Ok you may have seen some threads last week through the weekend and other may still be experiancing this problem and not know it. This causes IDLE problems when your car starts up and will stall it in most cases until the car is warmed up. If you are having this problem open up your Air filter and lift it up. Examen and look for a black goey substance. Lift up the fitler and look for it there. If you notice then chances are it may be in your AFM causing the door mechanism to stick and not letting air in until the substance is warm and easier to move. here is how I took care of it.

Note: I am not responsiable for anything that happens to your car to include damage or bodily harm to you or anyone else Use this at your own risk. This method worked for me however NOW i am having a problem with my car probably from something else.

Example of what to look like


Note: I am not responsiable for anything that happens to your car. This method worked for me however NOW i am having a problem with my car probably from something else.

Tools

Lighter
Razor
Philips screw driver
Pocket Knife
Ratchet
Freezer
Gloves (make sure you can throw them away afterwards) If the stuff gets on your skin its hard to get off......
Close you dont mind getting rid of if that crap gets on you


Step one

unscrew your airbox and unplug all wires/tubes going to it.
using a ratchet disconnect the WHOLE afm unit from the airbox you will see 4 nuts connected to the airbox use a 10mm to get them off

When you are done you should have the AFM in your hands exam the door in there push it open with your finger. It should be pertty easy to push back and fourth. If there is resistance or the door is sliding shut slowly there is a chance that the black stuff is in the hinges. Also notice if there is any black goo in the tunnel.

example:
Door closed like it should and you also notice the black ooze on the floor of the tunnel


On this next picture you can see that i have pushed the door back and it seems to be stuck in that position. If the goo was not there the door would go back to the Closed position quickly.


Flip the unit upside down and you will notice about 10 screws. Before you start taking them out you should realize the epoxy that is keeping the plate on. This is where that pocket knife comes in. Slowly score the epoxy making it free of the unit. If you do not do this the Plate will not come off......
After you do this take all the screws out do it carefully and slowly to ensure that none of them strip they seem to be very soft......

Next using a flat head screw driver and the lip of the entry point of the AFM as leverage, take the plate off


The once the plate is off you should be able to see how far that goo stuff has gone in...... Here you in my picture you notice that the goo has not gotten to the intake piping and has been stopped at the door.




using your razor blade at an angle scrape the goo off make sure to continue cleaning that razor blade. after some time you will notice that the plate should be free. If you can try and clean off the walls of the tunnels using the razor blade. next comes the tough part the door hinge and the door itself.
It takes time so make sure you are sitting comfortably


if you move the door back and fourth you and look at the hinges you should start to notice the black residue on there. What I did was get Windex napkin and a lighter. I held the door open and on the hinge where the residue is at i heated it for about 20-30secs enough to let it liquify again. I then took the windex napkin and wiped it off. it came off very easily. I then closed the door and on the other side of the hinge repated the same procedure.

you should notice at this time the door will start to close and open faster and easier. To make sure you do not continue to have problems put it in the freezer for about a min. when you take it out make sure you are wearing gloves its cold.. when you pull it out of the freezer if you try and push the door open and if there is alot of resistance you need to go back to the hinge and try and clean it out more. If there isnt reassemble everything and put it back in the car.

Try to turn your car on but becareful and make sure that it runs for a while.

Here is what were i messed up.

During the breakout of the afm. I accidently disconnected the sensor module


when i put everything back one of the connections was loose a bit. when i started the car up i let it sit for a min. I then revved the car to about 4-5k and took my foot off the gas. When i did that the car quickly dropped down and stalled out. Afterwards the car would not start. When it does it bearly holds an IDLE. I will be disconnecting the battery to reset the cars computer and hopefully that will work if not then i will be doing a compression check and a engine check using AARONSCAKES method.

I hope this helps. I am sure if i didnt run into any problems its cheaper then buying a referb for 189.95 from autozone or even a used one.

rick

 

ummm brake cleaner anyone?

 

Thats what happens when people don't change their filters. Its a known cause to happen also.

 

I don't claim to know anything about AFM's.... but... Something about this article is screaming "NOOOOO!!!"... I always thought that AFM's are pretty delicately balanced items.... opening them up and fiddling with them could f' them up pretty bad I'd assume.

Iceblue has a better idea.

 

I have never seen anything like that before. Where the hell did that crap come from?

I have never seen black goo form from a clogged air filter.

