I heard of a few peeps doing this to theirs on different cars but not sure about the Subaru's & what type to use? Brake cleaner or Carbarator cleaner - both spray types just don't not if its ok to do? i want to do it to my AFM as one side of it is completly black & don't want to fork out for a new one if it can be simply cleaned.

cheers for any replys from now
Tim

 

At end of day your air filter should remove anything and everything that could be able to damage an airflow sensor, so what do you think is on it?

Is the sensor actually under or mis-reading to your knowledge? If it is, then give it a quick squirt of brake cleaner, but if that doesn't fix it, just buy a new one and have done with it. As above if something has got on it sufficient to degrade it, chances are it's jiggered, and if that's a possiblity you're better off shelling out on a replacement sensor than on a replacement engine.

 

mine was black when i took mine off to clean...
nothing to worry about mate..
just give it a clean and hey presto,job done...
if it was like mine it was on the mesh grill..
helped many people clean theres and all been the same..
best to fit new filter on,as mine was the cotton type which can let in particles...
i fitted a standard filter and never came back..

 

I had it checked out with a laptap & said it wasn't running correctly (looked bit burnt out black if you get me on side of it) the car seems to running fine ie. revving correctly & not juddering or cutting out just only thing i noticed that it does not start up like it used too.. cranks slowly then fires up - so when linked to the laptop it showed it wasnt working as it should do;( i am woried now that i hear stories it can mess up engines! damn,.. i also just brought carb cleaner from Halfords as they didn't have brake cleaner - do you think thats ok to use? or if all fails how much are AFM's and mine is a STI import V7 (bugeye) are they all the same or do i need an import AFM? or even better can i put an upgrade one on there? cheers for the quick reply mate

 

Cheers gc8-r
sod it i'm gonna give it a go with the carb cleaner.. i just put on a new airfilter (Apexi) as it had a uprated panel cotton filter & was real dirty. As the AFM looks real dirty like its never been cleaned or changed.. i'm gonna give it a go as some people say its good to clean after a service (which i just done) it improves loads of things.. so i've heard fingers crossed it works well for me - will let you know the out come tomorrow

 

if it's a 99/00 v5 or v6 they cannot be cleaned and they suffer from vibration damage too. newage are similar, best replaced. If it's 93-98 with the sensor built into the housing (not screwed into the housing) they can be successfully cleaned.

 

Oh! stress.. mine is a new age V7.. not sure what to do now? give it a go or not? any idea on how much they cost? & if they are different for imports?

 

Just do it , cleaned mine with a really soft paintbrush soaked in IPA , easy to do on my year , not sure about your model but it cant be that hard can it ? just be gentle .

 

was going to use the spray type carb cleaner.. just worried it totally *****-up. also they say these AFM's heat up real quick & on the can of carb cleaner they are saying highly flamable!... grrrrr.... Still i'm gonna give it a go.. & leave it for an hour to dry up then stick it back in the car - fingers crossed it works ok!

 

I cleaned my sensor the other day on my sti 7, I had been using a green cotton filter and noticed 1 side of the sensor was black !, I was advised to clean it using an cotton bud and electrical contact cleaner, this being alcohol dries very quickly and doesn't cause any harm to the sensor...

The car drives completely different now very smooth and pick up is instentanious! .. I ditched the green pannel filter and put a genuine dry STI filter in its place..until my apexi filter turns up...

The cleaning of the sensor is very worthwhile as new prices for the newage cars is nearly £280

Andy

 

How do you know it's not running too lean still?

Contamination isn't the only form of damage, so I think it's good to get the car checked out.

 

i had excatly the same filter on & the same thing with my AFM (black dirt on one side) i still have to use the carb cleaner on my car but now thinking of ditching it & going with the electrical contact cleaner like you have do you rekon its better to use then the carb cleaner? i'm guessing it is..

 

That's what i was advised to use on it as it dries almost instantly and leaves no residue on the sensor.

Car is running like new now!

Andy

 

You hope. Trouble is that as has already been mentioned "dirt" isn't the only thing that kills these, and short of a fairly comprehensive data acquisition fit-out, you have no way of knowing whether the car really is running like new or not. The absolute worst case scenario in this case is feeling like your car is running "really great", "better than it ever has", or "producing more power".

If any of the above applies, you should probably get it diagnosed, unless you're monitoring knock/wideband AFR or have some other method to assure yourself that the engine is running inside safe limits.

 

right, was too scared to use the carb cleaner & bought a electrical contact cleaner but no worried it won't make it 100% & don't want to damage my engine so now i am considering either getting a new AFM.. or i'm not sure but do electric control units like the Apexi SAFC cure this problem? ie. don't need a AFM/MAF with this air/fuel controller unit? any replies on ths subject would be great;-)
cheers
Tim

 

check out the info here mate as will answer any question about the apex'i safc
Apexi SAFC Air Flow Converter from AlamoMotorsports
chris

 

An airflow computer is NOT a fix. Properly maintaining your car is.

 

As above, and as you have been told a number of times now, unless you have a method of accurately measuring the response of your sensor and measuring it against a known good one the only cure for a (possibly) degraded airflow meter is a new one.

The piggy back device you mention is in no way a cure for a possibly broken or degrading sensor, all it does is modify (amplify or attenuate) the output in order to fool the ECU into altering its on-boost mixture calculation. It's designed as a tuning device, not a cure for broken (or failing) parts.

 

i have just done mine using maplins electrical component cleaner.its alcohal based so dries almost instantely leaving no residue.car runs nicer after doing mine.

 

thanks for all the replies peeps, much appriecated
I cleaned the AFM but not tested it as yet & as it was not running as it should i will be getting a new one ..just was curious about getting an Apexi unit as i thought it may cure/protect the engine going pop - ie. always sending the correct data or fuel/air to the engine & ecu.
thanks again for all your help - its been an interesting topic, also to learn more info on our cars & a good read too

 

No it doesn't work like that in practice. Those piggyback fuel computers modify the input from the AFM, they don't replace it. So, if the input is misreading or dropping out, those errors will be passed through the piggyback (albeit modified by whatever parameters you set) and into the ECU.