Toyota truck air sensor - drive without or not?

[islandguy]

I have been occasionally using a friends truck (she left Thailand without selling it). It is an older Toyota pickup (tiger? Hillux?). It started being very weak up hills and a neighborhood garage took out the air flow regulator sensor. This seemed to take care of the problem. Now I have had a chance to take it into the Toyota dealer. They say that they have to order the part from Japan which will take 45 days and recommend not driving it until then. They at first said some local driving would be ok if there were no hills involved. Does anyone have experience with this problem? Is it better to not drive at all (I am 60 km from nearest car rental), drive to shop near car rental and leave it, or just drive it locally for a week, then drop it off near shop? To clarify, I don’t live in this area and have been using my friends truck when I visit every month to take care of a property here. I will be flying out in about 10 days. Thanks for sharing any helpful info.  

[JoeW]

Use it locally for now. If you want to repair it, bring it to a local garage and ask them to repair. Importing a part from Japan is not necessary as there are plenty of aftermarket solutions available in Thailand from the likes of TRW, Lucas, Hitachi, etc. No need to go for OEM. If your local guys can't source it, let me know. Our shop can source it as well.

[KhaoYai]

8 minutes ago, JoeW said:

Use it locally for now. If you want to repair it, bring it to a local garage and ask them to repair. Importing a part from Japan is not necessary as there are plenty of aftermarket solutions available in Thailand from the likes of TRW, Lucas, Hitachi, etc. No need to go for OEM. If your local guys can't source it, let me know. Our shop can source it as well.

Agree 100%. I take it you are talking about the mass air flow sensor? Normally, if the vehicle performs better without it, it shows that's the part at fault. Are you sure they 'took it out'?  The usual thing is to disconnect it. If they did take it out, do you still have the old part? Most MAF's consist of the body and the actual sensor as 2 separate parts. Sometimes when you buy the sensor, it doesn't come with the body so hopefully thats not been thrown away.  However, its doubtful they've taken it out - that would leave the airflow pipe disconnected and air entering that has not been through the air filter.

 

Don't be worried by the Toyota dealer telling you they have to order the part from Japan - dealers in Thailand carry very little stock, even for newer models. Its quite normal for them not to have parts.  There are a lot of independent parts suppliers however that can probably supply an identical (same brand even) MAF from stock at a much cheaper price than Toyota.

 

I'm 99.9% certain that your MAF was not made by Toyota in any case, most are made by OE suppliers such as Denso, Lucas or Bosch so don't be worried about buying a non Toyota part - the likelihood is that you are actually buying a genuine part - just in a different box and much cheaper.

 

Depending on the age of the vehicle it might need to be 'coded' to the vehicle before it will work correctly. The coding is done through a diagnostic programme on a computer. Find a decent independent repairer - they should be able to source the part and fit it with coding if necessary.  The whole job is around 1/2 an hour in labour but they may charge a full hour and a fee for the coding - still very cheap in Thailand.

 

If you have only a slight bit of mechanical knowledge, its a very easy job to do yourself unless it needs coding (doubtful). However, the sensor has a very thin and sensitive element in it - do not touch that or let it get dirty.  If you use the old body, clean it and blow it clear with an airline before fitting the sensor into it.  If the old body is still in place (as I suspect it will be) and the new one does not include the body - remove it (usually just 2 hose clamps), clean it as above and replace it before fitting the new sensor. On no account put a new sensor into a dirty body.

 

If you have a warning light on, on the dash and it goes out after fitting the new MAF - it doesn't need coding.  If there's no warning light (often the case with early MAF's) and the truck runs correctly after fitting, it probably doesn't need coding.

[islandguy]

Thanks for the answers. I only use the truck when I am in Chiang Mai, another friend of the owner lets her keep it at his house and occasionally uses it. They took it to the neighborhood shop, and yes, they threw away the body with the sensor still inside. So yes, it is taking in unfiltered air. Any suggestions for getting this fixed in Chiang Mai? And this question is certainly for anybody reading the thread from Chiang Mai. Will look on the Chiang Mai forum for suggested tradesmen now.

[Isaanbiker]

Mass air flow sensor's measure the amount of air coming into the engine, aiding the computer in making adjustments to achieve an optimal air/fuel mix in the engine's cylinders. 

 

  No problem when you're not driving high speed, but it should be replaced, sooner, or later. 

[Kwasaki]

3 hours ago, islandguy said:

air flow regulator sensor

Take it to Cockpit.

[islandguy]

Cockpit seems to specialize in tires, Wheels and suspensions. Do they also do such repairs as this?

[KhaoYai]

10 hours ago, islandguy said:

They took it to the neighborhood shop, and yes, they threw away the body with the sensor still inside. So yes, it is taking in unfiltered air.

Idiots, all they needed to do was pull the plug. If it turns out the replacement doesn't come with a new body - you are probably looking at getting one from a breakers.  But - don't take it as gospel if you are told a replacement doesn't come with a body, that could just be a brand thing.  There will be several different brands available but stay completely away from Chinese copies.

[JoeW]

14 hours ago, islandguy said:

Thanks for the answers. I only use the truck when I am in Chiang Mai, another friend of the owner lets her keep it at his house and occasionally uses it. They took it to the neighborhood shop, and yes, they threw away the body with the sensor still inside. So yes, it is taking in unfiltered air. Any suggestions for getting this fixed in Chiang Mai? And this question is certainly for anybody reading the thread from Chiang Mai. Will look on the Chiang Mai forum for suggested tradesmen now.

There is a repair shop in Chiang Mai called https://www.facebook.com/proautothailand/ with the owner Ton. Speaks English and is quite popular with the expat community there. He can fix it for sure. 

[islandguy]

Went to A n P Auto (saw in CM forum). Excellent all aound, got reconditioned part.  Seems there has been a lot of these parts failing lately, maybe the smoke? Thanks all

[islandguy]

Sorry, was V. P. Autotech