Its fine as long as you don't mess with the variable resistor portion. That is VERY delicate. If you take close look, there is a bunch of very very small wires on the circuit board and arm making a small contact with each other.

 

dude are those seashells in the picture???

 

Ahh. that must have been what I read somewhere... good to know if I ever get another S4.

 

the problem is its really stuck on there. it took me using a razor to even get it off before that i tried rubbing alchol and other things. nothing would work it would no absorb into the material......... even with the lighter it was still sticking on there pertty hard.

 

My wife loves the beach lol nothing i can do there

 

Yep I had the same problem with my s5 air filter. It wasnt as bad, but I still have never gotten it all out. I used a screwdriver or razorblade to get it out somewhat. It didnt get as far as the AFM, but still a bitch.

 

pertty much, the previous owner i dont think ever changed this.

Also someone is probably going to say isnt the freezer going to mess with the electronics?


In truth i dont know. It shouldnt because i kept it in there long enough to simulate a cold winter day of about 30 degrees F.

My problem happened when i was stupid and removed plug to that afm AND MESSED UP SOME WIRES. other then that for the most part im sure it would have been fine

 

[quote=RotaMan99;7254008]I have never seen anything like that before. Where the hell did that crap come from?



I have never seen black goo form from a clogged air filter.

Its not from being clogged. Its from the outer rubber on the air filter. They melt after awhile and start getting into the afm and intake system. THey actually charge about 3 hours labor to do that at the dealership even though its a known problem.

 

[QUOTE=Houstonderk;7254509]Its expensive. even for a brand new AFM

This took me about 1-2 hours to do if that and it did work but i think i screwed up the sensor itself. I will be doing some testing tonight to verify everything. but i figured people might want to know how to do it.

 

I have a high doubt about that. The filter has to get REALLY HOT for the rubber to melt. Sure its not some sealant or something?

BTW, the dealership will make a charge for anything.

 

ok everyone here is an update

The car is running i repeat the car is running. I took off the positive battery cable did an unflood procedure. Aparrently i had flooded the car and someone lastnight put the trash can infront of the exahust which was causing it to back the exahust back into the engine. I just didnt htink of it lastnight because well lol i didnt. After i did everything the car had a shakey start however the car is back up and running. I and its stronger then before. It also does not take so long now to start up like before it would take 20 mins or so till i could drive it. That wasted alot of gas


So i repeat my car is up and running better then before.

Rotaman999
I dont know what it is either it could be some sealant or something but if you look at the first picture of the filter you will notice that the foam peace thats suppose to be there isnt so thats the only thing i can lead to belive. Again i dont know what the previous user of the car did and didnt do. Since i have had the car i have done the spark plugs, fuel filter, fuel strainer, and now the AFM.

 

so clean you can eat off it in your living room coffe table hugh?

 

Alright! Congrats man, i can't wait to replace my AFM. Damn student loans taking forever to get here....grrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

ya its that clean:-D jk its clean enough for the car atleast. I have to come up with a way to make the a new filter work on there. I have a Cobalt ss filter i want to adapt to it but ya.


this works everyone i will post after pics when i feel like it but i cleaned probably 90% off and you can see how bad it looks.

Mods if you want heres a sticky from a newbie:-D

 

they sell AFM cleaner at most auto parts stores.....

 

again this stuff will not wash off simpily by using any kind of cleaner. anyone that has delt with it please chime in on what you have used to clean it up with.

the stuff is stuck between a liquid/soild state. if you go from a smooth portion of the metal to this it will feel like you hit a wall because its so sticky. Sheer force and heating it are about the only ways to get it off. All the cleaners i tried would just go to the top of the of the goo and not absorb in. im sure if it would it probably would have been easier to get it off. however like i said its between a liquid/soild state.

 

i agree



so do you have an s5 then i would just think that the what ever the hell black stuff could be cus the s5 run's hotter. however i think when i get a day off i will crack open my airbox and take a look

 

i think i have the s4 its an 88 rx7 na

 

You saying the exhaust was going back through the exhaust and into the engine? If so, thats incorrect. A trash can in front of the exhaust wont do anything.

86-88 (Series 4)
89-91 (Series 5)

 

agreed mythbuster proved that with the banana in the tail pipe theory

 

haha I was going to say that one too, but didn't they do that with a v8 engine? I guess it wouldn't really matter, the pressure would build up oin the exhaust enough to blow it out.