Options for 93-94 VAFM: My Experience with Bavarian Restorations (1 Viewer)

[FMC80]

This post is for those who have 1993-94 model year 80s and to offer other options for those who need it. First, I’d like to mention that we have a special bond because we share the best design of the steering wheel, dash, the A442F “bus tranny”, 3- row brass core rads, and no airbags because we’re generally manlier.

Joking aside, I want to share my experiences. Something to consider about the 93-94 MY LCs is the VAFM. The Volume Air Flow Meter has gotten several people in trouble because of those two little screws. I’ve read plenty of threads about how people have had to source used VAFMs or get theirs rebuilt because they removed those two little screws and further, removed the female connector thereby breaking the electrical contacts inside their VAFM. This renders your LC inoperable until the VAF is fixed.

I personally never did this but a PO of my cruiser did. I bought my cruiser with a rebuilt VAF and over my ownership, the VAF intermittently failed. Here’s a link to my troubleshooting thread:
**SOLVED** Codes 24 & 31 on 1994 FZJ - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/solved-codes-24-31-on-1994-fzj.1258070/
Once the internals of your VAF is separated, you need someone skilled in rebuilding these to get your LC back on the road. I know of three options and I’m here to share my experiences.

Option 1: Buy a Chinese VAF. NOT recommended based on the limited amount of info I was able to research. Everything I read stated the VAFs are crap and the user’s LC ran worse than before or didn’t run at all.

Option 2: There is a well-known dude on eBay who will fix your VAF for about $115 (last time I checked). He also sells refurbished VAFs that he sources from elsewhere. I assume he gets them from junkyards but I’m not sure. My experience with this seller isn’t a positive one. I know others have bought from him with success so YMMV. I for one will not give him my money and I ended up filing for a refund.

Option 3: Bavarian Restorations (BavRest) This is the option I went with.

Bavarian Restorations (Bavarian Restoration - https://www.bavrest.com/index.html) is based out of CA. Obviously, their primary audience is the European vehicle market but they restore Bosch and most Denso AFMs/VAFs.
Here’s an excerpt from their site:

After many years of use, the inaccurate feedback will affect economy, poor running, poor idle, symptoms of misfire, and loss of power.
Bavarian Restoration Refurbishes Air Flow Meters using the following process:

1. AFM is heat tank soaked, ultra sonic cleaned, bead blasted clean, and clear coat painted.
2. Test intake air temperature sensor resistance over the heat range specified by Bosch.
3. Test AFM door spring tension and adjust accordingly to known Bosch specs.
4. Disassemble wiper arm and connector assembly. Clean incoming, and outgoing contacts and bend them to contact fresh material. Clean wiper arm contacts and primary grounding post. Adjust wiper arm to contact fresh material.
5. Reassemble wiper arm and connector. (all contacts touch fresh new material only!)
6. All mechanical pivot points are lubricated with liquid Teflon.
7. Measure voltage signal output with oscilloscope and adjust if necessary. We run a variety of tests including quality repeatability, linearity testing (or non linear for eta AFM's,) quality repeatability in the idle genre and the fully open genre. Every AFM is thoroughly tested over a variety of conditions.
8. Lid is sealed with silicone to ensure a moisture and water proof AFM.
9. Every successfully refurbished AFM will receive a quality control decal.

I found BavRest through an obscure thread on mud I’d read long ago. I started an email dialogue with the owner/founder “Greg” and he stated, "his shop refurbished many Toyota AFMs". I felt confident in our comms and I ended up paying $365 to ship my VAF round trip with a stop in the middle for a full refurbish.

BavRest had my VAF for about 30 business days before I finally got it back. I immediately installed it and ran it for a few months noting an ever-so-slight and very intermittent hesitation from my engine. I experienced a low idle situation that would induce engine shutdown if I didn’t intervene by feathering the throttle. It only happened a total of three times over three months and each time was at idle.

I emailed BavRest and Greg (owner) and I troubleshot together for several weeks before we determined the spring tension for the door on the VAF may need adjustment. I had another known good VAF (stock) to compare it to. The refurbished VAF’s door was noticeably looser than the other. Greg sent over a shipping slip and is covering the repair/adjustment under warranty which is 2 years from the refurbishment service date.

My experience with BavRest has been wonderful. It’s always a pleasure dealing with competent folks who are customer-service-oriented and are truly there to ensure the customer gets what they pay for. It isn’t the cheapest option out there but I wouldn’t hesitate to use them again.

For those out there who need to unfornicate their VAFs, BavRest is a great option. You will pay but you get great service at that cost.

 

[JunkCrzr89]

First, I’d like to mention that we have a special bond because we share the best design of the steering wheel, dash, the A442F “bus tranny”, 3- row brass core rads, and no airbags because we’re generally manlier.

