So I did the CAGE mod last year and noticed a smoother engine lower down..

Then it all went a bit rough.. So in a panic cleaned out as much of the grease as I could, though it didn't seem to help.

Truth is the car just needed a service and we had a cold snap and it was my first winter with a diesel so wasn't used to it.

So a year on, and I got a full service at Browns the other day (Top Lads) and Asked their opinion on the CAGE mod and they said it was a worth while tweak. (I feel I should add.. If you do this it's at your own risk.. I just asked their personal opinion, not if they'd recommended doing it)

So this morning before heading out to work I grabbed the grease and smothered it back on!...

And, I've gotta say... it DOES make the engine just the little bit more eager.. a little less rough. Like it felt last time I did it. Of course, having the intake system cleaned out whilst being serviced will of helped as well as the fresh oil and filters.. but I really do think the cage mod adds just a little something to the running of the engine.

It has been suggested in the past though, that the act of disconnecting and re-connecting it a few times is actually what improves the connection though.. either way,

....Just a point to note.. Don't Over do it with the dielectric grease. I don't think you can do any damage by using to much but you sure as hell won't get the frigging connector back on! hehe! The air - tight back pressure caused by the grease was quite impressive.. just could not get it to "click" back on.. I ended up having to take some grease back out... then it went on with a nice click!

Edited 14 November, 201015 yr by Rob.

I couldn't get it unplugged :(

Still have the unopened tube of grease.

Cut my finger quite badly trying to get the connector apart.

Gave up in the end.

Sounds interesting, but what is the CAGE mod?

Yea I have never heard of it ......

CAGE mod is named after it's "creator" as so many pikey mods are.

Basically, you shove a load of non-conductive grease in the connector for the MAF to stop any electrical cross talk across the 5 metal pins.

A decent MAF connection = Decent MAF readouts = decent air flow evaluation and ECU adjustments.

It's not a night and day thing.. and TBH, if your car's young it prob makes no difference, but on the older motors like my own (04/70k) it seems to help out a bit.

It's also quite telling that for a while the more expensive VAG's got gold platted connections on the MAF.

Here's Cage himself right at the start of it all Cage's Forum Post.

Edited 14 November, 201015 yr by Rob.

I couldn't get it unplugged :(

Still have the unopened tube of grease.

Cut my finger quite badly trying to get the connector apart.

Gave up in the end.

Yeah, they can be tricky.. sometimes you gotta give them a lil push before you pull.

im going to give this ago anyone got any info on the products they used?

Well, I got THIS STUFF from Maplin.. But can't find it on their site anymore.

from here

from here

Yea I have never heard of it ......

glad you posted, i didnt want to be the 1st to ask....

will the ford silicone you use to stop leads sticking on plugs be any good????

Gotta say I did the 'Cage' Mod to my 85,000 mile (2002) fabia TDI and noticed absolutely NOTHING to change the car.

Infact the only thing that has happened in the 6+ months since I've done this mod is, I've had the car go into LIMP mode a handful of times, necessitating in switching the engine off and restarting to cure it. Don't know if they are connected (prob not!).

But NO the cage mod didn't do crap for me

Did it when car was fairly new and it cured the cold-first-few-miles-problem - never heard it called stumbling before , but it's a good description. Every year I clean and regrease and 100K later still happy. It seems the grease insulates the poor contact areas where an electronic bounce effect makes the chip think that there were two or more signals instead of the one proper one. Recommended.

Gotta say I did the 'Cage' Mod to my 85,000 mile (2002) fabia TDI and noticed absolutely NOTHING to change the car.

Infact the only thing that has happened in the 6+ months since I've done this mod is, I've had the car go into LIMP mode a handful of times, necessitating in switching the engine off and restarting to cure it. Don't know if they are connected (prob not!).

But NO the cage mod didn't do crap for me

TBH, I think you've got something else going on there mate, Maybe your MAF is goosed? This can't fix a bad MAF.. just helps out good ones.