More and more car owners are trying to maintain their vehicles by themselves. This outcomes in substantial cost savings because modern cars necessitate more and more maintenance and are done up of more and more technical components that result in new breakdowns or inconveniences. One of the complications that disturbs more and more Opel Insignia owners is a clogged air flow meter, which will lead to a loss of power and black exhaust gases. In this article we are going to examine how to clean the mass air flow sensor of your Opel Insignia? . First, we will show you how your mass airflow sensor operates and its value, second, why it might be important to clean this sensor , and at last, how to clean the mass air flow sensor of a Opel Insignia .

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Utility and operation of the mass air flow meter of a Opel Insignia

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So we start our content with the procedure and purpose of your Opel Insignia flowmeter.

The purpose of the mass air flow sensor on Opel Insignia

The mass air flow sensor is a component that has been created actually quite not long ago and specifically equipped on diesel models. In actual fact, with injection engines, the fuel and air intake has become very precise and it is therefore important for the ECU to know the exact volume of air added into the engine to adapt the behaviour of complementary intake parts such as the injection or the EGR valve, if you have problems with the EGR valve on your Opel Insignia, do not hesitate to seek advice from our content on this subject.

Mass air flow sensor operation on Opel Insignia

Now, we are going to take a look at how it operates, before trying to clean the mass air flow sensor of your Opel Insignia , you must already understand how it functions to do this maintenance act accurately.

The mass air flow sensor is therefore specifically there to get statistics on the air intake of your car. To do this, it must be mounted just after the air intake of your Opel Insignia, i. e. just after the air filter. It is a pipe equipped with a sensor that will analyze the air in the intake and transfer the statistics to the ECU of your car.

Why clean the mass air flow sensor of a Opel Insignia?

The mass air flow sensor of your Opel Insignia can have complications and this is what we will try to find out and understand what complications you might be struggling with!

Mass air flow sensor complications Opel Insignia

Here are the different complications that the air flow sensor of your Opel Insignia can bring about:

  • higher fuel consumption: Because a dirty flow meter will actually lead to excessive fuel consumption because of poor air flow…
  • Power loss: Associated with similar issue, this lack of air can bring about a loss of power to your engine.
  • Difficulties starting the car: Finally, one of the last classic complications connected with a dirty flowmeter will be that your Opel Insignia will have more issues to start the vehicle.

How do I clean the mass air flow sensor from a Opel Insignia?

After reviewing the operation and problems that the flowmeter can bring about, we will look at how to resolve these complications by explaining to you how to clean the mass air flow sensor of your Opel Insignia . You should know that this process is actually quite basic to conduct and you will not need advanced mechanical skills to do it yourself, a good way to avoid a trip to the garage and a steep bill. See below the different steps to stick to to conduct this maintenance act:

  • After having located the mass air flow sensor of your Opel Insignia , you will have to dismantle it. To do this, act gently, but you will just have to disassemble it on both sides of the air duct and detach the electrical plug on top of it.
  • Once taken apart, you will have the ability to carry on to the step cleaning the mass air flow sensor of your Opel Insignia . This sensor will, over time, get dirty and its two “filaments” that will give information to your computer on the quality and temperature of the air will no longer have the ability to collect data accurately, it is in this sense that it will affect the operation of the engine unit of your Opel Insignia. The purpose of this cleaning will be to remove all its impurities to enable it to work efficiently again.
  • Let soak the lower part of your mass air flow sensor (not the plug part) in acetone or another solvent for a few minutes , which will remove most of the grime
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  • Now we’ll move on to the very gentle cleaning of the flow meter filaments. You have to be very cautious, in any other case your mass air flow sensor will be permanently damaged. With the help of a fine brush and solvent, gently clean the two filaments of your mass air flow sensor . If you are too afraid of harming it, you can also clean them with a brake fluid in the form of an aerosol by spraying the jet on these filaments.

Now you know how to clean the mass air flow sensor of your Opel Insignia , you should feel a noticeable difference in the behavior of your engine unit.

To discover more tips on the Opel Insignia, take a look at the Opel Insignia category.