If the vehicle came with an aluminum MAF (Mass Airflow Sensor), the casting is pretty rough and more restrictive than the plastic units that eventually replaced them. Easily obtainable at any junk yard, pay attention to the amount of wires coming out. There should be 6 because an added bonus of upgrading is that the newer plastic MAFs included the temperature sensor, simplifying the intake. Make sure to get the MAF with the wiring harness so that the old temperature sensor can be eliminated and the new one built in to the MAF can be wired up, a simple task. The older aluminum and plastic units with the newer temperature sensors have the same signals and do not disrupt the ECU operation.

The downside is that the plastic MAF cannot be ported as well, but it does weigh less and offers a good compromise between having the restrictive center post of the aluminum MAF or the leaned out fuel mixture of a fully ported MAF.

Also see

• Intake air temp sensor relocation
• Intake options
• Mass air flow sensor porting
• Mass air flow sensor cleaning
• Stock intake modification
• Ford Escort & ZX2 section for the entire index of all Ford Escort and ZX2 related articles.