mass air flow alternative
 

i have an 88 turbo 7mgte with a bigger intercooler and full exhaust stock fp and injectors and i have discovered my MAF is bad is there an alternative to buying a 600 dollar new one i was thinking of getting a maft and a gm sensor but i wanted to know if any of yall knew of something else i could try

Well, I'm a month late, but I figure I'll throw in the answer for future reference or in case you're still looking.

In your situation, if you're just looking for a simple solution to install an affordable and very well flowing MAF in place of the KVAFM and you're not looking for anything beyond that, I'd stick with the MAF-T.

The MAF-T, as you already know, allows you to run a GM MAF with your vehicle in place of the stock meter. The MAF-T is vehicle specific... there is no support for the 7M-GE and the 7M-GTE version is not compatible. This is the least expensive route I know of to get a nice large GM MAF (up to 3.5" in diameter) installed in the MKIII.

The MAF-T Gen II is a BIG step up from the original MAF-T. It allows you to install a GM MAF but it also functions as a fuel controller AND it will integrate with an onboard wideband controller to automatically track air to fuel ratios in open loop operations. It also can be connected to your laptop to log your runs so you can tweak your tune after the fact... and you can save your settings.

The MAF-T Pro is the top end of this family.... and it's a big dog. It has all the features of the last two (GM MAF translator, fuel computer, automated AFR correction, data logging) and adds timing control, boost control and the ability to eliminate the air flow meter through the use of a manifold pressure sensor and temp sensor (known as speed/density after the two factors used to calculate the actual flow). There are a couple REALLY cool things in deveopment right now too... really cool ;) Do note that boost control on the MAFT Pro is dependant on you running a speed/density setup... it requires the MAP sensor.

For more information on these all go to www.maftpro.com

Then there is the MAP-ECU, another laptop accessible piggyback used specifically to remove the air flow meter in favor of a speed/density system. This system is also capable of fuel tuning, timing control and AFR tracking... I do not know much more about this unit. The official website is here: http://www.mapecu.com/


The MAFT Pro is probably the most popular piggyback system with MKIII enthousiasts at the moment. It is VERY extensible and upgradible. To date there have been no charges for any of the firmware upgrades which have brought us a LOT of new features since I first bought mine. BUT, this is definitely not the system for someone who just wants to splice a few wires, flick two or three setting switches and be done with it. Both the Gen II and the Pro have a learning curve... it is steeper than the learning curve of the MAP-ECU from what I've been told, but they do have a very large support base.

These are all piggyback solutions. They do not replace the stock ECU, they merely interface with it.