aftermarket MAF

[Pathrat]

I was looking at Brody's links on OBA and noticed one to the FJC forum. This lead to reading a buildup page on some guy's rig in Madison Wisconsin. I am going there in a month so I thought I would keep an eye out. Anyways, I read up on his TRD MAF.

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=174366

specifically, The Mass Air Flow Sensor (MAF) reads the volume of air entering the engine and it temperature. The ECU uses these two readings to calculate the amount of air entering the engine by weight and then looks at its internal look up table and cross references other signals to calculate the amount of fuel by weight to inject to achieve the desired or programmed fuel mixture for the condition. Once it injects this amount of fuel it will then look at the feed back from the O2 sensor to see how close it got to the desired mix and the issues corrections or trims to get the mix just right. At high load settings the ECU stops looking at the feed back from the O2 sensor and will inject the amount of fuel it is programmed for. When the ECU is not using feed back to adjust the mix it is operating in OPEN LOOP mode and this is when we can take full control of the mix with a MAF Calibrator.

The MAF Calibrator will alter or calibrate the signal from the MAF sensor adjusting it up or down as needed. When doing this you are telling the ECU there is more or less fuel entering the engine then there is and this results in a change in the amount of fuel injected and the air/fuel ratio.

The stock engine is setup to run very rich at full throttle. One of the biggest reasons they do this is for safety of the engine. Don’t panic yet, read on. There is a large error rate in the sensors that Toyota uses so they make it way richer then it needs to be to over compensate for the error rate.


I have the basic concept down, and I like that this is an install, set and not much fuss. Right? Is this going to be that difficult to calibrate here at altitude? Worth it? Anyone use them?

TIA! :drive:

[Chris]

This strikes me as one of those minimal gain things that some people who enjoy fiddling around enjoy. Is there any mention of concrete improvements after calibrating? There have been some things I've read where people swear to huge gains in performance and efficiency though there's no way they could. I think my truck runs better when it's clean so I know a bit about seeing what you're hoping to see. :p

[Pathrat]

I didn't read all nine pages of that posting and the only concrete information was a 1mph gain but that in itself without background is not as useful as I would like. That's why I thought I would ask here where people tend to be specific and knowledgeable. :)

[gragravar]

I didn't read all nine pages of that posting and the only concrete information was a 1mph gain but that in itself without background is not as useful as I would like. That's why I thought I would ask here where people tend to be specific and knowledgeable. :)

While I am running a non-stock MAF in my audi, we chose it for specific reasons - specifically with the other mods I have the stock MAF didnt provide the proper airflow information and the car wasnt running right. note though, to get to that point, I had already changed out the turbos (which are running at 22psi rather than the stock 12psi, the intake, the exhaust, and the fueling kit. My new MAF now accompanies new/custom software for the ECU. All in all a recent dyno run says I have gone from 250hp at the crank to 394hp at the wheels (estimate 472 at the crank). in that case the MAF work was worth it.

on a NA engine I just dont think you are going to get good power gains by changing the MAF. If you do it you will likely need to tweak the motor's programming to work with the new MAF. If the report is right and the car runs rich stock, you could likely do a couple things, first confirm that it is still rich after adjusting for the altitude here. second I'd pursue a custom tune before I would changing out the MAF. they should be able to reduce the fueling to lean out the mixture to a proper level. Not sure what kind of software is available to do this kind of tuning on a toyota. there is some good stuff out there for VW/Audi so maybe it is there for toyota too.

bottom line - sounds like a lot of headache for not much gain.

[Brody]

Many companies make after market MAF sensors for the Toyota. I think I posted a few in the Toyota links section. There are also a couple of Toyota specific websites I posted in the Toyota section, a couple that sell parts for this and a couple of links that discuss modding various Toyota engines for serious performance gains. Look there and most of your questions will get answered.

After market MAFs for a Toyota go hand in hand with after market 02 sensors and piggyback or rechipped ECUs. Just the way the engine is designed. If you want to go to all the trouble and $$, you will gain about 90-100 hp from an non supercharged engine. You might as well get a performance throttle body , too, that has an over bore of .020 or better. The performance O2 sensor will allow the signal to the ECU to bypass the stock safety programming and allow your engine to rev higher and not affect the power curve.The new ECU or rechipped ECU will allow the power/fuel engine to respond to all of the other performance mods.

