Replaced the AOS and....

[King claw]

Long story short. Car started lighting up the Check Engine light a month ago. P1130. I pulled out the MAF and cleaned it as recommended. Car ran a little better but within 50 miles the light was on again. After more research I thought I might have put the MAF in back wards. Pulled it out again and it was installed correctly. Cleaned it again and decided to clean the throttle body while I was their. Notice oil in the intake which lead me to the AOS. Did the oil cap test to re-confirm. This was interesting because i never experienced the white smoke that other have. Order up a new AOS from the fine folks here at Pelican. It wasn't that tough of a job to replace. Took about 2 hours to complete. Reset the check engine light and went for a spin. What a difference. Not sure why but the car is running better than every. Acceleration is really amazing! Just wondering, is this due to the AOS failing and throwing other sensors off in the car? Does the AOS break down slowly over a long period or something that goes quickly. I should mention we purchased this car about a year ago, 2001 S with 48,000 miles on it. We just hit 53K.

[Tsunamiboy]

Did you have any trouble removing the hoses with the pinch release? I couldn't get them to release, I am afraid to break something using brute force

Same problem with the oil filler tube. Pulled and twisted like crazy, nothing gave???

[King claw]

I did not have any trouble removing the upper breather hose. I did not remove the lower one until everything else was free allowing me to pull the AOS up a little and get a better angle on that release clamp. Actually I followed the steps here. Especially post #36 was very helpful. Be careful with the knife. You do not want to cut anything not planed including yourself! Always use a new blade. Nothing more dangerous than a dull blade in a utility knife!