chrisspliff

90 3vze 178k miles.Yesterday i came back from the mountains after snowboarding and about a hour into the drive i noticed a loud sound coming from my air box. At first i thought it was a exhaust leak but after i got home and inspected it i found it was coming from my air box. I have a K+N filter i just "recharged" a few days before and am thinking the MAF sensor has gotten dirty with oil. Perhaps i over-oiled it. So today i cleaned the sensor by removing the 2 screws and spraying some MAF cleaner down there. No- help. There is no codes and the truck runs ok... just way louder, like i put one of these FKIP filters on. My truck looses power at high rpms and i have no clue what to do next. Should i use a stronger cleaner? It sounds cool but somethings off. Seems like its sucking in way too much air. Please help.

after more thinking... my timing belt is due a change and my pulleys make a lot of noise.I am changing the belt and tensioner etc next week. Maybe the timing is off a notch??? It could have jumped a tooth.

tankyota

These year trucks don't have a MAF sensor (the wires that sense air flow), they use a completely different system called a AFM (air flow meter) sometimes also called VAFM. It's all mechanical and I don't think oily air will affect it (though that might affect other things inside your throttle body).

DupermanDave

I had an issue similar to yours. What had happened was some of the silicone sealant that seals the little black panel on the top of the VAFM fell inside of the meter and caused the air flap to stick open. Try removing the VAFM entirely and try testing the air vane.

tankyota

Also, I'm not positive since I have the 4 cylinder 22-RE, not the V6, but if the AFM is the same then you probably really damaged something by removing those screws and spraying cleaner in there.

You might need to open it up and clean the stuff inside. I dealt with this over the weekend and will try to write up a thing with pictures soon, but basically you peel off the black top of the AFM with a screwdriver and knife, it will be held by some silicone sealant. Once you pull it up, make sure the connections are all there, especially where you pulled the connector out, they are little foil things that break. When done, put the top back on and some more silicone sealer.

James Woods

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like the air box isn't sealing all the way or there is a leak somewhere in the intake ducting.

DupermanDave

Definitely check all of the hoses/tubes from the VAFM to the throttle body. This is the easiest thing to check.

myyota

Did you remove the two screws that hold the electrical connector on the AFM ?, if so you probably tore the electrical connections loose inside the AFM.