Maf? rough idle please help

Well i had a CEL and i hooked it up and found out my car was misfiring so my mechanic teacher at school was like change the plugs , changed the plugs and the problem stayed the same then he said change the coils , sooo i bought the bav auto high performance coils and now the car idles better just a tad bit but it still has the noticeable rough shake the car a bit idle , could it be my maf? and if so is there any way i can clean it instead of just replacing it i really need help on thsi guys thanks

Originally Posted by bmwdrift14

Well i had a CEL and i hooked it up and found out my car was misfiring so my mechanic teacher at school was like change the plugs , changed the plugs and the problem stayed the same then he said change the coils , sooo i bought the bav auto high performance coils and now the car idles better just a tad bit but it still has the noticeable rough shake the car a bit idle , could it be my maf? and if so is there any way i can clean it instead of just replacing it i really need help on thsi guys thanks

Go to a local auto store and purchase MAF cleaner and see if that helps.

I think you should OEM coils instead of those Bav Auto. Few people on here mentioned that those coils don't improve anything and also someone said it made it worse.

Read this thread
http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthr...357&highlight=

Maf, Lower intake boot, ICV could be the cause. I just cleaned my ICV, replaced lower intake boot and cleaned my throttle body valve today.

What codes?

Maybe you have vauum leaks?

alright thanks a bunch guys i will take ur advice and check it out i will keep everyone informed

Unplug your MAF sensor and start the car and see if your rough idle goes away. If not then it probably isn't your MAF sensor.

what would happen if you drive with the MAF unplugged? mine has the same symptoms...and i just unplugged it and it sounds fine i guess... i was going to take it to a dealership and have it checked out, but i didn't wanna drive it before since it sounded like it would stall, but it sounds okay with it unplugged.

Originally Posted by elite53

Unplug your MAF sensor and start the car and see if your rough idle goes away. If not then it probably isn't your MAF sensor.

Im not certain cause I have never tried it but I assume the car would go into it's limp-home mode and would have drastically reduced power.

Originally Posted by elite53

Im not certain cause I have never tried it but I assume the car would go into it's limp-home mode and would have drastically reduced power.

okies, i was just wondering because i was going to take it to a dealer (about 7 miles or so) to have it checked out because it's misfiring, and i didn't want to pay to have it towed there... but since it doesn't seem to when the MAF is unplugged, i'm kinda leaning toward just ordering the part and putting it in myself.

A MAF sensor for your car is about $283 bucks which is a lot of money to spend on a best guess kind of fix. I can't promise you that this is the problem. What I can do is make you a deal that might help you fix it. I have an extra MAF down in my garage that is used but it works just fine. I replaced mine a while back when I was troubleshooting a problem with my supercharger install. Turns out the MAF was good so now I have an extra one. If you want to pay shipping, which shouldn't be more than $5 or $10 bucks, I will send it out to you and you can try it out. If it doesn't fix your problem you can send it right back to me. If it does fix it I will sell it to you for $100 dollars or you can send it back to me and buy yourself a brand new one.Just let me know if your interested.

crap, i didn't see this until just now, and i had already ordered one a few days ago, comes in monday. but actually, i'm not even sure that's really the problem as i have just discovered a huge gaping whole in the rubber intake thingamabob just before it goes to the engine... the one that is connected to the idle control valve thingy as well. now i'm trying to decide if i wanna go ahead and replace the idle control valve or just try and clean it.

Originally Posted by elite53

A MAF sensor for your car is about $283 bucks which is a lot of money to spend on a best guess kind of fix. I can't promise you that this is the problem. What I can do is make you a deal that might help you fix it. I have an extra MAF down in my garage that is used but it works just fine. I replaced mine a while back when I was troubleshooting a problem with my supercharger install. Turns out the MAF was good so now I have an extra one. If you want to pay shipping, which shouldn't be more than $5 or $10 bucks, I will send it out to you and you can try it out. If it doesn't fix your problem you can send it right back to me. If it does fix it I will sell it to you for $100 dollars or you can send it back to me and buy yourself a brand new one.Just let me know if your interested.

Well, there's your problem. Change the boot and you will be golden. Don't open the MAF and you should be able to send it back. If it were me, I probably wouldn't even clean the ICV. If it ain't broke don't fix it or if you do be gentle with it. They have a very weak return spring in them that won't tolerate much abuse. Just spray it out with brake cleaner and put it back in. Don't stick anything down in there or you may damage the spring. Of course if money isn't an issue, now would be a good time to replace it. I don't know where you buy your parts from but for me www.autohausaz.com usually has the best prices I have found. Good luck.

yep, that's where i ordered it from, autohausaz
i think i'll probably go ahead and replace the MAF as i think i saw somewhere that it's suggested after 100K miles or something and mine is at 109K
i think it had 103K on it when i bought it though. i will be estatic if replacing that boot finally makes my CEL go away, lol

Originally Posted by elite53

Well, there's your problem. Change the boot and you will be golden. Don't open the MAF and you should be able to send it back. If it were me, I probably wouldn't even clean the ICV. If of ain't broke don't fix it or if you do be gentle with it. They have a very weak return spring in them that won't tolerate much abuse. Just spray it out with brake cleaner and put it back in. Don't stick anything down in there or you may damage the spring. Of course if money isn't an issue, now would be a good time to replace it. I don't know where you buy your parts from but for me www.autohausaz.com usually has the best prices I have found. Good luck.