Air Flow Meter for 3ltr 75/Milano

[sammbo]

Hi Folks, any help would be appreciated with this.

I have a 1990 75/Milano 3ltr. The Pipe from the air flow meter to the throttle became loose. Air got in and it resulted in a backfire that caused the flap in the Air Flow meter to bend.

I'm trying to get a new Air flow meter at a reasonable cost. But every time I mention it's an Alfa, they want to charge me a fortune.

I've heard that the Air Flow meter is interchangeable with some other makes. i.e. Datsun 280z, and if you purchase these from a Nissan dealer they maybe cheaper.

Are there any others ??


thanks
Sam

[slyalfa]

you could have one shiped from the USA try APE

or go MS or VEMS and never use a AFM again

[Greg Gordon]

It is absolutely NOT interchangable with a Datsun 280Z AFM. Assuming your car has L-Jetronic (some late 75s are Motronic) you can use a bigger AFM from a late 70s early 80s BMW 533i/633i/733i. Or just use a 2.5 AFM and calibrate it yourself, it will work just fine. There are some larger Nippondenso (spelling?) AFMs that will interchange although I would have to check the numbers because I can't remember which ones.

Greg Gordon www.oldebottles.com/italiancarspage3.htm

[sammbo]

Greg & Slyalfa
thanks for your help with this.

I spoke to my mechanic and he reckons he has tried eveything. He's tried using others AFM and 2.5 AFM etc. He said if you change the AFM you must change the ECU also.
Personally I can't accept this. From my view point I reckon there should only be one AFM for all cars, and each manufacture should just calobrate it for their specific application.

How can I find out more about this?
do you know where I can find out how to calibrate an AFM?
How do I know which ones I can use, i.e 70s early 80s BMW 533i/633i/733i.etc ..

Also for what it's worth, this is the part number 0 280 202 108. The car is a 1990 3ltr. How can I find out if its Motronic ?


Sorry for all the dumb questions

thanks folks
Sam

[Greg Gordon]

Ok, the 108 AFM is a L-Jetronic AFM. The BMW units that will work are from 1976-1982 533i/633i/733i cars. I have a list of Japanese AFMs I put together somewhere. I did a fair amount of experimenting at one time with AFMs in search of more power but with the advent of lower priced modern systems like GoTec and Megasquirt bigger AFMs are not worth the time it takes to find them.

You do not need to change the ECU if you change the AFM. In fact changing to a 2.5 ECU with a 2.5 AFM without recalibrating would be bad.

Recalibrating is easy. I have full instructions on steps 8 and 12 here: http://www.oldebottles.com/italiancarspage3.htm . If you can't do it yourself print it out and take it to your mechanic.

[sammbo]

Hi Greg,
thanks for this.

I'm sorry about the lame questions, but how do you know the BMW units will work ? do they have the same part number ? or is there some other way of knowing.

Is the GoTec and Megasquirt cheaper than a new standard AFM

thanks
Sam

[Greg Gordon]

The BMW units are a different part number. There is an excellent write up on using them at www.alfagtv6.com in the tech section. I know they work because I have tried them, so have plenty of other people.

I am not really the one to ask about GoTec or Megasquirt since there are experts on those systems here who can help.

Greg Gordon www.oldebottles.com/italiancars.htm

[sammbo]

Thanks Greg,

I've just spoken to a mechanic who said when a backfire bends the AFM Flap; he just straightens them out with a piece of wood inserted in each end of the AFM. He reckons it works every time.

I'll try this first. If it doesn’t work, then I'll look at replacing the whole unit.

Thanks
Sam

P.S. I check out your WEB site. Congratulations, you have some great stuff there. Well worth the effort.

[Kathy]

Hi I have an 1985 Alfa Romeo Spider. The car will idle but under pressure it quits. I have replaced the fuel injectors, the fuel regulator, check the exhaust. Could it be the air flow meter and if so where can I get one. PLEASE HELP. I just put the car in storage last year and got it out now it doesn't run.

[Kathy]

Can you help me on my alfa with the air flow meter. I have a 1985 spider is the air flow meter interchangeable witha anything. the part number is 0280202027. I can find one of them

[sammbo]

Hi Kathy,
I'm not sure if you have the same problem as I did.
My problem was caused by a backfire in the plenum chamber.
The back pressure bent the AFM flap, causing to stick.
This caused the car to behave erratically.

Sometime it wouldn’t start, other times it revved like crazy, then it would just cut out.

I couldn’t find a new (or remanufactured) AFM, so I fixed it myself.
That was a few years ago, and I haven’t had any trouble since.

I spoke to a well know Alfa mechanic down here (Australia), and he said if air gets in between the AFM and the Plenum it can cause a backfire.
He said to pull the AFM out and try straightening the flap with a piece of wood.
I tried this but it didn’t work.

Personally I found that accelerating during engine startup causes a backfire – almost every time with my car.
So now I just turn the key without accelerating, and I haven’t had a backfire since.

I think you should check the AFM flap to see if it’s sticking.
You can do this by removing the air filter and surrounding bits.
Then with your finger, try pushing the flap to see if it moves freely.
Between completely closed and open, it should move without sticking, (not even slightly.)

If you think you AFM is sticking, let me know and I’ll post what I did to fix mine

Sam

[inhistoryclass]

Old toyota supras use a AFM that is nearly interchangeable. I use one on my car as it is much bigger than stock.

[sammbo]

HI 'InHistoryClass'
do you need to do anything special to use the Toyota Supra AFM, or do you just plumb it up and go ?

Also, what year / model is the Toyota Supra you are referring to ?

thanks in advance
sam