AFMs: Should we all do this?

[genphreak]

Hey all,

My AFM was damaged previously by someone tightening the boot hose-clamp too much which crushed the round mating surface into a crooked oval, which then introuduced a leak I have never been able to fix.

Off I went off to get a new AFM, the first from eBay turned out to be the wrong one and was damaged in transit, and now I've got the second... which of course has turned out to have some bad bits.

So I ended up having to rebuild it with good bits from my old one. Luckily there's discussion's on adjusting them, so I was able to glean some assistance on the job - (in-situ calibration of the M30 L6 EFI)

Anyway, my task is complete now, but it dawned on me that if those that were doing this were advancing their old AFM springs 2-3 notches (which mine needed too), perhaps it is more than just co-incidence!

ie. Maybe the springs are loosening with age (how floppy would you beif you were bound up in a dark hole for 15+ years?). I guess if this is so, they aren't metering the air quite right anymore.

Perhaps others have some experience here? My car was definately running/idling a little weird, (More on the results of this soon once I've had a chance to test it) maybe with that spring potentially too loose, the air flap would have been a bit liberal on the engine's air requirements...

GP