MAF Converter...99% READY TO ROLL!

[bmwman91]

Yes, I will be supplying the connector with the wires crimped in.  The only cutting & splicing you need to do is on the stock vane meter's connector harness.  I will provide the conectors and uncrimped pins for that as well.  You can manage with some needlenose pliers and a soldering iron if you cannot find the right terminal crimpers.  You need the type to do open-barrel terminals.  I will also provide a wiring diagram/install manual.

[nobrakese36]

SWeeet my cousin has a spare vw MAf sensor that has mathcing part numbers. There are plently of junkyards around, so i think all i will need is the adapter. let me know when they are ready to ship,thanks.

[bmwman91]

Continuing to post whore.....

I am seeing about getting some dyno time tomorrow afternoon.  A shop near my office has one (the place I went years ago), so I can try to slip in during lunch.  This thing better make a damn difference!  I guess if it proves to be worthless for the M42, the M20 HAS to benefit from it.  I am too far into this financially to give up lol.

[bmwman91]

SWeeet my cousin has a spare vw MAf sensor that has mathcing part numbers. There are plently of junkyards around, so i think all i will need is the adapter. let me know when they are ready to ship,thanks.

The adapter is the square-to-round transition on the front of M10 AFM's or inside the airbox.  Some M20's had them too.

[Nathan]

you can get a cone filter with the square to circle adaptor for 25 dollars shipped on ebay buy it now. that cuts a bit from the total. I got mine on there. for my regular afm setup.

so Im thinking for those with stock air box:

250 converter
25 cone filter and square to cone adaptor (search "e36 cone" {check: title and descriptions})
100 maf
 20 GM sensor

total: 392 + mounting hardware (if you mean more than the square to circle)

 or if already coned 370 + mounting hardware (if you mean more than the square to circle)

Does this sound about right?

looking forward to the dyno results.

[D. Clay]

A bit off topic but what does a chassis dyno run cost?

[bmwman91]

They did 3 runs for $65 last time I was there.  I think we got a discount because 3 of us were there, but who knows.  I will look into a run with the VAM, a run with the MAF + airbox, and a run with MAF and velocity stack + ricer filter.

Anyway, I need to know what sort of interest there is in this.  I need at least 10 to sell for me to be able to afford the parts.  A quantity like 10 does not exactly fetch me any sort of quantity discount lol.  This batch of parts is gonna cost me, but I need to know if people actually want this still before I drop every penny I have on parts.  Of course, I supose interest is hinging on the dyno results lol.

[m3someday]

Mannnn!....if your MAF converter was ready about 2 months ago, i would have booked one regardless of the dyno results!!!....but now, since i've invested quite a bit for the piggyback fuel controller, i got to think twice.

Side issue... how did u rig up the o2 sensor to get your logged data? i think its quite good if i can rig it up and read the realtime voltages on my controller. What o2 sensor did u use? what kind of output does it give for lean/rich situations?

cheers mate.....happy 2007 to everyone on this thread!

[bmwman91]

I am running an LC-1 Wide-Band O2 system from http://www.innovatemotorsports.com .  Best $200 I ever spent on anything diagnostic related.  It has two analog outputs, both programmable.  One output comes programmed to simulate a narrow-band sensor (the kind ours, and prettymuch all production cars use), and you can hook it right up to the Motronic's EGO input.  The other one is fully programmable as well.  Right now, I have it set for 0V output at 10:1 AFR, and 5V at 20:1AFR.

They provide software that will monitor AFR's via serial port, and just about anything else if you want to drop the $$$ on their system.  I made my own little test unit and used the second analog output.

For reference, here is the difference between a narrow-band O2 sensor output, and a wide-band sensor.  NB sensors are ONLY accurate at the stoichiometric ratio.  It is a crapshoot everywhere else.  This is why the AFR's were oscillating...the ECU will see the voltage is too high, so it richens things up until the voltage is too low, then leans it out, etc etc....it will never be able to hold the AFR axactly at 14.7:1.

[silverblades181]

I've heard of an O2 sensor blind...not too sure what it does but apparently it keeps the mixture at 14.7...ever heard of it?

[bmwman91]

My guess on that would be:

You hook the 'blind" input to the ECU and tell it that the mixture is perfect all the time.  You also install a Wide-Band sensor from which you can tune.  Then, you do whatever the hell you want with the air flow input, fuel injectors, etc to "tune" the injection system hardware as you want.  The ECU will not toss fault codes or retard the timing/run "limp mode" maps if it thinks the mixture is correct, and you can make the mixture whatever you want it to be.  Just my guess.

[Ramblin MAn]

Hi, Devils Advocate, or monkey with a wrench here. I went through three MAFs on my SAAB before I got a good one that actually worked. It solved all of my mystery performance issues that had plagued me since getting the car. It was the last resort as I'd replaced EVERYTHING else.

Is there any provision for adjustment of your unit to take different and possibly dying MAFs into account? Have you done any comparrisons using a different but same part# MAF? Can you be sure the MAF you used was actually any good?

I know these questions are a little late, but I figure they ought to be asked. If someone pulls a MAF at the junk yard and hooks up your unit to it and complains becuase it runs like crap, it may be the MAF, it may be your maps from you MAF, who knows. You'll probably want a couple "proof" installs to be sure.

[bmwman91]

Good questions.  The one I am using looks to be brand new.  I got it from Euro Nation in a trade, along with another one.  The other one was pretty oily, and actually gave me a little trouble.  This one did not have a speck of dirt on it and looked like it had never been used.  IIRC he said it was brand new...I will double check though.

So yeah, I will make sure everything is proper before I let any loose on everyone, so if you get a bad junkyard MAF, you know it is the MAF giving the trouble.

[bmwman91]

Well, Son of a B.  The shop I dynoed my car at years ago no longer does it for the public, and the other shops I knew of no longer have the dynos.  There are a couple other places, but they are booked until the end of January, or not answering the phone on weekends.  For some reason, a few runs on a dyno costs $130+ now, when I used to have it done for $65.  WTF?!

So, I guess I could look into a GTech meter, but the one that lets you download the run data is friggin $300.  I need to figure something out.....

[Ramblin MAn]

Couldn't you just do some old fashioned stop watch runs? Dyno charts are great, but if you post some 0-60 and roll on times in 3rd 4th and 5th I'm sure everyone will have a better idea of what to expect in a real world situation than a dyno chart would show anyway. Plus its free. You just need someone consistent on the timer.

The best part is you get to do several 0-60 and roll on runs.