More and more car owners are trying to maintain their cars by themselves. This results in significant savings because contemporary cars necessitate 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 affects more and more Toyota Highlander owners is a clogged air flow meter, which will bring about a loss of power and black exhaust gases. In this article we are going to check out how to clean the mass air flow sensor of your Toyota Highlander? . First, we will show you how your mass airflow sensor operates and its advantages, second, why it may be important to clean this sensor , and finally, how to clean the mass air flow sensor of a Toyota Highlander .
Utility and action of the mass air flow meter of a Toyota Highlander
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So we start our article with the process and point of your Toyota Highlander flowmeter.
The goal of the mass air flow sensor on Toyota Highlander
The mass air flow sensor is a part that has been developed quite lately and specifically equipped on diesel models. Obviously, with injection engines, the fuel and air intake has become very precise and it is so essential for the ECU to know the exact volume of air loaded into the engine to change the actions of complementary intake parts such as the injection or the EGR valve, if you have problems with the EGR valve on your Toyota Highlander, do not hesitate to seek advice from our article on this subject.
Mass air flow sensor operation on Toyota Highlander
Now, we are going to examine how it operates, before trying to clean the mass air flow sensor of your Toyota Highlander , you must already find out how it functions to do this maintenance act properly.
The mass air flow sensor is therefore specifically there to obtain info on the air intake of your motor vehicle. To achieve this, it must be set up just after the air intake of your Toyota Highlander, 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 info to the ECU of your car.
Why clean the mass air flow sensor of a Toyota Highlander?
The mass air flow sensor of your Toyota Highlander can have problems and this is what we will try to see and understand what problems you may be facing!
Mass air flow sensor problems Toyota Highlander
Here are the different problems that the air flow sensor of your Toyota Highlander can generate:
- higher fuel consumption: Because a dirty flow meter will necessarily result in 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 vehicle: Finally, one of the last classic problems linked to a dirty flowmeter will be that your Toyota Highlander will have more issues to start the vehicle.
How do I clean the mass air flow sensor from a Toyota Highlander?
After looking at the operation and concerns that the flowmeter can generate, we will look at how to fix these problems by showing to you how to clean the mass air flow sensor of your Toyota Highlander . You should know that this operation is quite very easy to accomplish and you will not need advanced mechanical abilities to do it your self, a good technique to avoid a trip to the workshop and a steep bill. Discover below the different steps to stick to to accomplish this maintenance act:
- After having based the mass air flow sensor of your Toyota Highlander , you will have to dismantle it. To achieve 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 be able to carry on to the step cleaning the mass air flow sensor of your Toyota Highlander . 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 properly, it is in this sense that it will disrupt the operation of the engine of your Toyota Highlander. The goal 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
- 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 destroying it, you can also clean them with a brake fluid in the form of an aerosol by spraying the jet on these filaments.
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Now you know how to clean the mass air flow sensor of your Toyota Highlander , you should feel a noticeable difference in the behavior of your engine.
If you need more guides on the Toyota Highlander, go to our Toyota Highlander category.
