Hello all,

About 4 or 5 times over the past year or so, I have had the following happen in my 2002 Camaro SS:

I am on the highway going between 65 and 80 mph, I step on the throttle hard, and the car gives a slight hesitation and the "Service Engine Soon" (SES) light kicks on.

The SES light would always go off within a day or less (always at startup), though, so I never did anything about it. I finally was able to get it to the shop with the SES light still on yesterday, and after plugging it in, they told me it was a P0101 error that meant I had a bad Mass Airflow (MAF) sensor. They wanted over $500 to fix it, so I told them no way and that I would deal with it myself. A few hours later, the SES light went off again by itself as usual.

I did a little research on this forum, and it looks like you can clean the MAF sensor. Will this perhaps fix my problem? If so, does anyone have any tips on doing this? Do you need to remove the MAF sensor to clean it?

Or do you guys think I need to replace the MAF sensor since I am getting the P0101 error? If so, how hard is this to do?

Any help/advice would be GREATLY appreciated.


Thanks all,
Paul

 

I would go to an auto parts store, pick up some Quick-Dry Electronics Cleaner (CRC makes this), and spray out the inside of your MAF. The thin wires inside the MAF are what measures the air, but they're very sensitive. That's why I'd spray 'em clean instead of using a q-tip or something. Should be a very simple 5-minute deal to clean it up. If you still get the code, you'll need to replace the MAF.

 

doesnt sound like its a dirty maf problem. when the maf gets dirty it is normally a constant problem. mine idled like crap but never threw a code. when i cleaned it the problem went away. might be something in the maf is a little loose. you could clean it just to be safe, but id see if someone close to you would let you swap the maf to see what happens.

 

I had the same problem. I am guessing that you have a K&N filter. That was my problem. Took out the MAF sensor clean it up with some quick dry electronics cleaner, replaced the k&n filter with paper filter. No problems.

 

Yep, I actually have a Holley filter, but it is oiled just like the K&N one and is VERY similar, so I guess the same thing could apply.

Thanks a bunch for the replies, guys. Anyone else have an opionion?

 

Come to think about it, i think i have the same problem...

 

I was actually having a fairly similar problem. Car was running great, SES light came on one day, car still ran great. But I took it to the shop anyways and sure enough, bad MAF. Just like you, they wanted to charge me a stupid amount of money, so I jumped online and ordered the $150 85mm MAF from Speed Inc. Big mistake. The car is running absolutely terrible. Anything past half throttle and the car misfires, burbles, and stops pulling (idle aint so great either). Its definately running stupid rich because I looked up in the mirror and saw a big black cloud. However the damn SES light went out. I thought maybe the car would "learn" itself out and start running better, but after 1/3 of a tank, no luck. I do have a few bolt ons and a tune already, but I don't want to ruin the o2's now, so I'm gonna put the old one (not stock) back on and just drive it a little bit until I get a speed density tune.

The old one probably went bad because of me. I used to clean it with carburetor cleaner, which is very harsh and probably ruined it. The funny thing is, like I said, the car still ran pretty good. Go figure. Good luck with yours.