Help me sleep. MAFIA question.

[1sloGT]

So I finally pulled the trigger and paid a shop to install my Paxton. I provided an hpx I bought off here. They said hpx is busted and went and installed a Mafia with my stock maf. I was out of town and out of reception so they just made the call thinking I wanted to save costs. It's all going in blow through.

Dyno appointment is day after tomorrow. Do I call it off, reschedule forever from now, to get a new hpx? Tuner is confident all will be fine. Only looking for 450-475 with this setup.

My biggest concern is if I decide to get rid of the mafia later for peace of mind, I'm thinking that'll require a whole new tune... Yes?

Most of my searches are coming up avoid Mafia like the plague. I'm thinking I already know the answer here. I'd really like my car back though and funds are super tight after dropping all this coin on install and my wife deciding she needs to compete in cyclocross and now needs a new bike.

 

[01yellerCobra]

Yes, if you decide to get rid of the MAFia you'll need a new tune. How did they decide the HPX is bad?

 

[1sloGT]

Something about tables not loading/refusing to load.

 

[NoviBlownGT]

Shop did the same thing to me when I had my Paxton installed in 2009... I'm still running the mafia but am switching out to blow-through with an HPX-E. I never had any real issues with the Mafia. I would just keep on in there for a while until you have some funds built up to swap out to a blow-through setup with new maf and your choice of bypass valve.

 

[blownGTvert]

Something about tables not loading/refusing to load.

Not sure I get this reasoning from your shop. The Maf transfer table needs to be changed if using the HPX or the Mafia. Less time on their part if using the Mafia which is just a voltage extender.

I guess it's possible the HPX was faulty. My suspicion is that they didn't want to bother taking the extra time required to dial the Maf curve in with HPX.

 

[702GT]

I've read a lot of hit and miss with HPX MAF sensors. A lot of rumor on how they produce their MAF's as well, which if true, would explain why their MAF's are hit and miss.

Personal experience, had a buddy with a '00 GT Vortec V2. Car would not start with his HPX MAF (blow-through slot style) on the startup tune provided. Tuner tried several startup tunes and the car would not fire up. We were in a jam at the dyno shop so we took my stock MAF out of my car and put it in his. Car fired right up. HPX gave him a hard time about exchanging the MAF so we never got to verify if the MAF was bad or what was wrong with it. He ran my stock MAF on a MAFia and made 580whp on it. No issues with the MAFia.

I currently run a stock MAF and MAFia on my D1, no issues.

If you want a clean aftermarket MAF, go for a SCT BA5000 (or whichever fits your desired power level best).


On another note, a MAFia is barely needed at 450-475. I believe my MAFia is on range setting #1.

 

[1sloGT]

Thanks fellas.

 

[stkjock]

I ran a MAFia on my 06GT Vortech at 460 hwp on a MD for 4 years, car ran great, never an issue

 

[01yellerCobra]

Something about tables not loading/refusing to load.

I haven't tuned an S197, but the only tables I deal with are in the software. That's not a MAF issue. That sounds like a tuner issue to me.

I ran a Lightning MAF with a MAFia for a few years in an old set up. I never had an issue, but I stepped up to a BA5000 eventually to lower the amount of parts to worry about on my car.

 

[1sloGT]

Definitely feel better guys. Dyno day is tomorrow. I've wanted a blown mustang since I first read mm&ff pre 2nd grade. Bummed about the hpx, but doubtful its my shop guy being lazy. I took the risk buying used and then had to sit on it for a year as shit just kept popping up. He is meticulous and only takes one car at a time and has floored me with his level of service.

 

[1sloGT]

So just a little bump for anyone searching like I was less than a year ago. Mafia died in less than a year. Everything is hooked up there is just no light inside. Took out/fouled my spark plugs and o2 sensors before I found it. Car is hard parked till I can get a re tune with a ba5000.

 

[skwerl]

Don't use either, the stock MAF is fine. I ran 14 lbs of boost and 643hp on a stock MAF without issues. Quit trying to fix shit that ain't broke.

 

[1sloGT]

Don't use either, the stock MAF is fine. I ran 14 lbs of boost and 643hp on a stock MAF without issues. Quit trying to fix shit that ain't broke.

Just doing what the new tuner recommends. If I were smarter/Brucier I'd be right there with you.

 

[JeremyH]

Don't use either, the stock MAF is fine. I ran 14 lbs of boost and 643hp on a stock MAF without issues. Quit trying to fix shit that ain't broke.

Umm, no its not the op is blow-thru on the maf in smaller pipe, in no way shape or form will the stock maf be adequate. A larger tube on draw thru will clearly have a lot more range.

So just a little bump for anyone searching like I was less than a year ago. Mafia died in less than a yearEverything is hooked up there is just no light inside. Took out/fouled my spark plugs and o2 sensors before I found it. Car is hard parked till I can get a re tune with a ba5000..

Just doing what the new tuner recommends. If I were smarter/Brucier I'd be right there with you.

PMAS makes all the slot mafs. At first they were all reworked oem hitachi mafs when the slot maf first came out and then a few years in they switched over to completely new programmable mafs. PMAS makes the BA5000 for SCT. So hardware and tune wise the hpx and ba5000 are identical. I have run and tested both I direct swapped them on my car to test as well. On that note we use the hpx as it doesn't have the sct cost mark up. Zero issues ever hardware wise with them, a lot of the early issue you can find was tuners not have plug and play data when they first came out that's all.

 

[BruceH]

Don't use either, the stock MAF is fine. I ran 14 lbs of boost and 643hp on a stock MAF without issues. Quit trying to fix shit that ain't broke.

He's running a blow through, much different than a draw through maf setup. Even a draw through will peg the maf before the 500rwhp range unless it's mounted in a very large intake tube. IIRC a Paxton draw though tube is good to about 450rwhp before an extender is needed. It's been quite awhile since I've had a Paxton with the supplied draw through so don't take it as a hard number.

A maf extender or recalibrated maf is a necessity in his case.

OP, IMO the right way to do it is with a pmas hpx or ba5000. It requires recalibrating the maf xfer table but so should any custom tune. That's what data logging is for, to record what's happening and adjust what the computer thinks airflow is for a given maf voltage.

If the statement about "not loading the maf table" is correct then it's still not a big deal because nobody is going to just load a value file table for the maf xfer and leave it alone. No matter what the application is the maf xfer will need adjustment by the tuner. The starting tables should be in the ballpark.

IIRC the supplied maf xfer table for a ba5000 never worked in my applications. Neither did the software that calculates airflow based on tube diameters and blow through or draw through setups. It was always way off.

This doesn't mean the meter is malfunctioning, it means that the maf xfer table needs to be adjusted. This is something that's done as part of the tuning process.

 

[LTHLCHRG]

Something about tables not loading/refusing to load.

I just sent mine back to pmaf last week due to an issue, and they sent me a brand new one. The stand behind there product. Dealt with Beth Allen.

 

[pics06gtstang]

I just updated mine to th BA5000 , my stock maf and MAFIA was not working well on my new motor / S/C setup.