Cleaning out the MAF
Well, I took out the MAF, took it to my workshop and removed the important bit from the plastic tube. There appeared to be about 4 short wires, about 5-6mm long in line with the flow of air, in a sort of venturi formed in the plastic moulding at the top. On close inspection I found a small bit of unidentifiable grot on the front-most wire. In addition there was a metal surface lower down and partially covered by the plastic moulding. I used a cotton bud, dry, to hook out the piece of grot. I then replaced the whole assembly, and started the car from cold. It idled perfectly. It now accelerates much much better...feels like a different car. Auto gear changes are, however sometimes not as gentle as they used to be: not as smooth, and sometimes quite abrupt. Apart from contamination from the airflow, I don't see what there is to degenerate electrically in the MAF. Thermistors/resistive devices are generally very reliable devices, the least likely to fail of all electronic devices, as long as they are not over-run by putting too much current through them. I think I shall investigate further cleaning methods.
