Kens94

I just bought a

Mass Air Flow Sensor Housing, 1994-2000, High Flow and want to know if there is anything I should be aware of, outside of the instructions. Thanks! Also I know it's a bit late but does this have any positive effects for the car? Thanks again!

drcook

One of the ones with a plastic housing ??

If so, take a small file and cut 2 notches in the end of the screws. In essence, you are turning them into a small tap. A little more than 1/32 should suffice, say 3/64's or so, a little more won't hurt.

Do you follow what I mean ? Take a look at a tap to see how the cuts go.

Doing this allows the screws to "cut" a thread into the plastic, instead of trying to "force" a thread into the plastic.

This is how I did mine. Works like a champ. The end result and ease of assembly will be worth it. At least in my opinion. I tried starting the screws without doing this and it was apparent that they would have needed to be forced in.

whalepirot

Is the engine modified such that it was starving for air? My high-revving 409 is fine with 52mm.

Kens94

Nope just basic muffler delete kn filter air foil, so no mods.
And yes it is the plastic housing, supposed to lower the air temperature. Guess we shall see they say 9rwhp. We know how that goes.

Kens94

This is what Superchevy had to say :

Mid America Motorworks Mass-Airflow-Sensor Housing (PN 616-002)
Cost: $49.95 (on sale; normally $99.95)
Gain: 9 rwhp, 7 rwtq

Modifying the mass airflow sensor has been a popular practice with backyard Yunicks since the mid '80s. Rather than simply punching out the screens on the OEM unit, we decided to try one of Mid America's Mass-Airflow-Sensor housings, on sale at the time for only $49.95. Comprising two larger-than-stock plastic end pieces that sandwich the factory MAF, the housing is said to move 55 percent more air than the OEM setup, for a total flow rating of 1,000 cfm. Ours installed in around 10 minutes with no unpleasant surprises, and after verifying that the car's idle quality was good and that no SES lights had been triggered, we made our next set of pulls.

We were stunned when the Dynojet registered improvements of 9 rwhp and 7 rwtq-precisely what Mid America claims for the unit in its catalog. That the plastic aftermarket housing is lighter and conducts less heat than the aluminum stocker is an added bonus.

Aside from a forced-induction system or nitrous kit, this may be the first aftermarket part we've tested whose performance actually lived up to its advance billing. Even at its regular price of $99.95, this one's a steal.

whalepirot

I wonder if that falls into some significant error zone. Was the dyno calibrated properly before each run? Were all conditions equal otherwise?

My car was dynoed and the results were total BS; the machine not calibrated: a total waste of money, save my learning that like any tool, they must be used properly, including proper setup, i.e. calibration.

How much can the intake air be heated in 3" or so, when moving quickly?

Call me skeptical, but if mags pan a device, will they get to test others? Will their ad revenue fall?

aklim

Guess they hooked another sucker. Try this. Pee into a bottle through the neck. Pee into a sewer hose taped around your Johnson. See which one helps you pee faster. It only helps if the engine needs the flow. If the engine can't use that air, it surely won't help. So if you put a stock MAF behind a 500 ci engine, you bet this one will help. Good thing the fools are plentiful. That keeps money moving.

If you haven't installed it, I'd return it if you can. That way you are out shipping but not everything. OTOH, it should make the car go faster since your wallet is lightened.

drcook

Their caveat and out is the word "UP".

I put mine in because of the heat soak issue. I monitor temps. IAT, etc etc on my diesel while towing. You would be surprised to see IAT jump 40 degrees or more, simply by stopping at a light, then it takes it a bit to come back down. I have removed/improved/replaced parts to keep the air charge cooler and the electronics from not lying in my truck, so I replaced the aluminum housing with that same plastic one simply to help keep the heat away from the MAF sensor itself. Aluminum is a superb conductor of heat, as all of us are well aware of.

Air flow and heat transfer, get one better, lessen the other. It all helps. Now granted, my Vette is not dragging a 10,000 lb shoe box (with all its air drag issues) up the side of a mountain like my truck does when we go on vacation, by small incremental changes eventually help.

BUT I agree, the horsepower/torque gain claims would have to be statistically proven by more than 1 test in order to be valid. They would need results from a bigger pool of tests to back up the claim as I would expect + or - 9 HP would be well within the working tolerances of any given dyno on a single pull.

