One of the cool things about owning a website is that you can see what visitors have been searching for before landing on your site. Over the past few weeks there has been a number of people looking for information on Mass Air Flow (MAF) meters so I thought I’d note some info down.
The 360 uses two MAF meters, one for each bank of cylinders. The units are made made by Bosch – the Ferrari part number is 171707 and the list price is several hundred pounds (note the Challenge Stradale users larger MAFs from the 599). However, the exact same part can be bought from any Bosch dealer by using the reference number 0 280 218 012 – they are identical except for the packaging. Do not get duped into buying a cheap copy of a Bosch MAF – the signal they produce is generally not stable enough under the very wide parameters that this engine operates under.
If you are fault finding and suspect that one of your MAFs is producing an error code it can be easily tested by swapping the MAFs from side to side. As each bank has a separate ECU, the error code will change from one bank to the other if the MAF is faulty. Note that the engine has a cross flow intake system.
These MAF meters are the “Hot Film” type and work by suspending thick film resistors in the air stream flowing into the engine. The resistors are heated by the electrical current flowing through them and cooled by the air flowing over them. The more air that flows over them, the more the resistors are cooled. By measuring the amount of heat dissipated the corresponding air flow can be calculated.
Changing the MAF is very straightforward. First off the unclip the electrical connection to the sensor.
Next undo the four bolts and two clips holding the air filter cover in place and remove the cover.
The MAF is now just held onto the “bellows” with the large metal clip. I use a pick to prise the clip open slightly, just enough to increase the diameter and slide the MAF out.
The replacement MAF can then be pushed into the bellows. I tighten the clip up with a pair of these:
All that’s left is to refit the air filter cover and the electrical connectior (I like to clean the contacts on both the MAF and the connector – see below for what I use). Don’t forget to reset the ECU and let the engine relearn the adaptive values.
Read more about the Ferrari 360 air intake system here: Link
Aldous Voice 
Is it necessary to replace the complete MAF or can I just remove the two bolts holding the MAF sensor and replace with a new one from a new Bosch MAF?
Thanks.
No – you can replace the sensor and retain the old body. You will need pentalobe bits to undo the screws though.
Hi Aldous, my electrical connectors to MAFs seem to be very tight and difficult to disconnect. Any tricks to unclip them easily without damaging the connectors? Thank you.
No tips other than to press the release button down firmly and be careful when pulling! They will come of in the end….
Thanks Aldous, I got it!, the tip is to “push” the whole connector forward first, clip will become loose and it can now be pressed and released itself out of the L shape “lock” on the MAF.
Hi Aldous.
Are you aware of a method to test a MAF other than swapping it
Yes you can scope the signal