More and more car owners are trying to maintain their cars by themselves. This outcomes in significant cost savings because contemporary cars necessitate more and more maintenance and are made up of more and more technical parts that result in new breakdowns or inconveniences. One of the problems that affects more and more GMC Terrain owners is a clogged air flow meter, which will result in a loss of power and black exhaust gases. Today we are going to take a look at how to clean the mass air flow sensor of your GMC Terrain? . First, we will show you how your mass airflow sensor operates and its advantages, second, why it may be relevant to clean this sensor , and finally, how to clean the mass air flow sensor of a GMC Terrain .

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Utility and action of the mass air flow meter of a GMC Terrain

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So we start our content with the operation and goal of your GMC Terrain flowmeter.

The intent of the mass air flow sensor on GMC Terrain

The mass air flow sensor is a component that has been developed actually quite not too long ago and mainly outfitted on diesel models. Obviously, 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 loaded 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 GMC Terrain, do not hesitate to seek advice from our content on this subject.

Mass air flow sensor operation on GMC Terrain

Now, we are going to check out how it operates, before trying to clean the mass air flow sensor of your GMC Terrain , you must already find out how it functions to do this maintenance work correctly.

The mass air flow sensor is therefore mainly there to collect info on the air intake of your car. To get this done, it must be mounted just after the air intake of your GMC Terrain, i. e. just after the air filter. It is a pipe outfitted with a sensor that will review the air in the intake and transfer the info to the ECU of your car.

Why clean the mass air flow sensor of a GMC Terrain?

The mass air flow sensor of your GMC Terrain can have problems and this is what we will try to find out and understand what problems you may be struggling with!

Mass air flow sensor problems GMC Terrain

Here are the different problems that the air flow sensor of your GMC Terrain can generate:

  • higher fuel consumption: Because a dirty flow meter will necessarily end in more significant fuel consumption because of poor air flow…
  • Power loss: Associated with similar problem, this lack of air can generate a loss of power to your engine.
  • Difficulties starting the vehicle: Finally, one of the last classic problems connected with a dirty flowmeter will be that your GMC Terrain will have more troubles to start the vehicle.

How do I clean the mass air flow sensor from a GMC Terrain?

After reviewing the operation and concerns that the flowmeter can generate, we will look at how to resolve these problems by describing to you how to clean the mass air flow sensor of your GMC Terrain . You should know that this operation is actually quite simple to perform and you will not need advanced mechanical skills to do it your self, a good way to avoid a trip to the garage and a steep bill. Discover down below the different steps to stick to to perform this maintenance act:

  • After having found the mass air flow sensor of your GMC Terrain , you will have to dismantle it. To get this done, work gently, but you will just have to disassemble it on both sides of the air duct and disconnect the electrical plug on top of it.
  • Once disassembled, you will be able to carry on to the step cleaning the mass air flow sensor of your GMC Terrain . 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 be able to collect data correctly, it is in this sense that it will disturb the operation of the engine of your GMC Terrain. The intent of this cleaning will be to take out all its impurities to allow 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 take out 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 careful, otherwise 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 as well 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 GMC Terrain , you should feel a noticeable difference in the behavior of your engine.

If you need more guides on the GMC Terrain, go to our GMC Terrain category.