So my car has felt "boggish" lately. As in when I push the gas at low RPMs, it hesitates before going. I know that you see minor bogging with a CAI, or bad gas, but it seems to have gotten worse.

When I had my celica a part of regular maintenance (especially for CAI owners) was taking out the MAF and cleaning it, I have not however been able to find this topic while searching on here.

I had also tired to clean it myself once and the closest thing that I though might have been the MAF on our cars was enclosed in a little plastic box on the top of the TB that I could not pry open .

So my question is: is there any way to clean our sensors, do I have to buy a new one, or am I mis-diagnosing my problem all together?

http://www.spydermagazine.com/2002/M.../maf_clean.htm

 

TRy seafoam or fuel injector cleaner

 

I did about 5k miles ago.

 

We don't have a MAF sensor.. That thing your talking about on the tb is the MAP sensor and you don't need to remove that for anything. how many miles do you have on the TL?

 

spray clean the TB- the butterfly plate- inside with carb cleaner

repeat seafoam with 1 can in 1/2 tank gas and 1 can in TB located master vac port
if that doesnt fix it- you need serious help

 

Ahh.. makes sense - and I take it a MAP cant get dirty?
I will try to clean the whole TB well. Last time when I pulled off the TB, the intake manifold looked dirty within, would it be helpful to pull that off and clean well?

I may just ditch the CAI and go back to the stock intake because I feel I lost a lot of low end in the switch.

 

Highly unlikely the MAP will be affected.. There's a small snake like channel that leads to the MAP sensor and to gunk that channel with buildup to effect pressure measurements is unlikely but not improbable.. you can remove the tb and do a visual.. it might make it easier to knock down any buildup as well..

Lost low end with CAI.. hmm.. it might be the filter. What kind of CAI did you get and anything unusual with the install? Is the filter foam? oiled?..

 

Yea, I had pulled it off and did a visual, TB snake channel was clean.
CAI - Fujita - stock filter, I cleaned it about 3-4 months ago, may need to again. (used K&N Recharge kit)

 

its the 3 inch round plate that is inside the TB you need to clean- front back and edges- some need a toothbrush scrubbing

gen3 turn key ON to make the TB butterfly plate open and close (go horizontal from vertical) in a self test- use that time to spray carb cleaner or Deep Creep at its backside
Repeat as needed- wipe up runoff- it will be ugly

The PCV pumps partially burnt oil, gas and water vapors direct from the valve cover to the rubber snout TB inlet tube !
Gee thanks~

So you have to clean it now and then- when seafoam the intake manifold vac port is a good plan so its all been cleaned

on gen2 its been found that every 75k miles the EGR ports in the intake manifold plug and need to pull the manifold- carb cleaner and a piece of wire will get them open and make the car run much better
anothor smog device throwing crud at the intake gas charge

 

when you recharge the K&N you must use exactly the amount they say for oil!!!!
Thats the number 1 problem that occurs is over oiling it
That little can does 5 air filters
Should be just a light film coating to catch dust particles but let air through
If you over oil it also pulls that extra oil onto the TB butterfly and into the manifold
A quick spray with carb cleaner will remove it, you fix the filter oil and proceed

No need to remove the TB from the manifold to spray clean- when you do the EGR cleaning- then flip the TB over and clean the IAC under its cover
confused yet?! ei ei o

 

A Mass Airflow Sensor (MAF) uses a thin wire that vibrates as air velocity increases or decreases. The computer interprets higher velocity as higher air volume and vice versa. Because the wire is both sensitive and directly in the air stream, it is much more likely to be affected by things that stick to it (some kinds of dust, air filter oil, etc.).

A Manifold Absolute Pressure (MAP) Sensor senses the absolute pressure inside the intake manifold and interprets different pressures as different air volumes and flows. It is just as sensitive a sensor, but by nature is not as easily affected by debris like filter oil.

So the short answer is yes, your MAP sensor can probably become dirty. It most likely won't, however, result in an engine light or poor engine performance as with a dirty or damaged MAF though.