Ive had a slight hesitation problem around 2-3k rpms for about 2 years now. I changed almost every sensor known to man and did all normal maintanence only to find the problem still existed. The other day i was bored so i spliced into the ground wire for the MAF and added another ground. Now my hesitation problem is finally gone and the car feels great. Just figured I would let everyone know to try this first before going out and spending money on sensors like i did. Hope it helps.

 

No kidding!! That's phsycho!! Good job finding that!!
I was thinking along the lines of the air intake, but not the ground wire.
I was just slightly underpowered around 3-4rpm when racing, but I just put a K&N air filter in, and that small lag is completely gone.
Thanks for the tip!!

dave

 

This is an old mod from the SE-R list, so I'm not surprised it helped. The SE-R spec was 9 mV or less from MAF ground to battery ground. Time to improve grounding if it's higher than that. Not sure what the Maxima system spec is, but it's probably similar.

 

Which wire is the ground? I'm considering this mod because it seems to work on a lot of imports.

My hacked airbox and my HKS intake do exhibit slight hestitation at part throttle from 2000-3000 sometimes. All intakes seem to do this since they remove resonators and pressurization of the stock intake tract. I don't think the extra grounding will help things, but I can't hurt.


Dave

 

it sounds kinda crazy but i still belive you, im gona try it cause its a free mod.

 

It's the center (black) wire. The red is +12V and the white wire gives the MAF reading to the ECU.
It's easy to backprobe the back side of the black wire connector and see what the MAF ground voltage is at idle relative to the battery ground. If it's below 9 mV (0.009 volts), then it might not make a difference but could be worth a shot in your case. Extra grounding to my fuel injectors had a noticeable effect.

 

where did you ground the MAF to? what part of the engine bay did you use as a ground point?

 

So who is going to be the first to do a complete write-up on this with pictures, cute little arrows, and all the other bells and whistles?

- Steve

 

You can use the engine ground, right where the negative battery cable connects to, or direct to the negative battery terminal since the MAF is right there.

 

I nominate you

 

BTW, here's the SE-R.net article about it:

http://www.se-r.net/engine/maf_ground.html

 

i used the drop resistor from the tranny....just sanded it down a little bit

 

I just did this mod. Didn't get a chance to drive it yet. It's 12am here now and wet out. I did check the resistance from the MAF to the battery and MAF to block. MAF to block was 030, MAF to battery was 015. I used a 16 gauge wire and one of those crimp splices and ran a wire to the neg terminal on the battery. I would have properly spliced and soldered the wire on, but there wasn't much space and the MAF ground wire was very small gauge. It would have been hard to splice my 16 gauge wire on to it. Readings from block to MAF is now 031 but ofcourse MAF to battery is now 000. =P Like Dave said, extra grounding can't hurt. I hope..

 

please post results when you drive

 

Is there any reason why I would want to ground it to the block rather than the neg terminal?

 

thats crzy to see that u get improvments from that , i think i will try it

didnt know ground wire made such a difference,

question- when they installed my budget ypipe there was a ground wire that connected to a bolt from my stock y ipe, they cut the ground wire off , saying it didnt do nothing, is this true , or should i try to ground it again? do u think it would make a difference?

 

I just did this. The orginal reading was 019. I tapped into the MAF ground and soldered a wire in and then ran it to the block ground. The reading now is 002. I took it for a spin and my car felt pretty strong at part throttle and WOT acceleration. I didn't notice the slight hestitation I sometimes get from 2000-3000, but the verdict really won't be out till I can test thing multiple times. It's simple to do though and now I know my MAF was a bit out of spec.


Dave

 

Why did you choose the block ground rather than the neg terminal? The neg terminal is a shorter run. Unless you just used any bolt on the engine. Isn't the block ground near the wiring harness on the front of the engine?

 

Keep us informed on your progress and results. I have a slight hesitation at WOT that I am sure wasn't their a while back. Will try this mod and see how it goes.

Pedro

 

They lied. That strap is important. Have them fix it and never go back to that lace again. Don't get an explanation, just tell them to fix it.

 

What Does That Strap Do??

 

Gasses flowing through the exaust generate static electricity. The ground strap makes sure that the exhasut system is properly grounded so that the O2 sensors wont have any problems.

Cutting the strap was just shoddy workmanship by the shop. It shows they are all about taking shortcuts and then lying to customers to cover their a$$.

 

Provides a nice ground for your o2 sensors.

 

Cool - that should help smooth things out and maybe notice a bit more throttle response. Let us know how it turns out.

 

Where does the strap run to/from? What kind of wire is it?
I had my Y installed, so I'm going to check and see. I don't remember
seeing one before or after the job...

 

It's a small woven metal strap that has a ring terminal around the driver's side cat-to-Ypipe bolt and is connected to the body on the other end.

 

This sounds like something i can do while my car is down...i was dealing with a little minor hesistation myself.

 

i cant believe that guy didnt know what he was talking about, he works on many cars on the org, i dont know if i should mention his name, but he has a shop here in NY and deals with mostly maxima cant believe he messed that up, so now with it off i think its not connected at all , he took off the ground wire and threw it out with my old Ypipe, so i should go under and reground it again ? what are the side effects of just leaving it?
thanks for your feedback

 

So are you guys cutting the MAF ground completely off and making a whole new ground or just like making two grounds?

 

no cutting just solder or tap it to the existing wire. in fact im gonna do this mod righ now since I have 30 min to kill. I dont think I have any hesitation problems or anything but hey its free

 

doing mine now as well...

 

I need to see some pics here people!

- Steve

 

No you don't. It's been described in detail several times.

 

Thats twice now you've burnt me in this thread.

- Steve

 

That's twice you needed it

 

Finished with mine. I will report on how it drives later on...

 

Did you solder it or just clipped in on?

Pedro

 

im about to do mines in a little bit, ill post right after i go for the test drive.

 

I used one of those plastic wire taps.

 

Did mine as well, felt ok when i test drove it. When I got into my driveway, felt like checking the ECU, got the knock sensor code, doh! I dont know if it was from before or just happened. I resetted it and we;ll see what happens.