SCT MAF Housing Jacked

[mrose75]

So, I went out today for a short drive today. Had my wife take a few vids of exhaust, and then headed home. On the way home I noticed my A/F gauge was all over the place under normal driving. It bounced between 12 & 16. I made a short stop on the way home and noticed it idled horribly. Car stalled on me a few times. I noticed last week that my battery light came on in the upper RPMs so I am already thinking my alternator is crapping out. Advanced Autoparts test says it's the battery. I just finished my Whipple install and completed E-mail tuning last week. So, I had all kinds of terrifying thoughts going through my mind. I was second guessing myself (I did the install) and wondering about the tune. I stopped for some beer to watch the games and left it running because I was scared it wouldn't start again. Idle was all over the place as I walked in the store and back out too. I get home and it dies as I pull into the garage. Restart it and pop the hood. Here's what I found:

Once I saw this I put it back the way it should be and the idle was smooth and A/F was back where it should be. I guess it came loose during my spirited driving during the videos. Other than putting it back together, is there a way to fix this or do I need a new one? Clearly, just putting it back in place won't be good enough.

 

[mrose75]

:shrug: Anybody?

 

[cj428mach]

:shrug: Anybody?

You might try removing it and seeing if a local shop can tig weld it. That would probably be cheaper than anything else. It kind of makes me think that something must be pulling on the MAF housing too much to cause that to happen.

 

[MalcolmV8]

I have a feeling your intake tube is to short and when the motor torques side to side as you get on it hard it's pulling out? Perhaps loosen some of the grommets holding down the intake tube and see if it has wiggle room to slide it more toward the filter housing.

 

[SOVACobra03]

I have a feeling your intake tube is to short and when the motor torques side to side as you get on it hard it's pulling out? Perhaps loosen some of the grommets holding down the intake tube and see if it has wiggle room to slide it more toward the filter housing.

I agree. I've recently found out that with stock mounts these motors twist alot. My hood has to nice nick in it now due to tb rubbing it under hard throttle. Tig it and give it some play and it should be fine

 

[03SonicVert]

Heat the piece that separated in a toaster oven, put it on a hard surface and press the tube portion into it. If that doesn't fix it then you will need to have it tig'ed.

SV

 

[mrose75]

A little back story. I bought this from a vendor (not sure if they are/were a vendor here) a few years back. It was a "lightly used" part, as in just used to dyno tune a car or something along those lines (I think I know why I got such a good deal on it now). Installed it about 2 years ago with a ported eaton. When I de-installed the ported eaton for the Whipple it came completely off like in the pic. I pressed it back together by hand and it seemed fine. Held up until Sunday in the pic posted above.

I have a feeling your intake tube is to short and when the motor torques side to side as you get on it hard it's pulling out? Perhaps loosen some of the grommets holding down the intake tube and see if it has wiggle room to slide it more toward the filter housing.

I think you may be on to something. I did make sure the intake tube was really snug on my TB, and the heat sheild for the air filter is bolted to the inside of engine bay. Immobile Air filter + super snug intake tube + already loosened (and now seemingly suspect) MAF housing + new found Whipple power = Jacked Up MAF Housing.

Heat the piece that separated in a toaster oven, put it on a hard surface and press the tube portion into it. If that doesn't fix it then you will need to have it tig'ed.

SV

I will give the toaster oven method a try as well as loosen the intake tube up some. If that doesn't work I'll look into tig welds. Thanks fellas.

 

[mrose75]

So I tried 03SonicVert's idea and the tube portion slid right in. Let it cool then re-installed it. I took it out for a spin today,well I was going to, but the A/F was bouncing around again. Not as bad as before, but not steady at 14.7ish as it should be. Any insight? Kinda stressing this right now. I'm thinking it has to be something simple, but I'm the forum idiot, so I need some help please.

 

[cj428mach]

If the maf hasn't fallen apart again, unhook your battery to clear out all the bad info the eec learned when the maf was jacked up. Also when you're in closed loop you're not going to see 14.6-7 all the time. Mine bounces from probably 14.3-15.1 just during normal driving. If you were to set the cruise on the highway where its really locked into one area of the tune it would tighten up a lot closer to that 14.6-7 area.

 

[mrose75]

Ok, may have to unplug battery.n it was more than 14-15. It was doing the 13-16 bounce as if it was letting in unmetered air or what have you. I'll try that tomorrow and report back. How about that Polar Vortex in KS? Temps dropped 15 degrees in as many minutes. Gonna be cold tomorrow.

 

[MalcolmV8]

Temps dropped 15 degrees in as many minutes. Gonna be cold tomorrow.

That's no lie. I just saw on the news we were dropping 10 degrees an hour tonight. Shoot it was almost 70 this afternoon and I washed my car. This evening I'm driving and I notice my IAT2s are 80F. Unreal and amazing then I noticed IAT1 is 37F lol.

 

[mrose75]

It's crazy! Drive safely fellas!!

 

[roy_1031]

By reading the thread title, I thought someone stole your MAF housing.. :shrug:

 

[Riddick]

I'm almost positive that I have an extra housing, are you looking to purchase a new one? I will be back in the states on the 18th, let me know if you want to buy it.

 

[mrose75]

If mine continues to act sh!tty, I may take you up on that.

 

[mrose75]

All is good now after disconnecting and reconnecting battery. Thanks again CJ.