MAF screen questions...

[99v6cam]

I did some searching and I hate the search on this site, anywho... I was wondering what the deal is with the whole MAF screen. Some people remove the screen and get some nice gains. Others remove it and have problems and fix it right away. So I just want people's input on the whole thing. Thanks

[maxcamaro]

is that the thing thats in the throttle body?

[99v6cam]

yea

[jc Kyle]

take it out and find for yourself

['98 BlackBird]

I recommend NOT doing it. You will find gains in removing it, but is it worth the risk of damaging your engine? Some people do take it out, put I have heard horror stories of little rocks stuff getting into TB and killing the engine.

[Cam]

Last night i took apart the ducting and all that, i found 2 little piece' of grass, I think i'll keep mine on.

[silvachris1]

I've had my screen out since late 2001. If stuff is getting to that screen, then your filter/airbox isn't right. The air filter is there to catch stuff. The MAF screens purpose isn't to stop things from getting in your engine, it's to straighten the air before it goes over the MAF sensor. Take your chances, see if you like it, if your too worried to justify any gains you see, put it back in.

[BLUE]

Originally posted by silvachris1:
I've had my screen out since late 2001. If stuff is getting to that screen, then your filter/airbox isn't right. The air filter is there to catch stuff. The MAF screens purpose isn't to stop things from getting in your engine, it's to straighten the air before it goes over the MAF sensor. Take your chances, see if you like it, if your too worried to justify any gains you see, put it back in.

I'm with him. ;)

[skorpion317]

the Maf screen is there to smooth out the airflow coming into the TB, otherwise the air gets turbulent, slows down, and can cause problems. it's not worth the slight gain you'll see.

[98Camaro3.8]

95-98: Don't waste your time.
99+: Many people like it. Try it yourself and see how it is.

It seems that lots of people say not to do it, but most have probably not even tried themselves, or have 95-98. Many 99+ guys on this site have done it and they seem pretty happy with it, although there's not alot of gains.

[Amphilophus]

if your worried about your engine then dont modify or race your car at all. i wish I had a 98+ so I could take mine out.

[chas]

the air silencer on the stock intake makes the air flow very turbulent (which is why partly how it does its job in the first place and also that silly oval duct coming from the stock lid). the maf screen is necessary for the maf to get a good reading on turbulent air. if you have a whisper lid removing the maf screen shouldnt be a problem.

[Fredless]

Heres my personal findings on removing the MAF screen on my 99.

Took screen out second day I had the car home, no idle problems, and the car ran fine.

Did the home depot bellow and shaved the stock lid, no problems.

Found a whisper lid on ebay (carbon fibre) for 90 dollars, bought it. Installed it, no problems.

Next week, did the free ram air mod. This is where the problems began. It was throwing the code in freeze frame only (Not enough to set an SES light) that the torque converter was coming in and out of lockup. This was causing a surging idle only when the tranny was in gear and would make the car bounce kind of.

I took it to a shop, they thought it was my TC coming apart and the common worn out valve body problem. I had my excuse to buy a stall converter, so I did and they replaced the valve body that was worn.

Got in the car and drove it home and it still did the RPM bounce. Came across the article on this site about how the MAF screen is good, so I put it back in and the RPM bounce problem has went away. I'm confident that the MAF screen being removed caused my RPM bounce for so long that it screwed up my valve body...or something in the tranny. I do NOT notice a performance difference with the screen in or out. My MAF screen will ALWAYS stay in my car now.

Apparantly doing the FRA mod caused so much more air flow that it became more turbulant as a result and the MAF had a hard time reading it. I think this is a direct relation to why some people have found that it is not a good thing to port the MAF ends on an LS1 that has an automatic.

[DARK SDE '02]

If you take it out and grind down the lip it used to sit in you shouldn't have any problems or turbulance issues. This topic is old and has been debated too much already, do a search next time even if you don't like it, that's what it's there for!

[Arctc Wolf]

did it after i had my car a few months, right after i did whisper lid. it works. make sure u run a air filter tho, and make sure it's sealed properly, and nothing will get in the motor. i got the lip ground down a month ago. also have it tuned for. car runs fine.