I was adding wiper fluid to my wife's 2004 RX330 and noticed this:



What the heck is it for? Should I plug it in? If not, should I at least cover the ends w/ electric tape?

 

Plug it in. It is vacuum switch. Have you had a CEL on?

 

Why would somebody unplug that? It is a latch plug, you have to push to unplug.

 

...and maybe you need some engine cleaning, just a suggestion...LOL!

 

No joke, if it was mine it would not look like that.

My wife said there was some front end damage that was repaired a while back, but what moron would forget to plug that back in? I would think it would trip the CEL, but nothing.

 

CEL usually has to do with emissions control (for example, if you're O2 sensor is bad, it will affect emissions and throw a CEL). Without seeing a bigger picture, that thing looks to me like it is connected to some sort of valve in the air intake (I have a 400h and the engine layout is different) which may not have any effect on emissions, hence no check engine light.

It looks like the airbox behind that valve thing...wonder if this is some sort of vacuum activated valve that opens to let more air into the engine when accelerating hard. In fact, I seem to remember reading somewhere that there are two paths for air to the engine depending on what the engine needs (i.e. low speed vs high speed operation).

 

Did you plug it in?

 

Come on guy, you need to clean your engine.

 

Well, I wasn't going to add my two cents "clean your engine" thing but enough of you said it. And here I thought I was one of the few **** enough to clean my engine. Just last week, after waxing the RX I cleaned the engine compartment and Armor All'ed the black plastic. Now, I will reveal this with some fear of getting the grilling but do any of you scrub the wheel well plastic liners? Not saying I do but ...

Back to the original topic, you never know why a mechanic misses something. Plug it in and see if the car runs better.

 

Wouldn't the Armorall melt with the engine heat, or at least fume??

 

Armour All on plastic parts only, he's good.

 

i put my car in the dishwasher

 

Not if you only put it on black plastic trim parts like the air box etc. Nothing on engine metal components.

 

Like anything else, armor all will eventually evaporate. No harm on plastic under the hood.

 

Armorall really attracts the dust.