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MAF engine code and CAI installed

2K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  drPhilGandini 
#1 ·
I recently put in a CAI on my 986 1998 Boxster. And after really getting into it one day, my car started reading a mass air flow sensor condition. Basically saying large vacuum leak at engine, defective or dirty mass air flow sensor.

Do you guys think that this is truly a defective MAF or is it from the CAI I have installed? All the connections on the CAI are tight, except for the cone at the very front, it seems to be able to move, but it only turns (spins) and I don't feel any suction anywhere on the intake. But even if it was the cone, would the MAF not adjust for the increased airflow? That is what I am thinking, but its just odd that it occured right after really getting into the boxster on a backroad and hitting about 120mph.

Please give your opinions, I need some experienced advice, MAF with a lifetime warranty were i work is about $200, ebay is at like $100 with no warranty.
 
#9 ·
Excuse the related, but tangential question: When the OP says "CAI" does that mean a higher flow replacement airfilter, or what those with other (non-mid engine) cars call a cold air intake, which is a pretty complicated system that isolated the entire intake system from the engine bay and provides ambient or lower (via ram effects) air to the throttle body?
I've yet to see an equivalent system for a Cayman/Boxster.
 
#11 ·
Well, it's the number of O atoms we are really interested in, so air mass is what's being increased with a cold air intake. Cold air contains more oxygen atoms per unit of volume than hotter air, hence the focus on cold air intakes. But I see no evidence, as I have posted elsewhere on this forum, that there has been any focused efforts to increase the oxygen mass in a Cayman/Boxster intake system. Air flow has been addresses with larger throttle bodies and redesigned plenum chambers, but that's only part of the equation.
I spent 5 years on the MINI forums optimizing the supercharged airflow in the R53, but see little opportunity to hone my skills on my Cayman. I still monitor air intake temperatures, and the approaches seen in a Cayman are reasonable.
 
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