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Im a new member and I am trying to find out a bit about AFMs as my car is running rich and has failed the MOT. The garage believe it to be a faulty AFM and have told me they have tested it without success. I have a 1990 205 GTI 1.9 which I believe is XU9J1 engine. The car currently has an AFM with the part number 0280202056, but I think it should have 0280202109. Until now it had always passed the MOT without any problems but it now seems the AFM may have given up or suffered some deterioration. I also had a lot of miss-firing to the extent that it blew open the back box of the exhaust along the crimped seam. The garage removed the injector rail and tested the injectors and found fault with one of them and resolved the problem. This seems to have eliminated the miss-fire. The garage also replaced the Fuel Pressure Regulator at the same time. I cant find a new AFM though so I am wondering if anyone has any advice. The car also idles extremely erratically now and I woneder if this may in part due to the messing with the AFM the garage may have done. Does anyone know where to source new AFMs and if this may likely be the problem. I have sourced a used AFM with the part number 0280202109 but if someone could let me know if this is correct I would be grateful? Also any other advice as to why it may be running rich and idling erratically? Many thanks.

Anyone brought one of these new AFM ? There the same part number as my Bosch one and confirmed they do fit the car . So wondered if anybody had used one ?

I've been having this issue for a while, just rebuilt the engine and was hoping it would miraculously solve the issue. Start the car and idles at around 1200. After about a minute, just as the revs start to think about starting to drop, the K light comes on and the revs climb to about 1500 over a few seconds. If I rev the engine the revs fall back to 1200 ish and the k light goes off. The revs then creep back up to 1500 ish and the k light comes back on. This stays the same apart from the lower revs value goes towards 900 ish and the higher to 1100 ish as the engine warms up (so the SAD is working!). It has a new temp sensor and the lambda was new around 1200 miles ago, the AFM is a replacement but was second hand and I'm almost certain has been tampered with, I think this may be part of the problem / solution but I need to understand what's going on in the ECU's tiny mind to try and work out the solution. The only fault code is 52 (fuel mixture adjustment) now on Autodata the solution to this is to check everything!! I'm as sure as possible that there are no air leaks, I've even replaced the vapour recycling valve thingy as this is about the only purposeful introduction of unmetered air. My thoughts are that for the first minute or so while the engine is very cold the ECU just runs on a pre-set output and the lambda is ignored, then after a certain time or temperature it kicks in, and starts to try and adjust. For some reason (rich or lean?) the revs are rising as a result of this adjustment but the ECU is putting the light on as it's not able to bring emissions into line, or the results aren't fitting into the acceptable range for a given set of values. What would cause a rise in revs? idle too rich so trying to adjust leaner or the other way round?? As mentioned the Temp sensor is new so unlikely to be to blame, I think the AFM has been tampered with as there is a mark on the sprung wheel in tippex and the lid was loose when I got it but I have no idea how to go about making adjustments or knowing whether it is in fact out. I think i know that a clockwise adjustment tightens the spring which closes the flap slightly which makes the ecu think there's less air entering so reduces the fuel and leans it up?? is that right?? I'm thinking it's too lean at startup and when the lambda kicks in it's giving the signal to add more fuel which is making the revs rise at tickover but which puts the figures out of range and puts the light on!? I'm not sure where the revving of the engine making the k light go off temporarily fits in? I'm guessing I'm not going to get far without a gas analyser but is there anything I can try at home? Hope I've not twisted antones melon too much with that post,suffice to say it's certainly twisting mine!! All the best Martin

Hi all, After reading a post on here about the hex bolt that holds the oil filler bracket onto the inlet manifold being a potential air leak I paid real close attention whilst putting my air pipes back on last night and think I may have unearthed a potential issue. Whilst putting my air pipes back I realised that (probably forever) I've been running the car with only the four mounting bolts that go through the main bracket and gasket on my AFM. I noticed there is a small extension of the AFM mounting bracket that runs underneath the AFM and should anchor it in the side with a fifth bolt but this part of the bracket had been bent out of the way and there's never been a bolt in this location. So, can anyone tell me what size bolt goes in here please - it looks as though it may be M 8 or even M 10 but I didn't have anything handy to try. Also, would having this hole open all these years have affected the performance/idling? Would it be similar to leaving the oil filler bracket hex bolt out of the inlet manifold, thus allowing un-metered air in or am I clutching at straws? Cheers in advance for any help. Ian.

Hi all, I'll be taking the top off my AFM tonight as I tested it with a multi-meter recently and got some very different results to those described here http://www.205gtidrivers.com/articles/e3-injection.html Most alarmingly I didn't see any change on the meter when moving the door inside. Whilst it's off the car I want to remove the idle mixture screw and give it all a good clean too. Is there a recommended base setting for when I replace this screw please? I appreciate I can't set it properly without a gas analyser, being able to take her out for a drive and that every car is different but it will be done properly when it gets MOT'd. However in the meantime, while I'm just starting her now and again on the drive as I move her in and out of the garage and stuff I'd like to be in the right ball park - so is there a recommended number of turns of the idle mixture screw that I should be looking at before I put the AFM and the rest of the bits that are currently on my kitchen table all back on the car at the weekend please? I should add that the mixture is already way off as I have tried playing with this screw before I fully understood what may be causing the idling issues and the last time it was looked at professionally it was set up to run with a defective SAD, blocked throttle body and knackered ECU temperature sensor so I'm not worried about losing the current setting. Thanks all and look forward to hearing your replies. Ian. Standard 1989 1.6 205gti (XU5JA)