Hwo important is the wire mesh grille behind the AFM?

[fo3]

I was doing rad/coolant work today so I had parked on the side dirt verge. Because of dirt/grass I was just throwing parts in the car on the seats/floor rather than on the ground, bench or somewhere neat and safe like I would if working on my driveway.
I needed to remove the airbox to get better access to the expansion tank level sensor and I must have thrown something on top of the AFM which was kept attached to the airbox. So that mesh at the back of the sensor is torn.
Do I need that mesh/grille? Should I replace it, leave it torn as is or just remove it?

[yukon101]

If I am understanding correctly you are talking about the metal grate on the mass air flow, it stands to stabilize the airflow as to get a more accurate reading and would serve to be a last chance save if anything big somehow made it past the air filter. I have heard about minimal horsepower gains without one as the MAF would be thinking it is getting more air than actual. For this one I would say it is more of personal opinion to replace it or not. Would it hurt to replace the MAF, no and would be good preventative maintenance. Would it harm the MAF, it could potentially. That's just my two cents at least.