Cleaning the MAF, how to?
 

My Miata has a chronic rough idle, have done the full tune up (Plugs, cables, filters, checked timing, etc.).
It has been suggested I clean the MAF, can I just pull it apart and spray it with carb cleaner?
TIA

Use MAF cleaner, it is less harsh. If it's too far gone no cleaning will bring it back.

CRC Mass Air Flow Sensor cleaner has worked well for me.

my subaru had a studder at 4k rpm for literally 3 years or so, finally it threw a maf related code.


I cleaned it gently with the crc stuff and it didnt really help.


Since my next step was to buy a new sensor, I got a bit more midevil with the stuff and sprayed tons of it directly into the sensor. I used basically the whole can on the sensor.

Car ran like a champ right away. I had gotten so use to the stumble at 4 k-rpm that it surprised me occasionally when it was gone

Thanks guys! The CRC MAF cleaner is about $10 a can +\-, removing and cleaning the MAF will be more of a problem than cleaning. I will also inspect all the rubber manifold fittings/hoses for cracks seeing as that can be the cause of a rough idle.

What do the "experts" on the Miata forums say? With my Chevy HHR questions, I check the HHR forums and they are generally spot on. Their advice was about you said you are going to do so I guess it is pretty much the same for most makes?

make sure you don't touch the wire.... I usually just spray it with it in place

I echo this. My E46 was having MAF issues, and everything looked ok until I noticed that one of the very fine sensor wires had broken. Incredibly easy to miss unless you were in bright light and looking directly at it. I bought a junkyard MAF for ~$8 and hit it with the CRC cleaner and have been great ever since.

If you do need a new one, it never hurts to take a flier on a junkyard MAF, IMO. Not with how much cheaper they are.