I have a '00 RAV4 I bought from my Mother. It was having loss of engine power and it would stall while driving and then turn off while driving. The car was taken to 4 mechanics, non could figure it out changed the sensor air fuel …helped then did it again sent to the Toyota dealer changed the same part …the problem seemed to be fixed…I’ve had for a couple of weeks and the problem came back…what I notice was a low idle, loss of power…then the car started stalling while driving, the rpm idle dropped to 0 and car shut down took to mechanic said the throttle body was dirty . They cleaned it they said that it fixed the problem …2 weeks later it happens again to 2x …I don’t know what to do …help!!
changed the sensor air fuel
Check with your repair paperwork. I think what they probably replaced was the mass airflow sensor, MAF. That part is used by the engine computer to measure the amount of air entering the engine & then figure out by that how much fuel to inject to properly match-up with the air; so if it isn’t working properly the engine won’t run well and these symptoms could result. But the problem is there’s lots of other stuff that could cause this same problem.
hmmm … well, since the prior “fixes” seemed to help for a while anyway, I think your mechanics are probably on the right track. Some kind of problem with the air/fuel mixture and its relationship to the throttle position. Usually before changing the MAF a shop would try cleaning it first. But that’s water under the bridge. Assuming they put an OEM MAF in (i.e. the exact same part that came with the car new), that’s probably not the problem at this point.
My guess, assuming your prior shop visits have already eliminated a spark or fuel pressure problem, and there are no diagnostic codes stored in the engine computer memory, you’ve either got a problem with dirty injectors, or a problem with the throttle position sensor. I’d start with the latter, as it is easier to test. No harm though to put in a dose of fuel injector cleaner in the tank. Ask your shop which brand and amount to use. There’s a test called an “injector balance test” used to test the fuel injectors.