This is why the IAT probe relocation kit can be beneficial.

The price on this stuff is vastly inflated though. It is dealer profit and paying for the injection mold itself that has the cost up as it costs pennies to actually mold the part once the machine is flowing.

Remember that toy "Spirograph" ? I cut the electrodes, before they were sent to a gear hobber for the teeth, to burn the gear shapes into metal 41 years ago on a replacement mold. Those gears and other toy parts for the same manufacturer came out of Stow, Ohio from Midway Mold, Inc. Once the machine is hot and the plastic flowing, the parts simply fall out every few seconds as the machines open and close.

BUT it takes months and lots of man hours to build the mold.

856SPEED

I think they sell the air foil as well with similar results.......

aklim

I have monitored the IAC on the C4. It was checked with an infra red thermometer and the ambient air temp sensor, CTS and oil temp sensor when it was cold and when those sensors were hot. All were reading reasonably accurate. When I pulled over and idled, IIRC, the IAT goes up by 40 degrees BUT even when you drive at 40 or so mph, I think it takes a while to cool the manifold down.

So you relocated the IAT. It reads the ambient air coming in. BUT this cool air goes into the manifold and gets heated up. If this is correct, all you are doing is trying to fool the ECM into thinking it is cooler than it is.

aklim

Therein lies the issue. Everyone thinks "It costs $5 to build. Why do they sell it for $100?". Well, like you noted, it takes a lot of time to build that mold. It takes an investment that might or might not pay off. It takes money to market, etc, etc. This is like people telling me Biodiesel costs $0.50 to make. Well, you don't pay road tax, don't count collecting the waste oil, time to make it, store it, etc, etc so what we have is apples and oranges comparisons. Here is what I ask. If you were to make that Biodiesel and sell it, what would you want to make for your effort? Same here. If you think it is so cheap to make that toy, why don't YOU make it and sell it for half the price and make a killing. To which, the answer is that it is very difficult, etc, etc.

Mr. Peabody

I've always kind of wondered about that part myself.

aklim

I think that is what people have been trying to do. Get the "Quick Fix" or take the lazy way out. Instead of doing testing and seeing what happens, some will try to just crank the timing up across the board. Instead of doing investigation, throw parts or use some concoction in the hopes of a "Hail Mary" fix.

Much easier to ask you for $100 for a "UP TO" hope of a fix as opposed to asking you for $500 for a dyno session plus the hauling time.

preacher putz

Mine is a 96 Lt1/auto trans. I used the same MAF sensor but I replaced
the aluminum plates (as they act like a heat sinc) with ones made out of
I believe nylon. Didn't gain a lot of power, but made it more consistant
at the track. ie bracket racing

Pr. Putz

Kens94

Thanks, I appreciate you responding to my original question. Seems threads get hijacked on some side discussion and the original question is forgotten. I figured this mod had been out forever and that a good many C4 owners had to have tried it. I figured, hey, if it just idles smoother, for $29.99 it's fine. No Superchevy didn't use multiple cars and multiple dyno pulls, just one regular auto C4 and multiple pulls to set the baseline for that car. I know each car is different, and will react to each mod differently. Hence why I was curious as to what others thought of it after bolting it on. Thanks!

drcook

Please take note of what I said above about modifying the ends of the screws to cut a thread in the plastic housing. Look at a tap and file the ends of the screws accordingly. Pretty close is good enough. Assembly will be so much easier cutting a thread, than trying to compression form a thread.

Kens94

Sorry yes I appreciate your help. Sad thing is that I went to install and the original one use clamps were still on it. So I need to get some regular clamps. Did you disconnect your battery to reset the computer?

drcook

Yes. For the most part, I disconnect the battery when working with electrical components to avoid a short. IF I remember. :-) sometimes I suffer from CRS. At that time I didn't have the switch in to turn off the underhood lights, so I had disconnected it to avoid running it down.

drcook

Clamps ? If you mean the squeeze clamps, what I did is go to Lowes and they have extra long, black zip-ties that are the right width. Works like a champ and doesn't look bad or hokey at all.

Kens94

Sorry couldn't remember the correct name. If I can't find regular clamps to fit, since I am Ocd about crap like that then zip ties it is.