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Q: Hi My Toyota Prius starts shaking on acceleration

asked by on March 04, 2017

I have cleaned the MAF sensor with cotton and some alcohol. Does it get damaged that way?? Any way among est other maintenance I carried out like cleaning the intake pipes, Changing the plugs. Would the MAF sensor cause the car to shake on acceleration??? It drives fine if accelerate smoothly but as soon as put my foot slightly faster on accelerator it judders and hesitates. Also on motorway / Highway I could be doing 70 MPH again I have to be more sensitive on pressing the accelerator otherwise it judders. It can reach up to 82 MPH if on slight downhill with out juddering, but on uphill it can judders on 46 MPH. ???

My car has 78000 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.

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HI there. Usually cleaning the MAF sensor is done with an aerosol cleaner like brake cleaner or carburetor cleaner. These have alcohols, so cleaning the sensor the way you did should not have an impact. In most cases, the type of vibration you are describing is caused by loose motor mounts, or perhaps a tire / wheel that is out of balance. The best way to diagnose a problem like this is to have a professional mechanic complete a test drive and a car is shaking or vibrating inspection so they can pinpoint the source of this problem.

Toyota
Prius
2008
L4-1.5L Hybrid
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