Here is what you are looking at roughly, price wise:

ECU $250-800+
MAF $300-500
O2 sensors $125-300
TB $250-500+
Fuel pump $250
Injectors $400
And if you do all that, you might as figure in:
Headers $400
2.5" exhaust $250
Free flo muffler $200
Free Flo CAT $180
or your high hp rig will starve itself...
And if you are going to do all of THAT, you might as well get a:

Toyota stroker kit $3500.00

And gain an additional 90-100 hp

After all of this money, you will have dropped about $6k-8k into that little old V6 (for example), but you have an engine that is going to be pushing close to 400hp or more. So why not add:

TRD supercharger $3500.00

and gain an additional 70-85 hp

Now you have invested almost $10k and have a screaming engine....And this is just for price of the parts alone. Add about another $5-8k for professional installation...ask any of us who are into some sort of performance stuff..It adds up quick...

I put a used 3.4L in mine for $1600 and a used TRD supercharger on mine for another $1200. After that, I went with the URD fuel upgrade package (modified Bosch injectors, modified high volume fuel pump, piggyback ECU) for another $2500. Then I went with a 2.5 muffler, free flo CAT and exhaust for around another $400-500. I did all the work except the exhaust myself. Do I like it? You bet. Do I want to do all the other stuff (After market MAF, O2 sensors, overbored throttle body, etc)? For sure....I LIKE HORSE POWER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You will get the hp. You will spend a lot of money. Keep in mind that all of these work together. You will probably have to change all of them as change one will affect the others, badly, too, if it's a stock item.

Check out UnderDogRacingDevelopment (URD), DOA, LC Engineering and gadgetonline. These guys are all into Toyota performance stuff. URD races a 4 cylinder Yota that pushes close to 1,000hp.

Best to buy a LT Chevy crate motor for $5k, an adapter from Advance Adapters, a Painless Wiring harness, and some heavier front springs and call it good enough...

For those of you with older engines and a MAP sensor, a $3 potentiemeter will allow you to control a lot from the cab of your rig. Just break the wire that shows the most fluctuation (voltage wise) coming into the MAP sensor and wire in the potentiometer. The dial will let you adjust the voltage going to the MAP sensor and will affect all other readings going to the ECU. Great if you are messing around with different gas, gas alternatives, additives such as xylene or acetone or other crapola..$3 at Radio Shack get the baby resistor too...

[Fortress of Tranquility]

I played the CAI, MAF, exhaust, headers, etc game for a while and then...


So why not add:

TRD supercharger $3500.00

:) :thunb: :D :drive:

[Pathrat]

.... I think my truck runs better when it's clean so I know a bit about seeing what you're hoping to see. :p

It is the drag coefficient of dust that provides you a .08 % increase in hp and the extra two city blocks per gallon. ;)

[Pathrat]

Gragavar, thanks for your input. It was informative for this engine supernewbie.

Brody, I am so not there yet. I would just get the supercharger if I wanted noticeably more hp and less gas mileage. Right now my aftermarket intake is enough. Not that more hp is not something I want, but you already know that the next bang for my buck is going to be external parts. I still have my Mazda for speed and when Scout takes off with the Mazda and I am done paying for college educations, I am going to get a little something with at least 350 horses. Maybe my dad will have a cast-off by then. :D

[Brody]

Some of the performance upgrades are well worth reading about. I know I posted a Yota engine mod site (see 'making your 22R scream') awhile back and there is information on all sorts of performance mods there. gadgetonline (http://www.gadgetonline.com) has a slew of information on his site..all of the stuff that he has done to his rig, all the MAF information, etc. He is the dude behind URD and has a 4Runner that lights up all 4 tires...

[Pathrat]

Some of the performance upgrades are well worth reading about. I know I posted a Yota engine mod site (see 'making your 22R scream') awhile back and there is information on all sorts of performance mods there. gadgetonline (http://www.gadgetonline.com) has a slew of information on his site..all of the stuff that he has done to his rig, all the MAF information, etc. He is the dude behind URD and has a 4Runner that lights up all 4 tires...

Thanks! :)