More and more car owners are trying to maintain their vehicles on their own. This results in considerable savings because modern cars involve more and more maintenance and are made up of more and more technical components that lead to new breakdowns or inconveniences. One of the problems that disturbs more and more Lexus RX owners is a clogged air flow meter, which will end in a loss of power and black exhaust fumes. Today we are going to look at how to clean the mass air flow sensor of your Lexus RX? . First, we will teach you how your mass airflow sensor functions and its advantages, second, why it might be important to clean this sensor , and at last, how to clean the mass air flow sensor of a Lexus RX .

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Utility and action of the mass air flow meter of a Lexus RX

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So we start our content with the process and role of your Lexus RX flowmeter.

The aim of the mass air flow sensor on Lexus RX

The mass air flow sensor is a part that has been developed quite recently and principally outfitted on diesel models. In actual fact, with injection engines, the fuel and air intake has become very precise and it is so important for the ECU to know the exact volume of air injected into the engine to change the behaviour of complementary intake parts such as the injection or the EGR valve, if you have problems with the EGR valve on your Lexus RX, do not hesitate to seek advice from our content on this subject.

Mass air flow sensor operation on Lexus RX

Now, we are going to look at how it functions, before trying to clean the mass air flow sensor of your Lexus RX , you must already understand how it works to do this maintenance work correctly.

The mass air flow sensor is consequently principally there to obtain statistics on the air intake of your car. To get this done, it must be mounted just after the air intake of your Lexus RX, i. e. just after the air filter. It is a pipe outfitted with a sensor that will review the air in the intake and transmit the statistics to the ECU of your car.

Why clean the mass air flow sensor of a Lexus RX?

The mass air flow sensor of your Lexus RX can have problems and this is what we will try to find out and discover what problems you might be facing!

Mass air flow sensor problems Lexus RX

Here are the different problems that the air flow sensor of your Lexus RX can generate:

  • higher fuel consumption: Because a dirty flow meter will necessarily bring about more significant fuel consumption caused by poor air flow…
  • Power loss: Related to similar issue, this lack of air can generate a loss of power to your engine.
  • Difficulties starting the automobile: Finally, one of the last classic problems linked to a dirty flowmeter will be that your Lexus RX will have more difficulties to start the vehicle.

How do I clean the mass air flow sensor from a Lexus RX?

After examining the operation and problems that the flowmeter can generate, we will look at how to fix these problems by explaining to you how to clean the mass air flow sensor of your Lexus RX . You should know that this process is quite very easy to execute and you will not need advanced mechanical skills to do it your self, a good method to avoid a trip to the workshop and a steep bill. See below the different steps to follow to execute this maintenance act:

  • After having found the mass air flow sensor of your Lexus RX , you will have to dismantle it. To get this done, work delicately, 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 taken apart, you will be able to proceed to the step cleaning the mass air flow sensor of your Lexus RX . 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 disrupt the operation of the engine of your Lexus RX. The aim of this cleaning will be to take out all its impure substances to enable it to work efficiently again.
  • Let soak the lower section 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 cautious, otherwise your mass air flow sensor will be permanently broken. With the help of a fine brush and solvent, delicately clean the two filaments of your mass air flow sensor . If you are too afraid of destroying 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 Lexus RX , you should feel a noticeable difference in the behavior of your engine.

If you want more guides on the Lexus RX, go to our Lexus RX category.