if you take your mass flow censor off your car, there is a black plastic mesh at the very front of it, its a siliencer and restricks air flow, using a screw driver and a hammer, you can knock it out from the back side(the end furtherest away from the mesh). the just reassemble your intake. Its alot louder and has better throttle responce and doesn't void any warranty.

 

it will void the warranty on the flow meter if your dealer sees you have been messing with it.

 

it would only void the warranty if removing that piece is what caused it to malfunction to begin with, then you just put it back in

 

personally, i'd rather not mess with a $200+ sensor on my car for a measly 1-2hp.

 

will it cause anything else to happen like... the check engine light to come on or something.... have you already done this before walight01, please post some pics if you can.
thanks.

tuan

 

i did it abot 40k ago, my car is in the shop right now getting a new tranny b/c my decided to blow up at 54k. yes i have 54000 miles or else i would go take pics real quick. there is no check engine light, the piece is designed to quite the intake and that it, only problem is that also restricts air flow, when i took mine off, i didn't tell my wife so when she drove it, she thought something was wrong b/c it was really loud. your not messing with the sensor itself, just a plastic piece in front of it, just take off the Mass flow sensor and just look at it, you will see what i mean

 

Hey i just took it out.... i does have a better sound... or i can be crazy... it came right out... i can slip it back on if i want to also... didnt break it or anything... just use a screw driver and poke it out.


tuan

 

AcoupDetat
do you have a aftermarket intake or the factor one??? if it is still stock, go buy a 25 cone filter and stick it ont he other side side of the mass flow sensor

 

The black mesh is to protect the needle form damage if something where to get by the air filter, I would remove the mesh if I were you. The air flow meter in canada is about $1200.00 so is it worth it?


Jim

 

there is also a housing around the needle to protect it also

 

Since there seems to be some difference of opinion here, could someone clear up some questions for me.

Oneoes the screen have a protective function or is it only there to provide additional silencing?

Two:If the screen is removed, does this provide any measurable performance increase or only an increase in intake noise?

Three:Assuming an increase in performance, would this be noticeable in the stock system or only with an aftermarket intake?

Thank you in advance for any information that you can provide.

02 DX Millenium Red
MP3 Strut Tower Bar kit
AEM Short Ram intake

 

for such a small piece, i doubt there is any performance gain. plus, from the looks of thie piece, i would suspect it is there for some sort of protection.

 

as much room as the grip takes up, first it causes turbulance and second it just takes up alot of room. but hey if you don't want to take a chance then don't.

 

I took a look at this piece this weekend and I would suspect that it has more to do with directing the air then protection. First off, its directly after the air filter, I seriously doubt that that grid of plastic is gonna offer any protection from anything that made it through the filter. Secondly, if you look at the way air passes through the filter box, it would make sense that the purpose of the piece is to stabilize the air flow before it enters the MAF.

With that said. I think removing it with the stock intake system would be more of a hinderance than an upgrade...not noticable, maybe you car runs a little richer/leaner than it did before because you are not getting a good measurement of the air.

I think that in an aftermarket CAI like the Injen or the AEM it would be beneficial (minorly so) to remove it. Air is already traveling in a straight path right through the MAF, so the piece would no longer be needed in this configuration.

Removing it would yeild little to no noticable difference in HP all by itself, however....if you couple that with several other mods, it all adds up.

 

I did this a while ago, and finally spent sometime doing a writeup.

Go here to see it.

http://www.4g61t.com/protege/article...21028210432439