jbossolo

Here's the deal:
I finally got tired of blowing MAF's (last one 2 weeks ago, after putting the car through one of those "hands-free" high-pressure car washes), my theory is it got wet from all the water. I parked it for a couple of days until I had time to take it to the shop, and when I finnaly drove it, the warning lights had gone off (ABS, PMS, Check Engine). I decided to dump the EVO airbox and got one from Vivid Racing (Agency Power airbox).
Going against conventional wisdom, I made more than one change at a time and got a change of spark plugs at the same time. To further mess things up, my mechanic recommended NGK Iridium plugs. To make a long story short, the car drove like crap! Lots of misfires in the upper rev range. Last night my mechanic came to my home and changed the plugs to NGK Laser Platinums (listed as OEM?), and corrected the gap on them (he had erroneously set it at 0.6, when they are supposed to be 0.32), the car ran perfect for about ten minutes, then blew the MAF again!!!
Car runs fine, but all three lights have gone on again, today at a DE event a Porsche technitian did a quick diagnostic and got back code P102, which I believe is for failed MAF.
What should I do?
Do I take it to the dealer (200 miles away), or just replace the MAF and see?
Also, should I consider going with Kevin's "beefed up" MAF?
Any opinions regarding spark plugs are also welcome.
Thanks!

C DeVito

I suffered from misfires at 26K miles. I replaced the Beru's with Denso Iridiums but I disregarded the shop manual's gap of .60 and used .32 which works great. 1.0 bar of boost and no misfires. I have always had good service from NGK and would expect them to work well with the right gap. Iridium is suppose to hold up better under extreme conditions. The plugs should have no affect on the MAF however.

Do the two intake boxes both use an oil/gauze based air filter? Also what boost are you seeing?

jbossolo

The Vivid box uses a K&N cone filter, I didn't oil it at all. I have Kevin's 1 bar flash, seeing 1.1 and occasional 1.3 bar.
It's a bit frustrating that when I add what I paid for the EVO, the Vivid, and all the MAF's it's about the same as Kevin's CF work of art! Maybe I should have gone that way!

killerbee

For the moment wouldn't it make sense to reinstall the stock box ? I that you have aftermarket diverter valves ?

Oak

let me get this straight you dumped the evo box because of blown mafs and installed the vivid which is bacically the same design what would you expect? hard to beat the stock box and filter for actual surface area. do you think the wimpy cone filter has more surface area than the stock filter?

the evo box in notorious for consuming mafs. I wouldn't be surprised if the vivid box does the same. it's essentially the same design.

Kevin

Like Oak has mentioned.. The stock factory intake filter has alot more surface area vs a cone filter.

The carbon airbox also has the same filter. I run the Bosch FR6LDC and recommend them to all my customers. One can gap them to .032.. I dont see the misfires.

Make sure that you are installing the correct MAF.. 996 606 124 00 Bosch 0 280 218 009

The good thing is Vivid says that they will replace your MAF if it blows!!! Make sure you get the correct one.

Oak

that's reassuring to know vivid will stand behind blown mafs with their box. might be worth it just for the new mafs.

Chuck Jones

I would seriously consider skipping the "hands free pressure car wash" in the future. There's just too many angles the water is sprayed under high pressure and it gets into areas that normal aerodynamics would bypass.

MK19

Which NGK plugs are being used in place of the Bosch FR6LDC's? I've always thought the NGK' s superior based on my use in later Ferrari's that just plane ran better with the later. I searched NGK's site, but they only take you to a copper plug BKR7EKC-N for the TT. www.sparkplugs.com takes you to a Denso but not either Bosch or NGK.

Thanks for any help.

jbossolo

I'll give Vivid a call tomorrow, regarding the MAF. Will keep you posted.
killerbee: I do have the EVO billet diverter valves. No issues there. Re-installing the stock airbox will be my final option.
oak: Vivid did extensive testing of the stock, Fabspeed, EVO and their airboxes (the only manufacturer that I've seen do this) and found an increase of 32hp and 22ft/lbs over stock. I agree the stock one has more area, but how would you explain the dyno data then?
http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=94512
Chuck: I'll definitely avoid this type of wash from now on!

Oak

jbossolo, evo and everyone else made claims also. good luck.

jcb-memphis

I just did the plugs...Beru came out at 26k...pretty black looking to me (naive eyes). I put the one's in that Kevin suggested. No issues.

I just changed the plugs and wires on my 1993 rangie (aka the invincible beater car), actually had to do it at night with a flash light..don't ask...it was about 32F that night too.......rebuilt that engine.....in 15k...no blackness.....these turbos must be tough on plugs...

I had wanted a CAI...saw all the problems, and decided to change the stock element a lot...

Just my way of thinking.. :-) If the stock box could be modded to have a second snorkel "cheaply and easily" I would do that. Kevin's is my favorite at present.

One could even argue that the fabspeed is ok as it doesn't blow MAF's afaik. It probably would get wet though.....for bad weather, the stock box has been awesome. Did a 3 hour run in 34F rain today to visit a post-op person....no issues.


Good luck. Please keep us posted.

JB

hardtop

I don't see vivid paying for a MAF if you were already blowing them.

FlyYellow

on the power side of the discussion: i have an evo air box (i bought the car with it) and i've been really curious of whether it makes more power than a stock box. i did follow the vivid post as well, but i'd like to point out a couple of salient points:

1. the vivid post on 6speed: well the first run was done on Aug 3rd at 1:10 in the afternoon. That is about the hottest part of the day with temp averages of over 100 degrees. the second run was done on Aug 15 at 7:34PM which could get down to about high 70's low 80's.

so one might ask how much a 20 degree temp spread may effect the results. furthermore the cars were run a couple weeks apart and it could have been raining one day and boiling at the other. it could even be two different cars. the operative point is i can't draw any meaningful conclusions from the supplied dyno sheet.

2. i'm very skeptical of air intake power benefits. the reason is that i actually tested them on my last car. i switched 3 different air intakes and all the aftermarket ones actually made less power than the factory air filter. after that i sold my aftermarket units and put in the factory motor sound and called it a day.

3. i really have to stick to logic. if the factory airfliter has more surface area - why would this one make more power????? And the first person who tells me about a RAM air effect is the person who needs to grab a shovel!

4. I have seen better air intakes designed. The design process is long and cumbersome and isn't cheap.

my 2 cents. i hope someone gets to the bottom of this!

btw, how much is kevin's carbon fiber piece of art?

Boris

jbossolo

Send him a PM and he'll tell you. But read my second post closely and you'll get a "guesstimation"!