# Anyone rip the screens out of you MAF housing?



## warranty225cpe (Dec 3, 2008)

Well, I did it last night in hopes that it would increase flow. My liquidTT says I gained roughly 12-15gs of air flow, during some similar condition pulls. Feels nice:thumbup:


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## Chuckmeister87 (Nov 10, 2009)

warranty225cpe said:


> Well, I did it last night in hopes that it would increase flow. My liquidTT says I gained roughly 12-15gs of air flow, during some similar condition pulls. Feels nice:thumbup:


 Did you happen to take pictures? Keep us posted on this. I wanna know what happens to your car later on down the road :sly:


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## Mantvis (Jan 1, 2010)

Chuckmeister87 said:


> Did you happen to take pictures? Keep us posted on this. I wanna know what happens to your car later on down the road :sly:


 x2


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## 20v master (May 7, 2009)

Ran for a long time like this on my GTI with no problems. Did you log AFR or even note fuel trims before and after? 

Edit: Technically, you're removing material that increases the MAF cross sectional area, so you're changing housing sizes. How much you're changing would take some calculations, but you will see a shift in fueling due to this. Also, it's not recommended if you just have a filter clamped to your MAF. Ideally you want either 6" of straight pipe before the MAF or a velocity stack to make the airflow laminar before it hits the sensor.


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## Senater_Cache (Dec 28, 2007)

20v master said:


> Ran for a long time like this on my GTI with no problems. Did you log AFR or even note fuel trims before and after?
> 
> Edit: Technically, you're removing material that reduces the MAF cross sectional area, so you're changing housing sizes. How much you're changing would take some calculations, but you will see a shift in fueling due to this. Also, it's not recommended if you just have a filter clamped to your MAF. Ideally you want either 6" of straight pipe before the MAF or a velocity stack to make the airflow laminar before it hits the sensor.


:thumbup:


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## rodhotter (Dec 24, 2003)

*gutted MAF*

after reading article on autospeed.com i removed both in my 01 jetta 1.8T, 150,000 like that no issues, recently did my new 01 TT 225Q, its said to be the biggest restriction in the system, also added a modshack air intake


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## jwalker1.8 (Mar 4, 2008)

The screen is there to keep airflow straight (while crossing the sensor)and reduce turbulence...Audi engineers didn't do this to reduce power


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## frostyflax17 (Feb 7, 2009)

not that i advise cutting the screen, but unless you're running a mafless file, it's best to keep the flow as clean through the maf as possible to it can read it properly. 

Install a cold air intake and maybe a coupler with some veins in it with the 6" straight pipe before the maf. just my 2cents


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## Marcus_Aurelius (Mar 1, 2012)

jwalker1.8 said:


> The screen is there to keep airflow straight (while crossing the sensor)and reduce turbulence...*Audi engineers didn't do this to reduce power*


Correct but they also didn't do it to maximize power! Their main goal was to increase accuracy of the mass air reading, even when overall efficiency took a hit. You have to remember they also had to deal with packaging the whole intake - and an airbox with a panel filter creates a lot of turbulence heading towards the sensor.

With an aftermarket open cone filter paired with a good V-stack, these screens become more "airflow restrictors" than "flow straighteners". In some case (there are right and wrong ways of doing this) removing them will increase airflow going to the turbo by a small percentage ( just like removing any other restriction will ). :beer:


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## Marcus_Aurelius (Mar 1, 2012)

frostyflax17 said:


> *Install a cold air intake and maybe a coupler with some veins in it*


 Care to expand on this a little bit? I'm sure there are others besides me that would love to hear it!


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## 20psi now (Feb 26, 2009)

Marcus_Aurelius said:


> Care to expand on this a little bit? I'm sure there are others besides me that would love to hear it!


X2


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## frostyflax17 (Feb 7, 2009)

take a fleixble hose and route it further away from the place of the airbox with a cone filter on the end of it so it's getting fresh air, i've seen them routed to where the smic was if you have a fmic (cold air intake correct?). 

there's something called a flow straightener available through a couple different companies, aem offers one last i knew. it just is a couple veins that go crossways that help with the turbulence. 
along the lines of this









i'm not sure how much they actually help, but it seems like a good idea. to smooth out the airflow. 

i don't have any info to back it so feel free to correct me if i'm wrong.


