Intake Membrane

[evargas163]

Hello Everyone,

I sold my 1970 FJ40 and bought a 2008 Trail Team FJ Cruiser. It has 28K miles. This is a great vehicle. I just did an oil change, replaced the cabin filter and replace the paper air filter with a K&N.

I noticed that inside the intake there is a filter like membrane. What is that for? Can it be removed? I feel it is restricting the air flow into the engine. Please see the attached picture to see what I'm talking about.

 

[jblwinter]

old post i know but i'll shed some light on it.

it's non-replaceable and more of a set back than anything. more or less it's really just a "visual" check for techs (if they're ACTUAL factory trained techs that is...) to see what kind of normal use the vehicle is seeing so they have a better idea what kind of wear is going on to the vehicle. other than this, it's barely a secondary filter system that captures more stuff that isn't cought by the main filter. it also helps reduce any uneven turbulence going into the intake that may produce uneven air through each piston.

here's the thing though, the main purposes of this specific piece are so small and meaningless that it's not even worth having... here's why:

1 - it barely makes up 0.5% of the total efficiency of the engine.
2 - it can NOT be replaced without buying a whole new air box...
3 - eventually it will restrict airflow and cause you to loose power and efficiency over time, becoming more of a burden than a helpful feature.

recommendation - so far i have owned 4 toyota vehicles with said membrain. every one of them i have simply ripped the thing right out of the air box. there are zero side effects for doing this.

how to do it - there are about 8 to 12 little plastic points that are simply heated and pushed to mold it to the air box. simply use a pair of dyke plyers and snip off the tops of these plastic points. after that, take a flat head screw driver and work it carefully on the edge of the membrane frame and the air box and try to work it out. if that doesn't do it, just snip a whole through the filter material of the membrane, dig your finger in there and just rip that sucker off there.

if you're worried about the very small amount of stuff that it DOES grab after the main filter. you can simply replace your stock air filter with a K&N filter. the oil used on the K&N filter will grab anything there is to possibly grab out of the air without issue.

problem solved.

 

[SupraTuRD]

Yep, I agree. I yanked mine off at about 5k miles with no adverse effect until the day I sold the fj at 96k miles. It's a restriction... yank it off. =)

old post i know but i'll shed some light on it.

it's non-replaceable and more of a set back than anything. more or less it's really just a "visual" check for techs (if they're ACTUAL factory trained techs that is...) to see what kind of normal use the vehicle is seeing so they have a better idea what kind of wear is going on to the vehicle. other than this, it's barely a secondary filter system that captures more stuff that isn't cought by the main filter. it also helps reduce any uneven turbulence going into the intake that may produce uneven air through each piston.

here's the thing though, the main purposes of this specific piece are so small and meaningless that it's not even worth having... here's why:

1 - it barely makes up 0.5% of the total efficiency of the engine.
2 - it can NOT be replaced without buying a whole new air box...
3 - eventually it will restrict airflow and cause you to loose power and efficiency over time, becoming more of a burden than a helpful feature.

recommendation - so far i have owned 4 toyota vehicles with said membrain. every one of them i have simply ripped the thing right out of the air box. there are zero side effects for doing this.

how to do it - there are about 8 to 12 little plastic points that are simply heated and pushed to mold it to the air box. simply use a pair of dyke plyers and snip off the tops of these plastic points. after that, take a flat head screw driver and work it carefully on the edge of the membrane frame and the air box and try to work it out. if that doesn't do it, just snip a whole through the filter material of the membrane, dig your finger in there and just rip that sucker off there.

if you're worried about the very small amount of stuff that it DOES grab after the main filter. you can simply replace your stock air filter with a K&N filter. the oil used on the K&N filter will grab anything there is to possibly grab out of the air without issue.

problem solved.

 

[ToyotaDon]

old post i know but i'll shed some light on it.

it's non-replaceable and more of a set back than anything. more or less it's really just a "visual" check for techs (if they're ACTUAL factory trained techs that is...) to see what kind of normal use the vehicle is seeing so they have a better idea what kind of wear is going on to the vehicle. other than this, it's barely a secondary filter system that captures more stuff that isn't cought by the main filter. it also helps reduce any uneven turbulence going into the intake that may produce uneven air through each piston.

here's the thing though, the main purposes of this specific piece are so small and meaningless that it's not even worth having... here's why:

1 - it barely makes up 0.5% of the total efficiency of the engine.
2 - it can NOT be replaced without buying a whole new air box...
3 - eventually it will restrict airflow and cause you to loose power and efficiency over time, becoming more of a burden than a helpful feature.

recommendation - so far i have owned 4 toyota vehicles with said membrain. every one of them i have simply ripped the thing right out of the air box. there are zero side effects for doing this.

I'm just wondering where you are getting your information. It sounds like a lot of extra noise intended to impress someone with your supposed knowledge. In all that you said, you never even mentioned the actual purpose of the "HC Adsorber". Yes, that is its real name, and its purpose is quoted here from Toyota factory information.

2. Air Cleaner​



​

​

A full-fabric type air cleaner element is used.​

 ​

​

​

​

​

A charcoal filter, which adsorbs the HC that accumulates in the intake system when the engine is stopped,
is used in the air cleaner case in order to reduce evaporative emissions. This filter is maintenance-free​

BTW, I am a factory trained Toyota technian...at the highest possible level.​

One other thing, if you remove this piece, you are compromising the emission control system the vehicle was designed to have in place.​

 

[jblwinter]

if it's compromising the emissions system, then why is it every toyota i've owned has never once had any issue with it being removed?

at the same time, why is it every toyota i've owned has shown better long term results with them out? in my area, there is alot of dust in the air, lots of diesel carbon and such. within 5-10k miles, that membrane is freakin BLACK and passes almost no air at all and the vehicle begins to bog down...

so far i have done this to 1 4runner, 2 camry's, 1 pruis, 2 xB's and now the FJc... all of which run MUCH smoother.

the only thing i can really say that MAY be countering not having the membrane at all for me is the fact that ever 6k miles i do a SeaFoam fuel line and head treatment to keep the internals clean... other than that i don't do anything other than regular maintainence.

 

[SWUtah]

if it's compromising the emissions system, then why is it every toyota i've owned has never once had any issue with it being removed?

at the same time, why is it every toyota i've owned has shown better long term results with them out? in my area, there is alot of dust in the air, lots of diesel carbon and such. within 5-10k miles, that membrane is freakin BLACK and passes almost no air at all and the vehicle begins to bog down...

so far i have done this to 1 4runner, 2 camry's, 1 pruis, 2 xB's and now the FJc... all of which run MUCH smoother.

the only thing i can really say that MAY be countering not having the membrane at all for me is the fact that ever 6k miles i do a SeaFoam fuel line and head treatment to keep the internals clean... other than that i don't do anything other than regular maintainence.

It is fun to read what the back yard experts like to do to a well engineered vehicle. Big reason I hate to buy used vehicles.

 

[efFZJ80]

if its need then why isnt it retained when you install the TRD air intake?

 

[SWUtah]

if its need then why isnt it retained when you install the TRD air intake?

Because