is the MAF the *abc* thing that sits on the throttle body and has 2 screws in it..? and do i open it up and clean it or can i clean it from the bottom when i take it off or what?

yes. They are the torx screw things. just pull it up. and the MAF is right there

sweet deal, thats what i thought. tks

Standard torx isn't gunna work unless you bust out that center piece of metal. Luckily my dad has a stash of odd tips around.

I had to buy a set of those tamper proof torx bits specifically to use for the MAF sensor... they're not too tamper proof though since anyone can get a set for $10 at advance auto parts

Becareful when cleaning ur MAF touch the resistors to much/hard... and its NO GOOD!

Why does one clean one's MAF? Do they actually get dirty?

Not trying to be a smart-a$$, just trying to learn something.

Is this something you do as preventive maint every 20,000 miles or something, or do you just do it as a troubleshooting measure?

My buddy that works on (ahem) ricers has a can of the CRC MAF cleaner, he said I could use some if I wanted to. So should I, considering I'm not having any problems. Or any problems I'm aware of, barring a dirty Air Flow Sensor.

K&N air filters have oil in them, unlike normal air filters.

Well, a little bit of that oil gets sucked up because the engine just sucks that much air.

And what happens is that the oil will create a VERY thin film on the MAF sensor wires, causing false readings and the like.

The oil from the K&N air filters can foul up the MAF Sensor, causing a rough idle.

Good stuff to know. So do I actually take the MAF off the car and spray it, or remove the air inlet and spray up in there?

Speaking of which, I noticed that big ugly screen right there at the beginning of the the throttle body. Not knowing anything about it, I left it completely alone.

Has anyone removed that big old screen, and if so did it do any good other than allow you to spray the MAF without removing it from the car?

just take it off the car and clean it.

the screen on the thottle body that you are seeing there to smooth out the incoming air. i removed mine and the idle sucked. so i put it back. some people said it restricted flow, but i dont see there being any real difference.

I pulled it off yesterday and cleaned it. Although my car has always had a smooth idle, it seemed if anything the idle was even smoother.

Went for a short drive, but didn't notice any improvement in anything else, but the CRC was free and I consider it good preventive maintenance.