I started a thread some time ago with the same subject, concerning a melted piston caused by (so the dealer says) an ITG panel filter.

Even though I have not established contact with Scoobysport, I'd like to clear some statements that I’ve made and could lead people to believe that the ITG panel filter is not safe.

My Subaru dealer sent me a fax reporting the damage found and the cause of it. I will attempt a rough translation of the relevant part: “the filter installed is less air-restrictive and the MAF could not cope with the greater flow of air, giving wrong information to the ECU. At a given time the air/fuel mixture was not rich enough and that caused the melted piston”.

Personally, I think it’s all a lot of &%$, but as the warranty had expired (about a month earlier) and I had in fact installed products that are not original parts, I paid for a new short-engine (got the car two days ago, at last!).
According to my dealer’s explanation, the very same problem should occur with any non-standard panel filter or any other type of filter (imagine what they would say about a cone filter!), which is absolutely ridiculous!

So, bearing in mind all that has been said, I would like all to know that I do not blame Scoobysport and/or ITG for my problem (in spite of their lack of response to the e-mail I sent them at the time). Instead, I blame the country where I live, because I don’t have any other place where to fix my car or get expert advise. The result is obvious: my Subaru dealer can get away with almost anything.

Thanks to all who have read this long text

António Correia Jr.

 

I had an ITG in my car for nearly 18 months without a single problem.

 

Hi Antonio

I am sorry that I didn't reply to your mail. Your post on here was virtually a copy and I posted on here in reply and hoped that would be OK.

Thanks for your kind post above.

I agree with about the filter. The ITG panel filter is probably the most most widely used Impreza filter, in Europe, with many thousands in use. It has proven to be the definition of reliability and if filters were suspected for these failures then the standard air filter would be under serious investigation, due to the number of engine failures on completely standard cars.

With regard to MAF contamination by filters, we stopped selling Ramair filters mid 1998 as we felt they were becoming so heavily oiled at the factory that there was a chance of contamination. We only know of one case (a dutch user) and even then it caused the MAF to fail but no damage was caused to any part of the engine. The Ramair filters looked like something you would cook in the microwave, not put in your car. These are still available from Subaru, but many dealers prefer to fit ITG, for the same reasons as us.

The manufacture of the ITG uses a polymer that must be heated to 110degC to flow into the filter. The excess is removed in manufacture so that both dust retention and airflow are maximised.

details at

 

Thanks for your reply Pete,

Shame about all this. I was almost set up to buy the Leda Suspension . Now I'll have to wait a little longer...

The MIM wheels and the exhaust are still looking great though

 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by António Correia Jr:<B>My Subaru dealer sent me a fax reporting the damage found and the cause of it. I will attempt a rough translation of the relevant part: “the filter installed is less air-restrictive and the MAF could not cope with the greater flow of air, giving wrong information to the ECU. At a given time the air/fuel mixture was not rich enough and that caused the melted piston”.[/quote]

António,

I totally agree that the explanation given above sounds to be utter bullsh*t.

A turbo engine will only take as much air as it needs, i.e. for a certain output, the volume of air required is the same. You hadn't increased boost pressure so this hadn't changed. Therefore, the velocity of the air whipping past the MAF hadn't increased so it couldn't have failed due to this. Just because you fit a less restirictive filter doesn't mean the engine suddenly consumes more air. (I hope I have this all correct).

Now, if they had said that the MAF had been contaminated due to filter oil build up etc. then that is understandable, it is not unheard of, but I understand the ITG isn't oiled.

Probably a bit late to do anything about it now, but I'm 100% sure they are wrong in their explanation.

Cheers

Ian