Oh no! Not another scrap MAF !!!!
Discussion
Took the car for an MOT yesterday, but the car boiled when I got there 110° !!
Car drove perfectly on the way there,otherwise.
I switched off during the test and refilled the system, got off the ramp and the car was driving like a bag of the proverbial ! - first thing that came to mind was the MAF again, sure enough after nursing it home I replaced the unit with a cheap Chinese eBay item £35.00 and it corrected all the faults and drove beautifully again.
Obviously the engine bay heat is killing them, this is the fourth one in as many years I've fitted, by now getting a little fed up swapping them out on a yearly basis!
Has anyone prescribed the same issue with the suicidal positioning being taken into account, and moved the MAF further forwards, away from the L.H. exhaust manifold 'killer heat' area?
I've wrapped it in one layer of aluminium heat reflector / insulation foam for now, but wonder what's the next best position I should move it to, just behind the radiator ( but still close to the elephants trunk manifolds) or Infront of the rad in the nose area?
Anyone done this (or have you all done it already?) - any issues to be aware of regards extending the wiring, or possible water ingestation from the grille area?
Cheers,
Phil.
Car drove perfectly on the way there,otherwise.
I switched off during the test and refilled the system, got off the ramp and the car was driving like a bag of the proverbial ! - first thing that came to mind was the MAF again, sure enough after nursing it home I replaced the unit with a cheap Chinese eBay item £35.00 and it corrected all the faults and drove beautifully again.
Obviously the engine bay heat is killing them, this is the fourth one in as many years I've fitted, by now getting a little fed up swapping them out on a yearly basis!
Has anyone prescribed the same issue with the suicidal positioning being taken into account, and moved the MAF further forwards, away from the L.H. exhaust manifold 'killer heat' area?
I've wrapped it in one layer of aluminium heat reflector / insulation foam for now, but wonder what's the next best position I should move it to, just behind the radiator ( but still close to the elephants trunk manifolds) or Infront of the rad in the nose area?
Anyone done this (or have you all done it already?) - any issues to be aware of regards extending the wiring, or possible water ingestation from the grille area?
Cheers,
Phil.
Some fit a heat shield and leave it at that, there used to be a wrap around jacket available for it too.
I was under the impression the Maf is supposed to be close to the throttle body but not sure if there is any truth in that.
https://www.actproducts.co.uk/product/sp005-rover-...
I was under the impression the Maf is supposed to be close to the throttle body but not sure if there is any truth in that.
https://www.actproducts.co.uk/product/sp005-rover-...
I didn't mean to boast, apologies if it seemed like that. It's just that for you to go through so many MAFs makes me wonder if they have been shoddy quality. There are many poor quality parts or ones with the brand name having been sold on (eg Lucas). 
Have they all been the Chinese variety? I bought a 'cheap' stepper motor once and the idle was all over the place until I bought a proper one.
I have read about failures of MAFs, I've had TVRs on and off for 25 years. The closest I got was checking the voltage outputs of a Chimaera from the MAF when I had poor running, it turned out to be a vacuum leak from the plenum not being sealed well enough, by me.
I've used my TVRs on hot days, although not the VERY hot days, except the Cerbera I had for a year.
I also have always had cars with the cats still fitted so it gets very hot under there. I've put some rubber tubing on the bonnet strut of the Griff after touching it when the engine was hot, ouch!
Have they all been the Chinese variety? I bought a 'cheap' stepper motor once and the idle was all over the place until I bought a proper one.I have read about failures of MAFs, I've had TVRs on and off for 25 years. The closest I got was checking the voltage outputs of a Chimaera from the MAF when I had poor running, it turned out to be a vacuum leak from the plenum not being sealed well enough, by me.
I've used my TVRs on hot days, although not the VERY hot days, except the Cerbera I had for a year.I also have always had cars with the cats still fitted so it gets very hot under there. I've put some rubber tubing on the bonnet strut of the Griff after touching it when the engine was hot, ouch!
Can’t believe the design of the engine bay,let’s put nearly all the exhaust metalwork under the bonnet and hope for the best.massive design fault in my view.had a 400se back in the day only hot bits were the manifolds and obviously the engine,never had problems with heat soak.but hey ho adds to the constant challenges of Tvr ownership.
They were made bigger in part of the facelift from 1996 onwards.sixor8 said:
I've had 3 x Chimaera and now a Griff, I've never had a failed MAF. One Chimaera had over 80k miles on it, and I've never added extra protection either. Used on very hot days too. Have I just been lucky?
Nope. I’ve done a quarter of a million miles and never had an issue either. Weird one OP
tty MAFs rather than specifically the heat. First MAF was replaced by Andrew in Brierly Hill ( TVR specialist) for a new old stock, genuine Lucas 5AM, that cured the shunting, coughing, over/under fueling and made it wonderfully drivable - for a year.
