Nick1

Whilst at Japfest yesterday I fitted an ITG air filter to my STI7 After about 10 minutes into the journey home an orange engine light came on above the temp guage any idea why this might happen???

Nick1

Someone must know

MikeWood

It's telling you that you've just lost your engine warranty for absolutely no benefit at all

Mike

Pete Croney

Or it could be telling you that there is a problem that may or may not be related to the fitting of the filter.

I see you are in Essex. Not sure who you bought the filter from but we have all of the Subaru diagnostic equipment and there is no charge to tell you what has gone wrong.

Nick1

Mike to lose a warranty over an air filter is a very poor show. I am sure the ITG filter is made to better standards than the origonal paper filter.

richiewong

Have you tried a fault check?
Simply connect the 2 black connectors(jumper 5) under the dash and count the flashes. Do a search for the full instructions and fault codes.
http://www.saxonfields.freeserve.co.uk/Scooby%20Page/ECU%20Diag%20Page.htm

SiPie

Nick1

You are wrong mate

Pete will proably defend the ITG as I know he has sold loads of these and has had few complaints back... so fair play to Pete

However, I am on MAF no 4 in 2 years and most people feel that when fitted 100% correctly the infamous green gunk cannot get through the filter to the MAF side of things... but even after ensuring perfect fitting the gunk has permeated the other side of the filter and undoubtedly will get sucked into the MAF

This is obviously only MY opinion and the MAFs are well know for failing even under standard paper filtration BUT from experience (4 MAFs and 1 new engine later ) I would stay well away from anything oil based when dealing with an MY99 car.

Cheers

Nick1

SiPie, I am now confused. The ITG filter I fitted is not an foam filter you soak in oil. It's just a replacement sponge filter.

I beleive if you change these after about 30,000 miles you should be fine

SiPie

ITG Panel filter is oil based.

You touch it and you get green gunk on your hands

Unless ITG make a dry filter

I had the ITG Panel filter from Sccobyworld that cost around £40 if that's the one.........

Nick1

I bought mine on a trade stand at Japfest and it's completly dry Cost me £42.

SiPie

Different one then Nick

Ignore my inane ramblings mate

MikeWood

Nick

The chain of events could go as follows

New filter allows contamination of the airflow meter which then misses some of the air passing the sensor which means the engine gradually runs leaner. Short term this may mean it's faster, immediately before it blows up at your expense...

If we could find a filter that we were happy about we would be selling it. Our best suggestion is keep changing the std paper filter at shorter intervals than recommended if you think it's going to cause any restriction with increasing mileage.

Mike

Nick1

Point taken Mike

I will get a replacement original part and get my warranty back

[Edited by Nick1 - 5/19/2003 3:24:19 PM]

Pete Croney

Since the re-design of the MAF from the notoriously weak 99/00 version, I am not aware of one single MAF failure on a new age car (Nick has a 2001/2 STi).

If someone has had a failure, PLEASE post up here and let us have the details and tell us what filter it was with.

This doesn't surprise me as the new age MAF sensor is much better designed and the 90deg bends that the air must go through will have any contaminants centrifuged out of the sample air before it gets to the sensor wire.

As SiPie said above, 99/00 MAFs will fail with whatever filter you use and are getting a reputation as being consumables on these cars.

MikeWood

Pete

You may well be correct, it's a matter of balancing the potential risk against any marginal gains made.

Mike

SiPie

Well.... you did ask Pete

March 2002
ITG Panel Filter
Failure resulting in rough running and hunting idle
--------------------
July 2002
ITG Panel Filter
Failure resulting in rough running and hunting idle
--------------------
November 2002
Standard paper filtration
Failure resulting in rough running and hunting idle.
However cause could also have been attributed to failed O2 sensor at same time [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]
--------------------
January 2003
ITG Panel Filter
Failure resulting in under fuelling and a big sort of bang and a big sort of VISA bill for £3,567.85
However the above is a bit of a grey area as 2 HT leads were worn and dealer identified cause of piston melt as unburnt fuel building in cyclinder 2 then finally HT lead did it's stuff helping create a spark and BOOM and MAF changed as precaution (along with fuel pump, oil pump etc etc)

Pete Croney

Sipie

I thought you had a 99/00 and I agree just how fragile the sensor is in these.

Nick has a Sti7 and from Mike's post he has also never heard of one of the new age MAFs failing. Its a shame you can't retro fit these.

SiPie

Yeah...

Don't worry Pete. It is a MY99 that I have and isn't hindsight a wonderful thing

And as you mentioned, I'm going to treat the MAF as a consumable and change it annually (If I keep the car that long anyway!!!)

Cheers Pete





[Edited by SiPie - 5/19/2003 5:03:47 PM]

MikeWood

Pete

I didn't say we'd never seen one go, only a hypothetical 'if you were correct'

Mike

Pete Croney

LOL at Mike

For a tiny moment there I thought we had a straight answer from you

Nick

If you pop by, I will put your car on the Select Monitor and let you know why the light came on.

Nick1

Hi Pete thanks for the offer and your comments here I am not over your way for a couple of weeks as I live near Braintree/Witham. I am off to Cornwall on Friday and a little worried so I may have to pop into XS to see if they can read it for me as they are just around the corner.

j-k

I have an STI 8 with an ITG panel Filter recommended and fitted by local subaru dealer?? surely if they supply the part the warranty will not be void..

Nick1

j-k thats what I like to hear just shows that Subaru approve of the filter

Nick1

PMSL

No seriously m8 sorry to hear that

Chris L

Well I'll pitch in here too. Over 30000 miles using ITG filters - absolutely no problems.

Chris (MY01 WRX)

Just to balance things up, on my old car (UK MY00), over 42000 miles, I used K&N, ITG, a standard paper filter and an HKS 'mushroom' with and without a resonator (mainly I think because I was curious) - never had a problem with any of these either. Could it be something to do with the quality of the fitting in the first place?

Chris

[Edited by Chris L - 5/19/2003 11:16:34 PM]

Nick1

Thanks for your comments Chris

MikeWood

Chaps

Let me just clarify something.

NO filter other than the std paper filter meets Subaru filtration standards for the later cars and therefore fitment of such would potentially put the car outside warranty. It doesn't matter whether your Subaru dealer supplies it, it still doesn't meet the standards and is therefore not covered.

If you dealer is 'turning a blind eye' with any potential warranty claim (however unlikely) he too is defrauding Subaru UK. The same applies to decat exhausts as well as other engine mods like dumpvalves and ECU remaps.

Regards

Mike

TVR Gary

I have the same orange light on my STI8 after a few days. Its something to do with the Cat's etc on my car. The car runs with a one Cat system whereas when it was made it had two. Basically it means the car isnt happy with the emmisions so BING the light comes on. My dealer is purchasing a new unit from Scooby sport which makes this go away. I aint technical sorry but thats the best i can explain it

MikeWood

Gary

What spec is your car in?

Mike