Technical Problems with my 1.3jtd Panda

[afroking]

A second-hand set of an injectors has cured the fault. The air flow meter was covered in thick, black oil so I revived it using my secret method and all is well again.
It pulls well from 1750 to 3000rpm before trailing off. Fuel economy is still rising, hoping for 60mpg.

On the note of the blanking plate; Alfa officially released a modified EGR gasket plate for their GT diesels which would have the same effects on the engine fuelling as the type I have installed.

 

[afroking]

Oh by the way; I tightened the injector connections which made little, if any difference. I also checked leak-off which after about 2 mins of running equated to 20-30ml across all injectors.

 

[afroking]

Next steps are to re-gas the air con, valet the filthy interior, get an original MP3 head unit. Then; lower the Panda, get some banded steel wheels and window tint.

 

[Sweetsixteen]

Then you can call it "Phoenix" - Risen from the ashes!

 

[ytareh]

I unplugged my MAF on 2005 MJ yesterday a few miles from home and low revs response seemed a bit better maybe at cost of high revs torque (?) Torque 'curve ' seemed more smooth /straight - less noticeable turbo 'kick in '.Mpg the same or slightly lower but hard to tell objectively .Will running car without MAF do any harm ? Will it run better with a new one?Are they dear?Thanks ( OP impressive work !)

EDIT I see these MAFs are around £200/€300 !!!
Also from cold start this morning am getting a Check Engine light -didnt yesterday from warm unplug .

 

[Louie Bee]

Brill thread! I've never seen a piston crown so stoved in. The bowl looks OK though. maybe not in real life?

The air flow meter was covered in thick, black oil so I revived it using my secret method .

:idea: Did you pop it in the dish washer?

 

[afroking]

Try http://www.worldcarparts.co.uk/ for your MAFs as they are by far the cheapest i.e. 90£ for a genuine Bosch blade - nothing else will do.

With the MAF disconnected the ECU will allow the ECU to run in default parameters and so will be technically an 'open loop' system which will not adapt per se as much as a working unit would allow. It might over fuel and won't deliver the same toque curve as factory. I know people that have ran their Alfa 147 8v JTD for 6 years without a MAF connected, it is fine and achieves at least 47mpg.

Haha, no Louie I did not, it is far easier than that and does not involve solvents.

Just covered 1500 trouble free miles so far at 68-70mpg.

All is well in the Panda world.

 

[notsmartcars]

Are you sure it's the maf sensor and not the air manifold pressure sensor you cleaned as I not sure how the. Maf sensor could get covered in oil..

 

[afroking]

Are you sure it's the maf sensor and not the air manifold pressure sensor you cleaned as I not sure how the. Maf sensor could get covered in oil..

Yes, I am quite sure, if not positive, it was the MAF sensor.

Usually you would not expect it to become covered in oil, however, if the engine was low on compression, it might suggest that cylinder pressure was escaping through the inlet valve and up the inlet tract, thus reversing the flow of oil you would usually find in the intake pipes.

 

[Sweetsixteen]

Or someone over-oiled the air filter in a previous life?
K&N filter, maybe?

 

[notsmartcars]

Good thinking sweet sixteen ... Cause I was thinking getting oil from the inlet manifold through the inter cooler ,through the turbo to the sensor would probably need 2 gallons of oil and difficult with the engine running

 

[afroking]

The sensor was covered in thick, black oil - as were the inlet pipes.

So, I could only speculate as to the real cause.

The most important thing, for me at least, is the problem no longer exists.