Thankyou thankyou thankyou

My question is

I have a 1999 Pontiac bonneville SSE (non supercharger)

My MAF went dead

AFH50M-05 8Y12 original part

I had a credit at the junkyard and they gave me

AFH50M-04 5706 re-manufactured part (stamped)

The car ran fine with no engine light on for over a month, now it stalls once in a while and the check eng light pops up intermittently. I noticed when i compare the 2 MAF'* the stem piece looks different is this the wrong MAF for my car? Also i cleaned the junkyard MAF with crc electrical cleaner (filaments only) and it ran a little better but still eng light and a few stalls?

any help would be much appreciated!

I just had the ignition system replaced $360 and now this should i buy a new MAF or can i cheap out here with ebay? Also i noticed that CRC sells a special product for cleaning MAF'* is this a gimmick and the same as the electrical cleaner?

http://www.amazon.com/CRC-05110-Mass.../dp/B000J19XSA

Unfortunately, to my knowledge, MAFS cleaner is the only safe way to clean a MAF sensor. If you have steady hands and see visible gunk, some people have tried a Q-tip soaked in the stuff, but I wouldn't recommend it.

If you've already replaced the MAF sensor and still have trouble, it'* either the wiring or something else. Pull out your code reader and post the codes.

Try unplugging the MAF, the engine will stumble a bit but will then smooth out and run fine. If this is better then when the MAF is plugged in, the MAF is bad. Generally you should have the same MAF. However, if the difference is small it should be OK, but could throw the tune off a bit.

I don't feel it'* worth buying a new MAF, a reman will be just fine.

In my opinion.
If you got sensor from bone yard I think it kind of becomes un-reliable. It'* used and you don't know where it comes from. Ive always lived under the premise that electical items from scrap yard could fail any time and usually do. therefore not really worthwhile. Unless you know them real well abd you know where it came from and that mileage on part is decent.
If it turns out to be bad I think you should fork out the coin for a new one, most likely be last one you need.

Did you scan for code?

thanks guys im going to try unplugging the MAF tomorrow and see what happens......

If you have a voltmeter, could you backprobe the signal wire and measure the voltage at idle in drive? I don't know that the 3.8L specs are for the MAF, but they're probably similar to others. My Grand Marquis MAF was 0.6 V at idle. If the voltage is more that 30% higher, it'* dirty and needs replacing or cleaning. I could try to measure my signal voltage and tell you what I get.

I've found some electrical contact cleaners don't do much. The MAF cleaner I got was much better. I also heard that one guy had a bad computer. His MAF signal was ok, but the computer wasn't reading the voltage right.

Thanks that hyperlink i provided above for crc MAF cleaner maybe i'll give that a shot?

I used the crc MAF cleaner. It seemed to make a bigger difference. I was VERY liberal when I washed the wires with the stuff. I gave the wires about 15 shots each, on both sides.

OK picked up some crc MAF cleaner....I used a whole can of the electrical cleaner with some result...... alas this is my last hope and then im buying a new onedh2

Please check your signal voltage for your MAF. It should be 0.6 V at idle. If you're getting 0.6 V, your MAF is probably ok and you will be wasting money on a new MAF.

I heard of one guy who had a MIL for a bad MAF. It turned out to be a bad computer, not the MAF.