Educate me about MAF Needs

[rlearp]

I've got an 04 Lightning that I have been running with a 6lb pulley and conservative tune for three years (no other modifications other than oil sep mod). In doing so I have used a 95mm aluminum MAF tube/housing and cone filter. Never had any trouble.

Due to the fact I tow with my truck the conical filter noise got to me. So, recently I went back to the stock air box and MAF and cut a hole in the bottom of the box along with a tube under the truck for more airflow into the stock box.

My question is the following: will I have airflow problems or "maxing out the MAF" problem using the stock air box and meter?

If I might have an issue how do the MAF extenders fix the problem and which MAF extender should I choose?

 

[Robert Francis]

You'll hear varying opinions on whether you need an upgraded MAF. If you haven't had any problems, just switching back to the stock air box shouldn't bring about any problems.

The only way to know if you really need any MAF changes is to find the number of "counts" on your MAF at WOT - and unless you have a device to read them yourself, the only way it can be determined is on a chassis dyno. Your tuner can do this for you and tell you how close you are to maxing out your MAF and recommend whether you need to make any MAF changes or not. I had a setup similar to yours (6 lb lower pulley) and when I asked my tuner to specifically check the counts whiel having soem dyno work done, he said I did not need any MAF changes. However, many others seem to have had different experiences. And many decide to upgrade their MAF to be "on the safe side." How often this is needed, just isnt known.

If you need to make a change, there are generally two ways to do it: replace your MAF with an SCT MAF or use the Diablo MAFIA extender. If you need to upgrade, most chose to upgrade by the method their tuner tunes. The tuner I use, primarily tunes with SCT software so when I upgraded I chose the SCT MAF. However, the Diablo MAFIA also accomplishes the same thing. And many tunes work with both SCT and Diablo.
r
In either case, if you do need to upgrade, you will need to have your tuner set it up for you.

 

[Cialis]

You should really re-tune the truck for the stock maf housing.

 

[rlearp]

I forgot to mention that I do have a Predator and a wide band O2 sensor mounted for real time display. So, from that perspective I have been proactive in making changes to my timing and fuel as needed to remain extremely conservative and safe.

So, with the Predator I think I can log the MAF voltage. These things peg at 5V, is that correct? I can simply monitor it and see how I'm doing in various conditions if this is indeed the case.

Ron

 

[Cialis]

I forgot to mention that I do have a Predator and a wide band O2 sensor mounted for real time display. So, from that perspective I have been proactive in making changes to my timing and fuel as needed to remain extremely conservative and safe.

So, with the Predator I think I can log the MAF voltage. These things peg at 5V, is that correct? I can simply monitor it and see how I'm doing in various conditions if this is indeed the case.

Ron

do MAf counts
Max should be right around 1020, i cat remember the exact number.

 

[rlearp]

do MAf counts
Max should be right around 1020, i cat remember the exact number.

Is that a parameter on the Preditor I can look at? I imagine it is, just verifying.

Ron