Anybody ever fry their MAF?

[Lupo]

Looks like the SHORanger has fried 2 MAF meters.
It used to have an 80mm Lincoln MAF, with a Ted B LPM. Late last year when we were getting ready for the sand dunes, the motor simply would not run right, and the only way we got it running in time was to remove the LPM, and put back the stock 55mm MAF.

Anyways, fast forward to now, and the SHORanger still has the stock 55mm MAF without the LPM. We start it up and it suddenly starts running like ass, with the idle messed up, and it barely revs. It really seems to load up and runs rich and stumbles.
So my buddy unplugs the MAF, and there is NO change whatsoever in the way the motor runs or idles.
We take the 55mm MAF from the SHORanger, and pop it in my SHO, and it makes my SHO run like ass, just as bad as the SHORanger.
We take the 55mm MAF from my SHO, and temporarily pop in the the SHORanger, and now it runs great. Bottom line is that the MAF was fried. That probably was what happened to the 80mm MAF as well, and we just didn't know it at the time.

Anyways, has anyone else ever fried their MAF? Maybe a voltage spike, or too much rattling, because it was bolted down solid.
The fried MAFs seemed to happen after the SHORanger was not running for a little while (at least a month), and never when we were actually running it.
With the ignition off, all power is cut to the computer. Just as if the battery was unplugged. Maybe putting power to to an unpowered ECU/ignition everytime we run the car eventually fries the MAF?
The ECU was connected to the alternator side originally, but as of now it's connected to the battery side. Maybe that fried the MAF...



Any ideas?

BTW, here is a picture of the SHORanger in action when we launched that ****er over 100ft out.

 

[gmorrell]

"Bolted down solid" to what?

MAF's don't like high vibration, so bolted fast to either the engine or the chassis sheet metal is going to result in poor performance and possibly short life.

You using an oiled cotton gauze filter? Perhaps its over-oiled and is mucking up the filaments?

If it occurs after a period of storage, it might be something getting into the MAF sensing tube. Sometimes insects or spiders will build little nests in the measure tube, and it screws up the MAF pretty good. You have to pull the electronics module off the housing and inspect the Platinum filaments and supports, and clean them. Carbureter cleaner or spray electronics cleaner is a good way to clean the filaments.

Check the B+ and ground to the MAF. MAF Vignition should be a large gauge wire (14 ga minimum) directly to the IRCM ignition relay. MAF power ground should also be 14 ga minimum and preferrably go right back to the battery negative terminal. The MAF outputs; MAF and MAFRTN should go directly to their respective EEC inputs on pins 50 (MAF) and 9 (MAFRTN), no detours, or connections to anything else allowed. Wiring a MAF any differently then I've described will give poor performance.

Edit: Well, now that you added the action picture, I see that we can safely rule out any vibration or impact issues...

 

[hawkeye18]

If you coat the filaments... or break the filaments... or warp them, or pretty much mess with them in any way, the MAF will stop working. It's pretty amazing how damned sensitive they are.

 

[DeaconBlue]

MAF sensor do NOT like bouncing off the floor either.

One other possibility. The MAF and the coil pack use the same connector - did you happen to plug the wrong connector into the MAF? This is actually pretty easy on the '93-95 ATX with revised engine control harness and the relocated coil pack - so Ford changed the alingment tab on the connectors and molded them in different colors (black vs. grey) to help prevent the mix up on the '93-95 cars.

 

[Lupo]

"Bolted down solid" to what?

It WAS bolted down underneath the dash. (We never reversed the intake like lots of RWD setups have done). Now the intake actually goes through the cab between the seats, and the MAF is rubber mounted. Hopefully this will help.

Edit: Well, now that you added the action picture, I see that we can safely rule out any vibration or impact issues...

This truck is really fun, whether jumping like the picture, or blasting around the dunes, bouncing off the rev limiter all day. The motor revs like crazy because we have a steel billet flywheel and tilton 7" double disk clutch. The flywheel and clutch assembly weighs almost half of the stock SHO setup, WAY lighter than even the aluminum flywheel setup. The smaller clutch diameter moves the rotational mass more to center, increasing the effect.

 

[TYSHO]

That truck just looks like trouble if it was in my hands!

 

[Kens1992mtxSHO]

If you coat the filaments... or break the filaments... or warp them, or pretty much mess with them in any way, the MAF will stop working. It's pretty amazing how damned sensitive they are.

I was cleaning mine once and I touched the filament because I was an idiot and it fried my MAF. Yeah, they're sensitive.