I finally got around to cleaning the MAF using Hobbit's wonderful instructions and photos. I was motivated after seeing a couple pictures of throttle plates that were covered in soot. Some say that the MAF can be removed without other disassembly, but the bottom screw is in a very inconvenient place and removal of the plastic air filter body is *so* easy I recommend taking out the body. Then removal of the MAF from the air filter body is easy. These iPhone photos are taken after removal of the air filter, air filter body, and disconnection of a hose and electric socket. First photo from a distance for orientation, second photo showing the throttle plate, and third photo showing the throttle plate rotated. The glare in the bottom of the throttle body is a sheen of oil, I gather expected. A small amount of deposits have formed along the circumference of the plate, but not enough to bother cleaning until next big maintenance. The plate easily passes past advice to manually rotate the plate to verify free movement. So although some owners encounter gunky throttle plates, my engine seems to fart quite cleanly.
Whatever the cheapest brand name is available. Usually ends up either Valero or Phillips66 fuel stations, or Costco perhaps 10% of the time.
I gotta ask.....if you got that far along, why not just clean it anyway and know that it's good for a long time? Even if it didn't look that bad, I probably would have just done it because I'd have gone that far, so what's a little more. Just out of curiosity.
Two reasons: First, that would have been the smart thing to do; and second, I was too lazy to track down the carb cleaner and brush.
lol i'd probably have done the same thing in the end and then later gone back and just done it because it would bother me that i didn't. i've gotten pretty good at testing things before fully re-assembling them (outlets, light fixtures, etc), but i always find that i don't have all the necessary tools with me when I first get started. I even got a toolbox that was going to be my "current task toolbox" and it turned into the catch-all. I've got so much stuff in it, that it's a pain to carry around so now I try to take out what I think I'll need to do a task.
Wick1ert shamed me into going back to clean the throttle plate today. Was a 5-10 minute job total. Who knows, in 5 years when it is time to clean again I might even remember how to do it, now that I have some muscle memory
