More and more car owners are trying to maintain their cars on their own. This results in considerable cost savings because modern cars require more and more routine service and are made up of more and more technical components that lead to new breakdowns or inconveniences. One of the complications that impacts more and more Volkswagen Atlas owners is a clogged air flow meter, which will result in a loss of power and black exhaust fumes. Today we are going to examine how to clean the mass air flow sensor of your Volkswagen Atlas? . First, we will show you how your mass airflow sensor works and its advantages, second, why it may be important to clean this sensor , and at last, how to clean the mass air flow sensor of a Volkswagen Atlas .

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Utility and action of the mass air flow meter of a Volkswagen Atlas

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So we start our article with the operation and goal of your Volkswagen Atlas flowmeter.

The aim of the mass air flow sensor on Volkswagen Atlas

The mass air flow sensor is a part that has been developed quite lately and specifically supplied on diesel models. Indeed, with injection engines, the fuel and air intake has become very precise and it is consequently necessary for the ECU to know the exact volume of air injected into the engine to adapt the actions of complementary intake parts such as the injection or the EGR valve, if you have problems with the EGR valve on your Volkswagen Atlas, do not think twice to seek advice from our article on this subject.

Mass air flow sensor operation on Volkswagen Atlas

Now, we are going to look at how it works, before trying to clean the mass air flow sensor of your Volkswagen Atlas , you must already figure out how it functions to achieve this routine service act correctly.

The mass air flow sensor is consequently specifically there to get info on the air intake of your motor vehicle. To achieve this, it must be set up just after the air intake of your Volkswagen Atlas, i. e. just after the air filter. It is a pipe supplied 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 Volkswagen Atlas?

The mass air flow sensor of your Volkswagen Atlas can have complications and this is what we will try to see and discover what complications you may be struggling with!

Mass air flow sensor complications Volkswagen Atlas

Here are the different complications that the air flow sensor of your Volkswagen Atlas can provoke:

  • higher fuel consumption: Because a dirty flow meter will necessarily result in excessive fuel consumption caused by poor air flow…
  • Power loss: Related to similar issue, this lack of air can provoke a loss of power to your engine.
  • Difficulties starting the vehicle: Finally, one of the last classic complications associated with a dirty flowmeter will be that your Volkswagen Atlas will have more issues to start the car.

How do I clean the mass air flow sensor from a Volkswagen Atlas?

After going over the operation and concerns that the flowmeter can provoke, we will look at how to fix these complications by showing to you how to clean the mass air flow sensor of your Volkswagen Atlas . You should know that this procedure is quite simple to accomplish and you will not need advanced mechanical abilities to do it yourself, a good method to avoid a trip to the garage and a steep bill. See down below the different steps to stick to to accomplish this routine service act:

  • After having based the mass air flow sensor of your Volkswagen Atlas , you will have to dismantle it. To achieve this, act 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 have the ability to move forward to the step cleaning the mass air flow sensor of your Volkswagen Atlas . 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 have the ability to collect data correctly, it is in this sense that it will disturb the operation of the engine of your Volkswagen Atlas. The aim of this cleaning will be to remove 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 remove most of the grime
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  • Now we’ll proceed to the very delicate cleaning of the flow meter filaments. You have to be very cautious, in any other case 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 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 Volkswagen Atlas , you should feel a noticeable difference in the behavior of your engine.

If you want more tutorials on the Volkswagen Atlas, go to our Volkswagen Atlas category.