Where, oh where, has my MAF sensor gone?

[UnWoRtHy]

......Oh where, oh where could it be?

I was hanging out with a couple friends of mine the other day. One of them drives a 94 Talon, and the other will soon be driving a 93. We were talking about mods, and the subject of intakes came up. He was talking about how intakes on 1G's are a pain because of the "huge, diesel-ass MAF sensor". I was then asked how I did my MAF sensor when I put my intake on.

Uhhh...I didn't have to do anything. Old intake off...new one on. I didn't have to unplug any wires or anything from anywhere. So out to my car we went, popped my hood and then played a joyous game of find the phantom sensor. And we couldn't. There's no loose wires...nothing dangling, and the car runs beautifully. So my question to anyone out there with a 95 N/A Talon or Eclipse....Where's da MAF at, yo?


Also, a here's a two part question unrelated to my hiding sensor...but I may as well get them in in one post. 1) One of my aforementioned friends has connections to a guy at a junkyard who just got in a 96 Eclipse GSX that was totaled from the rear. He says that he could get me the turbo and all the goodies to hook it up for reasonably cheap, and seems to think they'd bolt right on. I was under the impression that Eclipse and Talon parts didn't mix...at least as far as turbo, non-turbo goes. 2) And the second part, my car's automatic *sigh...* but I can't afford to have the tranny swapped right now. I could also get the 5-speed tranny out of the Eclipse I mentioned in part one. But again, I don't know if it'll bolt up. Back to this question. I know the function of a wastegate, and how it works...so if I were to put a turbo on my car with my automatic tranny that doesn't let off the gas when it shifts, wouldn't it blow my tranny to pieces? I imagine shifting into second gear with full boost flying out of the turbo would suck a tiny bit. Is it POSSIBLE to put a turbo on an automatic tranny?

Any words of wisedom on any of the above subjects would be much appreciated. Thanks guys. Late.

 

[SpeedFreak03]

Not sure about the MAF sensor thing, I think its called a MAS on DSMs tho, and I know on 2Gs its bigger then on 1Gs.

1. Well first just to straighten things out, Talons and Eclipses use the SAME EXACT parts just about everywhere on the car (except exterior and some interior pieces, but everything under the hood is the same). You are right though about turbo and non-turbo parts not mixing - totally different engine. Anyway your 2G N/A has a 420a motor, while a 96 GSX has a 4G63T 2.0L motor. I don't think the exhaust manifold from a 4G63 will bolt up to a 420a. Next, a 96GSX has a T25 turbo, VERY small. If you were gonna invest money into turbo'ing your car, at least use a decently sized turbo (14B from any 1G turbo DSM, or a 16G)! Also the stock sidemount intercooler (would that even fit on a N/A??) is pretty small, I would look for a front-mount. Check out the non turbo performance forum on here, see where the people who converted from N/A to turbo got their exhaust manifolds from.

2. Not to insult your intelligence but are you sure you know how a wastegate works? You are confusing wastegates with blow-off valves. Think about this - you got the pedal floored, turbo spooled up, throttle plates all the way open, uh oh its time to shift! So you let off the gas, throttle plate slams shut. Where does all that air go that the turbo is pushing? Thats where a blow-off valve comes in to play. When the throttle plate slams shut (let off the gas), the BOV detects this, and releases all pressure in the system (thats the PSHH sound you hear in turbo cars). This allows the turbo to stay spooled up without breaking anything! So now you shift and get back on the gas, throttle plate opened all the way. Finally your turbo spools up to 16 PSi (or whatever your boost controller is set at), so your WASTEGATE opens up. Instead of the exhaust gases going through the turbo, they exit right into the downpipe and out to your muffler. Lets say there was no wastegate, your turbo would just keep going faster and faster till something blows up!

Now back to your situation with an AT. Well there are a lot of turbo cars (including DSMs) with automatic trannys. Since you never let off the gas, the throttle plate never slams shut, right? And automatic trannys can take all the power that the turbo pushes out, lets say in any auto car, you put the pedal to the floor and the RPMs rise to 4-5K before it shifts. Does the tranny explode? Nope! Same thing with a M/T, the engine is still spinning at 4-5K when you shift, but they can handle it. It doesn't make a difference if its boosted or not. I hope this is clear, if its not ill try to explain better. Good luck! BTW the wrecked car is AWD, so its a totally different tranny anyway.

 

[UnWoRtHy]

Thanks for clearing that up. You're right, though. I was confusing/mixing functions of a BOV and a wastegate. And that does make sense...as there ARE automatic turbo'd cars out there. I'm learning slowly but surely.

 

[SpeedFreak03]

Yea it is all really confusing, if you have any questions feel free to ask, im no expert but ill do my best !

 

[92redman]

I've never seen an N/T 2g, but Chrysler doesn't use MAF they use speed density so it is entirely possible that 2g N/Ts have a MAP sensor and not a MAF. I am not sure because like I said, I haven't seen one in person or even looked a pics of one.