I have a NA S4 FC, with 65k miles on it. It's my daily driver -- never had an issue.

No mods, only this:



-- and a HID conversion kit.

So... I drove it today in the morning, worked beautifully. Happilly floored it, several times.

A package arrived (about 7 hours later) with some stuff that was missing from my car, those steering column surround plastics.

So I install them, and I turn the car on, no problem.

Now, I start driving and it feels weird -- with little power, so I slightly press the throttle to about half-way down, and the car begins to buck a bit, and the power sort of goes down... feels like the dreaded 3800rpm hesitation, but even shittier.

So I drive for a while like this, the car simply won't go past 50% throttle or 2k RPM without bucking and terribly losing power. In other words, I wasn't able to get over 35~40mph...

I finally stop, checked the TPS and it seems to be fine, at about 1k ohm.

Oil level is perfect.

By chance I happened to touch the cone air filter, and found out this...







That piece of **** cone filter was practically destroyed.

My question now is... could this be the reason for the whole power-loss? Should I just get another (better) cone filter and that's it?

Or am I fucked in some way that I don't understand


Please help people! I'm desperate!

-Dan

 

Dude! I have the SAME exact problem, without that air filter thing. You should be able to run it open (no filter) without the bucking. I have a conical filter as well and it was fine for weeks. Issue just started last night.

Consider this thread jacked

 

Could a piece of it broken off and gone into the MAF/something else? I figure that's the start of the problem, though. Try replacing it, and see where it leads you...I mean, you have to replace it anyway :P

 

Could I have fucked it up when installing the plastic steering surround? Is that a possibility?

 

Doubtful. Check under the steering column for wires you may have disconnected by installing your plastics. Check electrical connections under the hood. Check TPS via diagnostic terminal using two LEDs. Check timing........doesn't sound like timing so much, but check it anyway.

When's the last time you changed the fuel filter and ran some Lucas injector cleaner through it? I live and die by Lucas Inj. Cleaner.

Check for fuel pressure. Pump could be dying.

Where you low on fuel?

Make sure your AFM is level.

If none of that works, check compression. Then move on to plugs and wires.

 

No, unless somehow you threw your steering surround into the air intake....

It sounds like a problem I read about a while ago, but I have no idea what happened with it. I could have swore it was something to do with the MAF..

 

My AFM is at level, and I have close to half a tank of fuel.

 

Idea..if a piece of **** DID fly off and into the Afm,it may be lodged on the flapper..so Check the AFM for Debris.Actually Check the Whole "airway route" for debris,or Crap that may have came off the Filter,Just to be safe.In the meantime you can always toss another Flat filter over the air inlet,Tape it on and you are God to go,until you get another one of those "Fancy Schmancy EBay Exquisite Filters".!..Good Luck Dan..lemme know how it works out for ya.STYX.

 

Why should I use the LEDs? Isn't a multimeter much more precise?

 

I just read this, at FC3SPro.com --

"Sometimes, the stock ECU triggers a limp-home mode that causes the engine to run very poorly. This is a last-resort safety feature that allows you to limp the car home but keep engine damage to a minimum. On the Kouki FC3S, a bad electronic oil metering pump can easily trigger an error code "20" or "27", which will cause a limp-home mode that causes the engine to run very badly over 2,000RPM. Please check error codes from the ECU to eliminate any obvious problems that the stock ECU would sense."

-- maybe this is what's happening? Maybe my car is in this "limp-home mode"?

 

Hmmm... it seems that S4's don't go into limp-mode.

The thing is, my ECU is a N368 (Middle-East / NZ spec), which isn't either a S4 or S5 ECU...

 

So, I checked today, and it was the first thing I checked -- the AFM

The AFM's plate wasn't moving properly, it was stuck, because the AFM sucked the metallic center of the cone filter.

Got my hand into the AFM and took the thing out, all back to normal

 

I love happy endings....

 

This could have ended SO much worse. You're lucky it got stuck in the AFM and not farther down or eaten by the motor. Actually... you might check the rest of your intake anyway for debris. I would. Whatever was holding it in place, plastic, glue, what have you, might have made it farther down.

 

Good to hear you got it! *cheers*

 

I want My COOKIE!..(holy Crap!..I guessed right!).good Stuff Dan..Talk with ya tonight.