Airbox lid screen mesh

[Mike-B Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mike-B]

Hi,

Ive recently purchased a 2018 prado 150 to replace my fj cruiser due to a growing family. I was inspecting the air filter after a trip through the watagans and noticed a screen mesh on the lid.

Has anyone noticed this on their car and if so, what is its purpose? It is located after the air filter so i don't imagine this would be a filtering item.

[Gurilla Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Gurilla]

It’s some type of filter I’m assuming ?

i was watching a video yesterday and aparanty the 2.8 air box doesn’t seal that good ? And they get dust past the filter and can be seen on this mesh screen and if you run your finger over it you’ll see it.. he was putting a rubber grease around the filter to help seal it better ? Considering it but scared if anything happens and Toyota sees it they won’t cover it as this may of made the damage and they will use anything to get out of a claim even if it’s to help the engine

[Mike-B Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mike-B]

It’s some type of filter I’m assuming ?

i was watching a video yesterday and aparanty the 2.8 air box doesn’t seal that good ? And they get dust past the filter and can be seen on this mesh screen and if you run your finger over it you’ll see it.. he was putting a rubber grease around the filter to help seal it better ? Considering it but scared if anything happens and Toyota sees it they won’t cover it as this may of made the damage and they will use anything to get out of a claim even if it’s to help the engine

I have read a few articles regarding the airbox design allowing dust particles to pass through the filter on the 2.8L engines.

Would you happen to know if removing the mesh will cause any issues? I want to remove it and gain some extra aiflow. I also plan on running some adhesive backed foam tape along the mating surface of the airbox lid to the air filter.

[Guest Close Guest]

Toyota obviously designed the car with this for a reason. Whilst it can likely be removed, I'd be more concerned about any warranty issues. I'd check up first. Just make a large o ring for the air filter, 6mm closed cell foam and glue together the ends. Bunnings have it, made by Morays.
sorts the issue and 30 seconds to remove before servicing.

[Mike-B Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mike-B]

Toyota obviously designed the car with this for a reason. Whilst it can likely be removed, I'd be more concerned about any warranty issues. I'd check up first. Just make a large o ring for the air filter, 6mm closed cell foam and glue together the ends. Bunnings have it, made by Morays.
sorts the issue and 30 seconds to remove before servicing.

Fair point. Did the previous 2.8L prado with the earlier style front end have this mesh fitted also?
I saw the write up of the seal being fitted to the airbox lid and will definitely be doing this. Thanks for all the input so far.

[RPP Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close RPP]

From what I've read it appears that micron fine particles are making their way thru the filter, not around the filter (If the seal wasn't working much more would get thru).

The micron fine particles then get electrostatically charged and stick to stuff like the metal screen on the lid and the MAF sensor wires.
If the accumulation is allowed to go on too long the MAF sensor will not read the airflow correctly, and the ECU would eventually calculate that something is amiss, throw a code and maybe put the car into limp mode.

Toyota's planned maintenance specifies that the MAF sensor must be cleaned every 10K. And I carry a spray cleaner when off-road just in case.

[Brett1979 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Brett1979]

I thought the fine steel mesh slightly restricted & “straightened” the air for accurate reading by the MAF. Definitely not for object protection. As for a back up micro filter, maybe, that could be plausible. With ultra fine particles making their way past the filter medium & into the intake that’s not really a problem though for a diesel as the oil gets contaminated so heavily anyway. Plus an oil filter is a backup for filtration in that dept. The steel mesh could be removed permanently by cutting out with a Stanley knife for a small power gain of up to 10kw in all rev ranges, but it’s largely unknown what the long term effect is. Such as a noticeable power gain initially, fuel consumption not noticeably changing, but later on the MAF might not like the extra turbulence of the air flow and throw the engine warning light & a fault code, possibly leading to power retardation later on until the mesh is replaced to make the MAF readings go back to normal. The jury’s still out on that one. Effects different cars in different ways later on. Air doesn’t readily pass through them to well though. When you hold the mesh up to your mouth & blow through not much passes through onto your hand on the other side. It can be amazing to think somehow the cylinders get the air they need with an air filter in place plus the post filter mesh back up.