1.9TD Loss of (turbo) power.

[Ingleborough]

Thanks for that little detail. :0)

[Samwell]

I have to admit, and people may shoot me down for this, that I bought one of the cheaper copies of the MAFs on ebay, but one that offered a years warranty on it. It was about £70 if I remember correctly and the only reason I went for the cheaper one was that I have serious money issues right now. Sure enough though, it works fine, perhaps not as silky smooth as the genuine article but good enough to get me by for now.

CRC cleaner hasnt worked on both of my genuine MAFs... so I have two units for sale if anyone wishes to try their own way of cleaning them. Otherwise, and unfortunately, I can only think of binning them.

Originally Posted by Ingleborough

Before reading this thread I had never heard of a mass air flow sensor and the information I gleaned here, plus watching a couple of youtube videos on how to clean a MAF, has resulted in vastly improved performance from my V40 (though, I have to say, still not quite up to what it once was).

I couldn't get hold of any of the recommended specialist MAF cleaners, so had to make do with Halfords' electrical contacts cleaner. But it did seem to do the job.

Again, many thanks to all who contributed.

[v40alex]

I did a search a few months ago on the Siemens part number (stamped on the MAF) and found one for £55.

[Ingleborough]

Originally Posted by Ingleborough

Will try the CRC MAF from eBay and see how things go.

I did as promised above and, having given it plenty of time and testing, I'm pleased to say that I think my lack of power problem is now history.

So the obvious conclusion to me is don't mess with the electrical contacts cleaner on your MAF sensor - it gave a short term improvement, but within a week power goes down again - the CRC MAF is the stuff that's worked for me.

Thanks again to all who've contributed to this thread. :0)

[timmytarmac]

I have ordered some of the crc cleaner as I have had a few mpg issues and lumpy flat spotted acceleration issues so I hope this will help in some way. I have previously blown hoses and had an overboosting issue, changing the n75 (turbo solenoid valve) has taken away the overboosting issue

[skyship007]

Originally Posted by timmytarmac

I have ordered some of the crc cleaner as I have had a few mpg issues and lumpy flat spotted acceleration issues so I hope this will help in some way. I have previously blown hoses and had an overboosting issue, changing the n75 (turbo solenoid valve) has taken away the overboosting issue

When the MAF goes kaput, it just seems to be limp home only, or perhaps intermittent limp mode. Bad air filters can trash a turbo, but the MAF won't as it is upstream of the air filter.
Flat spots could be gummed injectors or a dirty EGR (No real fault codes unless serious).

Good luck with the CRC spray, although it's a 50/50 chance assuming the elements are not obviously broken. It can always be used as a contact cleaner.

[Ingleborough]

Originally Posted by Ingleborough

I did as promised above and, having given it plenty of time and testing, I'm pleased to say that I think my lack of power problem is now history.

Six weeks later and these words are coming back to haunt me - from acceptable at the end of August, performance has slowly degraded until last night when I was out in the rain (don't know if that's a contributing factor...) when I concluded that it was decidedly unacceptable. Unclipped the MAF connector and it's right as rain again!

So it seems that the MAF cleaner did its job, but over four to six weeks the sensor has got mucky again!

It seems to me that I'd be better off running around with the MAF permanently disconnected. But am I risking another problem by doing that? What is the purpose of the MAF sensor? My car runs better without it!

All contributions gratefully received. :0)