Need a little help. Was cleaning the MAF and now car wont start

[jcmiro]

I took the advise of a local car nut and proceeded to clean my mass air flow circuit with windex after very low mpg. We dont have any circuit cleaner or anything similar down in my country so windex or alcohol is all we have. After drying it with a hair dryer after a very gentle couple of squirts. I inserted everything back together. The car starts for two seconds and stumbles to a stop. Kind of like when a car runs out of gas. I disconnected and reconnected and same problem. Im kinda stuck now and dont know what to do next. Any tips are much appreciated.
Cheers.

 

[dtt255]

First mistake...listening to a local car nut....

I have to ask, and NO I am not being a wise ass, it is a legit question.

Why would you think to even TRY to clean the electronics???? .....I am at a loss.

Then to try with windex????? I have never heard of such a thing.

I know I am not being helpful, and I REALLY DO NOT mean to sound like a jerk or anything, but I have NEVER heard of such a thing.

These are very delicate machines, more like computers.....

I really don't mean to offend, but I am totally stunned here at this post.

I would say GET IT TOWED to a dealer to get looked at. DO NOT TOUCH it anymore...especially if you are going to do stuff like this......

Ok, I am done....

 

[dtt255]

Ok something useful came to mind....Check for any blown fuses you could have shorted out by sqirting windex into the electronics?

 

[HIKCM]

Try finding a used mass air flow sensor at a local salvage yard and in the future use only mass air flow cleaner spray made by CNC.... These little boxes are very finicky and problems with these only make LC's run like crap or worse case not at all!!! Good luck!

 

[jcmiro]

I didn't put windex into sensitive electronics. I have cleaned my maf sensors several times with alcohol and windex. Of course letting them dry appropriately. This is the first time this has happened. It's not like spraying liquids into electronics it's just a way of cleaning dust and grime off a ceramic wire.

No salvage yards where I live. All oem parts are two weeks airfreight away.

 

[dtt255]

I didn't put windex into sensitive electronics. I have cleaned my maf sensors several times with alcohol and windex. Of course letting them dry appropriately. This is the first time this has happened. It's not like spraying liquids into electronics it's just a way of cleaning dust and grime off a ceramic wire.

No salvage yards where I live. All oem parts are two weeks airfreight away.

I can be wrong...I am sure things are done different in different parts of the world, just sounds crazy to me.

I would take it to a dealer and have them fix it.....if possible.

 

[snobdds]

Why don't you look at the online FSM and do a resistance test on the MAF sensor. There has to be spec for it in there somewhere. Then at least you will know if your fried it...

 

[jcmiro]

Tried it again after hair drying it. Car runs fine with the sensor disconnected so just scheduled a tow and a $500/day loaner. Gonna be an expensive week.

 

[dtt255]

Tried it again after hair drying it. Car runs fine with the sensor disconnected so just scheduled a tow and a $500/day loaner. Gonna be an expensive week.

$500 US dollars???? What did you rent???

 

[chilibit]

jcmiro,

My FJ 80's MAF sensor (basically a hot wire sitting in the air stream and using cooling rate to calculate mass and feed that to the ecu) did much the same thing as yours when I got the urge to get involved. Luckily the dealer was close and we eventually corrected things. They do make solvents designed for the task. But my take-away was to avoid trying to clean it if possible. Don't feel like the Lone Ranger. (Actually the calculations are performed in the ecu above). PS: My saga started with an a K&N upstream air cleaner element. Over oiled? Not sure. Since then, I use OEM paper.

Ciao

 

[jcmiro]

A rental LC150 from my security company. Pretty cheap, I usually rent out my LC for $5000 a week when I go on vacation.

I have cleaned my mafs since I was 19, and usually on more complex engines. Guess Ill stick to detailing and waxing

The cars in the shop. I have a feeling the part is definitely not in stock. The toyota dealership in Peru is pretty much 95% Yaris'.

 

[jcmiro]

Effff Im retarded. I plugged it back in wrong side out.
Im back in business.
Lesson learned. No backyard mechanics with beer.

 

[alwaysme]

 

[Desert Nomad]

At least wasn't a major problem, glad it's back on the road