.... I will post the findings when the next long trip has been taken. Brandon

 

Give the old one a clean before putting it back in for testing

Cheers
34by151

 

So far the only difference in around town performance has been a much smoother up shift pattern from a stop. The warm idle is the same. I wouldn't think a MAF sensor would affect shift pattern. Brandon

 

Hi Brandon,

That does seem counterintuitive, and I didn't understand it either until I read the manual. I still don't understand it! But I think I can repeat what the manual says.

The Transmission Control Module is highly-interconnected with other systems, including the Engine Control Module, ABS Module, and Steering. These systems work together to determine the best gear for any given driving status. Signals involved include longitudinal and lateral acceleration; engine speed/load/torque; ATF temperature; position and movement of the accelerator pedal; the speeds of the individual wheels; cruise control operation (a gear map that reduces busy shifting is selected when cruise is engaged); etc.

The ECM determines engine load by the air flowing through the MAF, and it factors that information into gear selection and gear shift points, so as counterintuitive as it seems, the MAF has a direct impact on transmission behavior.

Cheers,

Don

 

Don, the cheap rebuilt MAF sensor gave a very torquey tire spin get away from a stop, and the older Denso gives much smoother seemless up shifts... I think I prefer smooth vs burning rubber ;-)). Brandon longer trip MPG still to be determined

 

Brandon,

Is there a brand name or part number on the aftermarket MAF that might help others avoid (or achieve) torquey tire spin getaways as they please?

Don

 

Like everything else in the powertrain, there is an adaptive algorithm at play.

Make sure you do a full reset between each test, and then test after the emissions test ready state has been achieved.

 

The e bay aftermarket rebuilt unit says Super Auto on the box. Part number BT68X. Made in China..... It took 6 months to get this car tolerable to drive and get the windows, trans, global locking and radio programmed and working ok, so I think a hard reset on such a slow learning student would be very un wise. I'll let it "learn" what it will with this MAF sensor and then maybe consider wasting big money on a new Denso later on. Brandon

 

Update: today was an exact same trip in every way with the old Denso MAF sensor. Highway mpg went up to 35.5. Around town went up to 27.2... Better shift pattern, same shameful idle, so I'll leave the old Denso in. Range was about 510 for the tank full. Still using cheap premium supermarket gas Brandon