sti v7 - pod fiter / external wastegate and engine lights one

[victorjf]

so... my friend just got a sti v7 with pod filter apex external wastegate and 3 exhaust from turbo, but now his car got check engine light on ( orange one ). He bought this car about 1 week ago..... also turbo kicks only with 3.5 thousands revs ( not sure if it is normal on v7 due my cg8 kicks b4 3thousands revs ) and when the check engine light comes on, the idle stays between 900 to 1400 revs ( going down and up ). i said to him to take his car to the garage and see whats wrong but seems that air flow meter gone...... we did reset the ecu but after 5, 10 minutes the engine light come on and no idle again.... has anyone been through this issue before ?

[boon]

Yeah sounds like AFM to me. Try cleaning it first.

[victorjf]

how can we clean it ?

[Kiwi_Fozze]

Pull it out, spray MAF sensor cleaner over it, let it dry, bung it back in and test.

Is the pod a k&n oiled (washable) filter?

[victorjf]

is apexi one i think is washable. About this spray, can i buy it from supercheap or ...??

[Timmah]

 victorjf said:

is apexi one i think is washable. About this spray, can i buy it from supercheap or ...??

Supercheap/Repco. CRC AFM cleaner.

[lachlan]

yep .

what error code is the ecu giving you ?

[lachlan]

iirc the can is labeled "maf sensor cleaner"

maf being Mass Air Flow

[victorjf]

not sure abt the code...he hasnt put the car on the diagnosis thing yet

[victorjf]

 victorjf said:

not sure abt the code...he hasnt put the car on the diagnosis thing yet, but usuay lights comes on after boost kick and then no idle

[Timmah]

Turn car off, unplug AFM. Turn car back on. How is she? - Things are looking to be AFM related.

Is the pod filter secured? Or is it just bolted onto the AFM and left hanging?

[victorjf]

we did it... and when we turn engine bk on the check engine light is not on anymore, and then we go for a drive and after first boost engine light comes on and no idle.... im pretty sure is afm too... we checked pod filter and sensor, is all good, hes going to buy the crc maf cleaner this week...hope helps

[Marky]

Im happy to be told wrong but isn\'t the "maf cleaner" just normal electrical contact cleaner anyway?

The car might behave better like timmah said, with the afm unplugged altogether until it can be sorted? Has worked for me - drives terribly with busted afm but unplugging it means no more bad signals

Where in the country are you? There\'s probably someone local who might be able to test their afm and make sure it actually is the problem

Until you find out and fix the problem I\'d strongly advise just driving it gently & keeping it off boost, the check engine light means it will be in limp mode which is exactly that - it\'s meant for you to baby the car home to get fixed

[Guest]

IMO that maf cleaner is shit. i used to sell it and never had it work ever even on my own stuff. Think Ive still got it somewhere.

[Kiwi_Fozze]

mmm stripped all the black crap off my heater and sensor wires when i used it... worked well. *shrugs*

[Timmah]

 Marky said:

Im happy to be told wrong but isn\'t the "maf cleaner" just normal electrical contact cleaner anyway?

The car might behave better like timmah said, with the afm unplugged altogether until it can be sorted? Has worked for me - drives terribly with busted afm but unplugging it means no more bad signals

Where in the country are you? There\'s probably someone local who might be able to test their afm and make sure it actually is the problem

Until you find out and fix the problem I\'d strongly advise just driving it gently & keeping it off boost, the check engine light means it will be in limp mode which is exactly that - it\'s meant for you to baby the car home to get fixed

Just to clarify, I wasn\'t intending to imply to run the car with the AFM unplugged altogether, was just to simply see how it operate. It was how I identified a dud AFM I had.

[Pappu1]

What part of country are u in?

Gt it scanned

Do a runnin log as that will show exactly what is issue

Sometimes a scan is not the right answer especially if it\'s things like leaks

Have had a similar issue in a car I diagnosed and code was p0171 which sometimes looks like ATM but was in fact a leak

[victorjf]

in blenheim, car is going to be scanned tomorrow, when the orange light comes on is basically impossible drive it in low gears, we unplugged the afm and see how goes... at least car is driveble now...