OPINIONS PLEASE

[stripe]

Folks,

After all the nonsense with the melted piston I had, I decided to look into all the possible reasons it happened, one of which being that I have a Blitz induction kit, which was on the car when I bought it, and I know the MAF sensor don't like induction kits. I phoned Iain Grieve for a quote for a standard Subaru air box, and a new MAF sensor. Was quoted £459.03 incl fitting. Do you think it needs both?, or just a new air box or MAF. What's the best thing to do, just don't want it going bang again!

[paul_honthy]

It cost my warranty £280 quid for the MAf on my 97 STI, not cheap.

I did consider changing back to original airbox but that many people run the Apexi and Blitz induction kit that I felt it was safe enough to stick to the after-market induction kit.

When the car wasn't running right with no CEL light showing I took it to Geers and they found by doing a diagnostic check on the ECU there was in fact a MAF fault in the ECU, which for some reason wasn't putting the CEL light on !!

Personally I'd have the MAF checked and then take it from there.

As for the induction kit if you personally have any doubt then get a 2nd hand airbox (about £30 + p&p when I looked into changing) and get a after-market panel filter.

Im sure some one with more knowledge will be of more help.

scotty

[rabskyline]

if apexi, hks, blitz and subaru for that matter found out that there was a problem with induction kits then there wouldnt be any available for these cars. it just lets the car breath more. the afm on the other hand monitors the flow to the engine in turn  the ecu adjusts afr. now i would get the afm checked (easily done at any garage with a sun diagnostic comp.)and as scotty said, take it from there. ps i think the price from greers is horrific !

[jamie_anderson]

correct me if im wrong (usualy am by the way) the thing with the blitz / hks etc. filters is if they are not sheilded from the heat in your engine bay and dont have a good cold air feed there is a chance they will do some damage by sucking in the extremely hot air which builds up pretty quickly in our scoobs. my car came with a hks air filter and im dreading what damage its already done.

[rabskyline]

my uk car has 98k on it with a green cotton filter. drove it to liverpool and back yesterday 600 miles at 100 mph most of the way and no drama ! oh and normal unleaded too !

[WRC No 1]

i have a green cotton filter on when the wether is poor and the k&n induction kit when the wether is good like this .

my my97 uk turbo wagon has 151000 miles and she is still going good with a few mods and no remap.

u cant beat that lol.

wullie

[the squiggle]

Thats the bonus of a UK car Rab, you can run it on any old keech.

When fitting a cone filter to a std ECU the std ECU tends to richen up the mixture due to the extra amount of air passing through it unmapped.  This coupled with the fact the induction is placed 18 inches away from exhaust headers running 200- 300 degrees which will heat the air passively that is being sucked in by the induction.  When the turbo compresses this charge, it will heat it up to a fair amount again and then the intercooler has to try and reduce the temp of the intake charge to a satisfactory level before it gets forced into the combustion chambers.  These factors coupled with a UK ECU ignition advance can bring on temps in the combustion chambers that is sufficient enough to melt a piston . 

You can source a Airbox from any breakers for a reasonable sum and if the breakers are a bit clueless then you might get the MAF as well

 

[paul_honthy]

Not sure on that one but what you are saying does make sense.Too high a charge air tempt will kill the engine just a quick as running lean ( was told this just the other day).

 

[Auldy]

i have a green cotton filter on when the wether is poor and the k&n induction kit when the wether is good like this .

my my97 uk turbo wagon has 151000 miles and she is still going good with a few mods and no remap.

u cant beat that lol.

wullie

 

dus this mean i dont nd a remap wen i fit my induction kit???? dont wana stick it on an all sorts o things goin wrong.

 

 

[johnnyr6]

There was a test done a while back on the filtration of induction kits and you'd be surprised what they can let through. The blitz steel mesh fared pretty bad letting in loads of crap. One of the best was the apexi which filtered as good as the oe filter ( with more air intake).

I had an aftermarket filter on my car when i got it which wasn't looked after. You should have seen the state of the intake hoses, also had a knackered maf. I now use an apexi ind. kit and have had no probs with it. ( i also use a heat sheild).

Use a good quality cotton or paper filter and clean it regularly and all should be fine.

 

If you go back to the standard box use the sti panel filter, seems to come highly recommended.

P.S. I may know of a standard airbox if you want one.

 

Johnny

 

 

[nicholas_frame]

I had an HKS panel filter in my wrx and recently changed to a k&n 57i kit - guess what, i used to get occasional cel warnings and now i don't. 

Would recommend the k&n kit, particularly as they're designed for each version (mine's specifically for jap classics and mounts solidly to inner wing thus protecting maf).

Sounds awsome when gulping in the air and my bailey dumper makes a really hard core noise now as well!  I do always run with optimax however.

[paul_honthy]

I thought the K&N were the ones that were oil coated and the film of oil was passed onto the MAF hence causing the to fail ?!

[stripe]

Hmmm, so many different opinions and thoughts regarding it. Thanks for the comments guys, I think am gonna get hold of a standard air box, and go get the MAF sensor checked by a garage. Anyone reccommend a good garage in the Cumbernauld/Glasgow area?

[nicholas_frame]

I thought the K&N were the ones that were oil coated and the film of oil was passed onto the MAF hence causing the to fail ?!

Mmm interesting, but sounds like another urban legend to me.  Most maf issues i've heard of seem to be related to excess vibrations.  I reckon if you were to drench it in oil there could be a problem, but I keep my oiling to a minimum and haven't had any issues so far.  I'll keep you posted.  Anyone else heard of this issue???

[WRC No 1]

i have had no problems with the k&n induction kit.

when i first got the filter i sprayed gunk (engine degreaser) all over the filter then put it into a bucket off very

warm water to remove the oil coat on the filter.

when removed from bucket leave to dry or dry with a hair dryer thats what i did.

ps i have never had to change a maff yet. touch wood lol.

wullie.