I'm planning on cleaning up the IAC (idle air control) and MAF (mass air flow) sensors on my 97 Ranger with 2.3L SOHC engine. Being this is the first time I've done it, I figured I post a couple pictures of were/what I believe the two sensors to be. And, hoping someone who's done this before may weigh in on where/what the sensors are, how to clean them, etc. I'm going to ATTEMPT to add some more pictures, etc for others with the same engine, etc. There is a lot of info out there, and well, I seem to get very good info/advice right here at this forum. Hopefully if I do this correctly the first time, with good results, and someone may be able to follow it to do that same...

 

The MAF is a sensor, Ford uses a Heated Wire MAF, it only samples about 15% of the incoming air, the air flowing passed the heated wire cools it down, the amount it is cooled tells the computer the WEIGHT of the in coming air
Air weighs more at sea level than at 2,000ft, air gets thinner/lighter as you go up in elevation
Colder air is heavier than warmer air, i.e. "hot air rises" that is because it is lighter and floats on the cooler air, and the reason "hot air balloons" can fly, lol.

Why is the weight of the air important?
Because air:fuel ratios are all based on WEIGHT, NOT volume
Gasoline uses 14.7:1 ratio, thats 14.7 POUNDS of air, to 1 POUND of gasoline.

So MAF data tells computer the WEIGHT of the incoming air.
If MAF sensor is dirty, its like an insulation layer on it, so it can't report air weight accurately.
Spray cleaners are fine to use, but they need to be 0 residue cleaners, which electronic spray cleaners are, these can be purchased at electronic stores cheaper than "MAF Cleaners" at auto parts stores, just FYI.
Your engine computer is programmed for your engines displacement, 2.3 LITERS, so it knows the engine can pulling 2.3l liters of air at WIDE OPEN THROTTLE(WOT) every 2 RPMs, so it can calculate the volume of the air at any given RPM or throttle position.
But what it can't calculate is how much one liter of air WEIGHS at the current location of the engine, and thats what the MAF is for



IAC Valve is a control not a sensor, semantics, lol, it doesn't send back information to the computer.
It has 2 wires, 12v wire with key on and then computer controls the Ground wire, it pulses the ground to open and close the IAC Valve to set air flow to intake when throttle plate is closed.
Computer uses the Crank position sensor to get the engines RPM and then uses that to set "target" RPMs in memory based on engine coolant temp, it uses IAC Valve to set that RPM, and it should be accurate within 5 RPM.

Yes, that would be great for you to document the cleaning of these for future use

 

I cleaned the Mass Air Flow senor. It was easy enough. It's contained in the section that latches to the air filter. Mine looked clean but I sprayed it real good with electronics cleaner anyways. I've attached a picture.

 

Nice, thanks

 

Cleaning the IAC (idle air control) wasn't much harder than the MAF (mass air flow control). In the middle picture above the IAC is located on the firewall side of the intake and to the left of the EGR. My IAC has two 8mm bolts holding on. Once removed it I made sure to keep connector side up and preceded to clean the tar out of it with carb cleaner. I also used some Q-tips to help clean some of the gunk out. My gasket was still in good shape, so once done I bolted it back on and plugged it back in...

I'm not going to say there was a night and day difference after cleaning the MAF and IAC, but the truck definitely idles more smoothly and to me is worth the effort...

 

Good work