More and more drivers are trying to maintain their cars on their own. This outcomes in substantial cost savings because modern cars require more and more maintenance and are made up of more and more technical components that result in new breakdowns or inconveniences. One of the problems that impacts more and more Subaru Forester owners is a clogged air flow meter, which will bring about a loss of power and black exhaust fumes. Today we are going to take a look at how to clean the mass air flow sensor of your Subaru Forester? . First, we will teach you how your mass airflow sensor works and its usefulness, second, why it might be important to clean this sensor , and at last, how to clean the mass air flow sensor of a Subaru Forester .

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Utility and operation of the mass air flow meter of a Subaru Forester

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So we start our article with the operation and aim of your Subaru Forester flowmeter.

The goal of the mass air flow sensor on Subaru Forester

The mass air flow sensor is a part that has been created quite recently and principally equipped 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 modify the behaviour of complementary intake parts such as the injection or the EGR valve, if you have problems with the EGR valve on your Subaru Forester, do not think twice to seek advice from our article on this subject.

Mass air flow sensor operation on Subaru Forester

Now, we are going to have a look at how it works, before trying to clean the mass air flow sensor of your Subaru Forester , you must already figure out how it works to do this maintenance action properly.

The mass air flow sensor is consequently principally there to get statistics on the air intake of your motor vehicle. To achieve this, it must be mounted just after the air intake of your Subaru Forester, i. e. just after the air filter. It is a pipe equipped 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 Subaru Forester?

The mass air flow sensor of your Subaru Forester can have problems and this is what we will try to discover and understand what problems you might be facing!

Mass air flow sensor problems Subaru Forester

Here are the different problems that the air flow sensor of your Subaru Forester can provoke:

  • higher fuel consumption: Because a dirty flow meter will actually result in excessive fuel consumption caused by poor air flow…
  • Power loss: Associated with similar problem, this lack of air can provoke a loss of power to your engine.
  • Difficulties starting the automobile: Finally, one of the last classic problems connected to a dirty flowmeter will be that your Subaru Forester will have more troubles to start the vehicle.

How do I clean the mass air flow sensor from a Subaru Forester?

After going over the operation and complications that the flowmeter can provoke, we will look at how to fix these problems by describing to you how to clean the mass air flow sensor of your Subaru Forester . You should know that this procedure is quite very easy to perform and you will not need advanced mechanical expertise to do it your self, a good technique to avoid a trip to the garage area and a steep bill. Discover down below the different steps to follow to perform this maintenance act:

  • After having located the mass air flow sensor of your Subaru Forester , you will have to dismantle it. To achieve this, action delicately, 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 be able to continue to the step cleaning the mass air flow sensor of your Subaru Forester . This sensor will, with 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 properly, it is in this sense that it will disturb the operation of the engine unit of your Subaru Forester. The goal of this cleaning will be to take out all its harmful particles to allow 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 proceed to the very gentle cleaning of the flow meter filaments. You have to be very watchful, in any other case your mass air flow sensor will be permanently damaged. 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 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 Subaru Forester , you should feel a noticeable difference in the behavior of your engine unit.

To get more tips on the Subaru Forester, take a look at the Subaru Forester category.