Itinerant Air-Cooled

Randy in Maine wrote:If it all goes bad a rebuilt AFM is about $100.....

http://www.fuelinjectioncorp.com/store/ ... cts_id=240

I read in some post on samba... "all the remanufactured AFM's are crap". Anyone have a positive or negative experience with rebuilt AFM's?

Randy in Maine wrote:If it all goes bad a rebuilt AFM is about $100.....

http://www.fuelinjectioncorp.com/store/ ... cts_id=240

Dang, wish you hadn't posted that... I way overpaid at BD.

To answer the post above, mine SEEMED to run smoother, however, I have a more basic problem (exact opposite of yours to lean)that I haven't fixed/diagnosed yet. After I get it fixed I will let you know.

got_the_bug wrote:

Randy in Maine wrote:If it all goes bad a rebuilt AFM is about $100.....

http://www.fuelinjectioncorp.com/store/ ... cts_id=240

I read in some post on samba... "all the remanufactured AFM's are crap". Anyone have a positive or negative experience with rebuilt AFM's?

AFMs have basically one moving part. If it moves smoothly without scraping, and if the tracks are not worn on the potentiometer, you generally will do OK. The great mystery is going to be how was it adjusted at the reman plant?
Colin

got_the_bug wrote:

Randy in Maine wrote:If it all goes bad a rebuilt AFM is about $100.....

http://www.fuelinjectioncorp.com/store/ ... cts_id=240

I read in some post on samba... "all the remanufactured AFM's are crap". Anyone have a positive or negative experience with rebuilt AFM's?

I had a rebuilt air-flow meter up and running for years upon years in my 82 Westy. I sent it directly to FIC Corporation in Livermore California and it worked just fine.

The reason I removed it two weeks ago is because I found a brand spankin new, never installed or rebuilt , still in the original box... Bosch AFM for $100.00.
Talk about Christmas in August.

If you do plan on a rebuild...check out FIC Corporations web-site. Thats the same company that BD and GW and BusBoys uses.

Other than what I heard...its wise to avoid the Python meters.
Your potentiometer looks worn....maybe the cause of your problem,no

Eureka! Found the problem!!!

Thanks to Dave, a member of my local VW club, I swapped in his AFM and it purred like a kitten. Ok, a grumpy kitten but it purred. Considering it wasn't dialed in with timing and idle it sounded awesome and didn't belch black smoke.

I'm sure I can improve on that considerably.

I located a used AFM about an hour from here so hopefully I can pick that up tomorrow.

If I have any issues dialing it in I'll let you know. Thanks everyone.

Another FI Beetle among us! Glad you figured it out. I think moving the wiper with no change in idle speed was the prime clue that something was amiss with the AFM.

Let us know how she purrs after you get 'er dialed in.

Sweetness. Glad it is coming together.


Hang on to the AFM and do some bench testing. It may be salvagable with some careful attention. Might just need a good electronics parts cleaner shower/blast.

I'm back. Installed the new AFM from FIC today and put in new temp sensor as well. I made no adjustments to the AFM.

Engine was re-timed at 28 degree BTDC at 3200 RPM's with the hoses off. The engine is idling nicely 8400 RPM's. Dwell is at 46. The timing mark jumps around a bit at 3200rpms.

The black smoke and poisonous smell is gone.

The serious problem however is that it runs very very hot. Hot enough to bubble the paint on the rear apron. The dipstick was too hot to hold after that short run.

So I still have a heat problem. A potentially related problem which I noted earlier is a fair amount of air blowing through the oil filler if I remove the cap. With the cap on this air is piped back into the S-Boot.

Any suggestions on what to look to determine where this heat issue is coming from?

By the way, this car does not have a catalytic converter.

I used soap bubbles on all my air hoses , S-Boot, AAR and CSV to make sure there were no air leaks and didn't find any.

The engine will get hot just from idling if I let it run for 5-6 minutes.

I got plenty of air blasting out of the shroud heater ducts so don't think it's a fan issue. These ducts are currently taped off.

I wonder what shape your oil cooler is in. You'd have to pull the motor to have a look, but if it gets hot as quick and as bad as you've indicated, I don't think you're going to be driving it much anyway.

Any chance all the un-burnt fuel (soot) has effected the valves or exhaust? Any restriction may explain the high temps.

dtrumbo wrote:I wonder what shape your oil cooler is in. You'd have to pull the motor to have a look, but if it gets hot as quick and as bad as you've indicated, I don't think you're going to be driving it much anyway.

Yes, I fear I'll need to pull the engine and probably open it up. Something I was hoping to avoid. That may become my winter activity if I don't discover something obvious soon.

have you done a compression test? sounds like a lot of blow by coming out your oil fill. If the pcv system works correctly you should have a vacuum leak symptom when you remove oil cap while running, not air blowing out. a worn engine can run hot because it lacks power and works much harder for the same result of a healthy engine. perhaps pistons and cylinders are in your future.

vdubyah73 wrote:have you done a compression test? sounds like a lot of blow by coming out your oil fill. If the pcv system works correctly you should have a vacuum leak symptom when you remove oil cap while running, not air blowing out. a worn engine can run hot because it lacks power and works much harder for the same result of a healthy engine. perhaps pistons and cylinders are in your future.

Compression is 138 in all 4.

got_the_bug wrote: Compression is 138 in all 4.

. . . and how about a proper leak down test? which will tell you much more than a simple compression test!