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## [email protected] (Jul 1, 2009)

Badger5 has experimented with this ad nauseam. While he found increased readings at the sensor, power level was unchanged. Basically, all you're getting by removing it is an inaccurate number.


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## jason bouchard (Aug 25, 2005)

does the maf control boost at all?? if its seeing wrong readings can it put the car in limp mode ? ( going from 20 psi to 10 psi)


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## warranty225cpe (Dec 3, 2008)

[email protected] said:


> Basically, all you're getting by removing it is an inaccurate number.


 I wonder if the velocity stack in my AEM will help "straighten" the flow..?


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## Marcus_Aurelius (Mar 1, 2012)

jason bouchard said:


> does the maf control boost at all?? if its seeing wrong readings can it put the car in limp mode ? ( going from 20 psi to 10 psi)


Not really, the N75, N249 and the pressure sensor on the plastic pipe under the battery are what have most control on your boost parameters. What you are describing is not even limp mode but something like a wastegate opening under boost or bad diverter valve dumping your boost under WOT. 

I have your post on the 1.8t technical asking for help but I avoid getting involved too much nowadays since there are so many self proclaimed experts roaming around the technical section.


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## Marcus_Aurelius (Mar 1, 2012)

warranty225cpe said:


> I wonder if the velocity stack in my AEM will help "straighten" the flow..?


Yes it does! The MAF screen is designed to help with OEM type setup that are very turbulent at the sensor location. With a "real" v-stack intake from 42 DD and a guted S4 housing, I get mass airflow reading consistency that is arguably better than when the was stock with the flow straighteners...


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## warranty225cpe (Dec 3, 2008)

Marcus_Aurelius said:


> Yes it does! The MAF screen is designed to help with OEM type setup that are very turbulent at the sensor location. With a "real" v-stack intake from 42 DD and a guted S4 housing, I get mass airflow reading consistency that is arguably better than when the was stock with the flow straighteners...


What's the deal wit the S4 housing? It just allows more flow right? What do you have to do to adapt to a larger MAF? I have the ability to addapt to a larger MAF through my liquidTT(%).


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## Marcus_Aurelius (Mar 1, 2012)

warranty225cpe said:


> What's the deal wit the S4 housing? It just allows more flow right? What do you have to do to adapt to a larger MAF? I have the ability to addapt to a larger MAF through my liquidTT(%).


The deal with the S4 MAF *housing* is that it is 3" ID just like the piping in front and behind it (should be noted that there are more than one size S4 MAF housings). The point is to keep airflow smooth and unrestricted in the TIP - going from 3" on the intake to a 2.75" housing and back to 3" again doesn't sit well with me! BTW the OEM sensor is retained and I know that my mass airflow readings are "low" by a known margin (the cross sectional percentage increase on the housing). Since I tailor my fuel delivery and AFR, I can compensate for the lower reading margin.

You cannot adapt or compensate for a larger MAF housing with VCDS or liquid TT. You'd need at least maestro to do that (there is an entire map to re-populate) :beer:


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## rodhotter (Dec 24, 2003)

*what vag does to limit power*

lets start with looooo boost, and if you ever seen a stock 1.8T downpipe from an 01 jetta, tell me WHY?? OEM's do whatever is cheapest to get the desired results, restrictions of any kind in intake or exhaust limits power, although OEM's think you are not supposed to hear an engine run, the reasoning behind some of their engineering


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## 20psi now (Feb 26, 2009)

rodhotter said:


> lets start with looooo boost, and if you ever seen a stock 1.8T downpipe from an 01 jetta, tell me WHY?? OEM's do whatever is cheapest to get the desired results, restrictions of any kind in intake or exhaust limits power, although OEM's think you are not supposed to hear an engine run, the reasoning behind some of their engineering


What's this have to do with "removing" the screens out of the MAF?? There talking about adding a V-stack to the MAF with no screen in it and how the sensor is reading the air flow...


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## warranty225cpe (Dec 3, 2008)

20psi now said:


> What's this have to do with "removing" the screens out of the MAF?? There talking about adding a V-stack to the MAF with no screen in it and how the sensor is reading the air flow...


Agreed, I keep seeing this guy respone to my threads with what ALMOST amounts to jibberish. I guess some people just need to be heard. Regardless if it makes any sense or not:screwy:


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