It was laid up SORNed during COVID lockdown, but unfortunately when I returned it to the road the original shunting, etc returned. So, on the recommendations of one of our senior members, an early Discovery MAF was sourced via eBay, this was undoubtedly the best period of quality driving on and off over 18months, but again it failed after the winter storage layup, last year.
Another old Disco MAF was sourced after I'd changed out the points, rotor arm, ignition amplifier, leads, plugs, plug extenders, plug socks and distributor cap, at the suggestion by one of our forum members.
I even submitted Rovergauge readings whereupon a plenum leak was thought to be culprit ( I purchased a smoke generator to find the leak) - but all to no avail!
I then purchased a cheap Chinese MAF, out of desperation, fitted it and instantly all the issues disappeared!!!
The car was again laid up over last winter, I don't know about you, but I found it very cold, wet and foreboding, not wanting to even set foot in the cold garage, untill the last few days that have re- encouraged me to get the car out and get it MOT'd.
It started up great, drive the 10miles to the Test station very well, but just before I arrived it over heated to 110°
I nursed it onto the MOT ramp and let it cool down enough to top up the empty cooling system, it passed the MOT, but struggled to start and run correctly - yes you guessed it, shunting, coughing and farting due to MAF issues again.
It has obviously suffered from "cooking" the electronics on the inside of the MAF, that are so closely exposed about 100mm from the LH exhaust manifold.
I shunted back home, fitted a £35 Chinese MAF and although not perfect, is running properly again.
The cheap MAF is not very good controlling the car from cold but after 3 or 4 minutes ticking over, once the engine is warm it is perfect.
I've cured the water loss issues, several of the silicon hose worm drive clips were slightly loose only manifesting themselves through the use of a (you guessed it!) cheap and cheerful Chinese pressure testing kit, where an adaptor and pump are connected to apply 15psi of pressure into the cooling system, via: the blue capped swirl pot.
I can categorically confirm that overheating has caused two of the 4 previous MAF's to fail.
Temporary aluminium foil insulation has now been fitted over the MAF, with a short term plan to relocate it into the nose area, away from engine cooking!
Interestingly the MAF position on the Discovery and Jags that use the Lucas 5AM is in that same place apparently.
So, no, not all down to cheap crap MAF's!
Cheers,
Phil
It was laid up SORNed during COVID lockdown, but unfortunately when I returned it to the road the original shunting, etc returned. So, on the recommendations of one of our senior members, an early Discovery MAF was sourced via eBay, this was undoubtedly the best period of quality driving on and off over 18months, but again it failed after the winter storage layup, last year.
Another old Disco MAF was sourced after I'd changed out the points, rotor arm, ignition amplifier, leads, plugs, plug extenders, plug socks and distributor cap, at the suggestion by one of our forum members.
I even submitted Rovergauge readings whereupon a plenum leak was thought to be culprit ( I purchased a smoke generator to find the leak) - but all to no avail!
I then purchased a cheap Chinese MAF, out of desperation, fitted it and instantly all the issues disappeared!!!
The car was again laid up over last winter, I don't know about you, but I found it very cold, wet and foreboding, not wanting to even set foot in the cold garage, untill the last few days that have re- encouraged me to get the car out and get it MOT'd.
It started up great, drive the 10miles to the Test station very well, but just before I arrived it over heated to 110°
I nursed it onto the MOT ramp and let it cool down enough to top up the empty cooling system, it passed the MOT, but struggled to start and run correctly - yes you guessed it, shunting, coughing and farting due to MAF issues again.
It has obviously suffered from "cooking" the electronics on the inside of the MAF, that are so closely exposed about 100mm from the LH exhaust manifold.
I shunted back home, fitted a £35 Chinese MAF and although not perfect, is running properly again.
The cheap MAF is not very good controlling the car from cold but after 3 or 4 minutes ticking over, once the engine is warm it is perfect.
I've cured the water loss issues, several of the silicon hose worm drive clips were slightly loose only manifesting themselves through the use of a (you guessed it!) cheap and cheerful Chinese pressure testing kit, where an adaptor and pump are connected to apply 15psi of pressure into the cooling system, via: the blue capped swirl pot.
I can categorically confirm that overheating has caused two of the 4 previous MAF's to fail.
Temporary aluminium foil insulation has now been fitted over the MAF, with a short term plan to relocate it into the nose area, away from engine cooking!
Interestingly the MAF position on the Discovery and Jags that use the Lucas 5AM is in that same place apparently.
So, no, not all down to cheap crap MAF's!
Cheers,
Phil
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