Option 2: There is a well-known dude on eBay who will fix your VAF for about $115 (last time I checked). He also sells refurbished VAFs that he sources from elsewhere. I assume he gets them from junkyards but I’m not sure. My experience with this seller isn’t a positive one. I know others have bought from him with success so YMMV. I for one will not give him my money and I ended up filing for a refund.

I was one of those lost souls who went with option #2 and have thus far had no issue with the repair…yet…and perhaps luckily (?).

If it dies again then I’ll checkout Bavarian. Thanks for the tip

 

[sogafarm]

Thanks for starting this thread P. Have you had any issues since getting the spring tension fixed on the BAV repair? As these VAFM's get older there will be more of them needing fixing. Surprisingly, the 80 series is deemed impotent without this one little magic box and there are no substitutes for it. I've still got my original one that I hacked up the soldering, but it will work in an emergency but throws a code 24. The used one from a '93 is still going strong in my '94 with no codes.

 

[FMC80]

J, I sent it back to BavRest for their analysis and they still have it. The owner hit me up and told me the spring tension was in spec based on their findings. They're going to tighten it up, just a bit and will send it back to me. I'll run it and report back to this thread and to BavRest. If the issue persists, I'm confident they'll pay for another round trip to further analyze. I doubt I'll need that option though.

 

[effjay80]

I seriously cannot believe that there's no workaround or replacement for this part.

 

[Spdstr280Z]

"...we have a special bond because we share the best design of the steering wheel, dash, the A442F “bus tranny”, 3- row brass core rads, and no airbags because we’re generally manlier."

#Truth

Thanks for sharing your experience. The damn VAF is about the only thing that I actually worry about keeping this truck forever. Having come from the Datsun world that also used L-Jetronic, I know they are generally reliable, but when they fail, it's over. My not fully formed long range plans may kinda involve a full EFI replacement with a Halltech / some permutation of MegaSquirt / something I haven't found yet. Would also enable the turbo option in the future If I were to go that route.

Jason

 

[AoiCruiser]

Based off the conversation I had with Pell (FMC80), I went ahead and sent my VAF to BavRest today. I spoke with the owner and feel extremely confident about them being able to fix the VAF to get it back up and running. I'll be sure to post here and update as well after I get it back.

EffJay80--Yeah, you'd think someone would've found a work around by now.

Do you (or anyone else) happen to know what all would be involved with getting rid of the VAF and updating it to a MAF like a 95 or later model? It's the one thing that has me held up on keeping this particular one forever. I just got it a few weeks ago and now it's dead in the water until I hear confirmation from BavRest. The thing is though that BavRest even said it may not be fixable depending how broken the solder points are and how much the contacts are damaged. A buddy undid the 2 screws and pulled it out before I could stop him. My hold up is that what if it breaks later and can't repaired and there's no options available? At that point I have a useless vehicle. I'm just concerned.

 

[Sc0-]

In an old Porsche 944 Turbo, a MAF was adapted with a Split Second interface box... Another option is to remove the oem ECU and switch over to a micro squirt, but then need to figure out the TCM.

MAF Kits |

splitsec.com

 

[Lextronix]

Here is another conversion option: Pilot VAF to MAF converter with a bluetooth interface – Pilot Engineering Team - http://max.pilotpowersupply.com/product/pilot-vaf-to-maf-converter-with-a-bluetooth-interface/

I have one of these but haven't had much time to dive in. I still need a 95-97 airbox lid and a few other parts before I can start experimenting.

Here is JimJim's thread on the board: 1993 VAF to MAF conversion & Turbo - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/1993-vaf-to-maf-conversion-turbo.916917/

 

[NKP Garage]

Could always just go crazy and use this as an excuse to convert to a haltech and throw on a turbo

J/k, from my experience, the best option is to find another 93/94 AFM. I have tried aftermarket replacements with varying levels of success over the years, but none of them seem to read quite the same as the OEM unit.

 

[AoiCruiser]

Thank y'all. I'll look into those options and start researching.

Baktasht I agree. I think OEM is almost always better. Like I said my current unit is getting rebuilt, but I am looking for a backup unit in case it happens again.

 

[effjay80]

Yes there are several VAF to MAF threads on here but nothing plug and play. At present seems the best options are either roll the dice with the Resurrection Auto gentlemen in South Carolina or if you have a non-functioning unit send to Greg at Bavarian Restorations. I had an old non-functioning VAF that I sent him but he deemed it non-restorable.

There are a slew of new Chinese knockoff VAFs available on ebay. I'd really love to pay Bavarian or somebody else with the knowledge to take a look at one to see if it could be brought up to OEM/Denso specs. There's really nothing to the guts of these things and they obviously have the mechanical exterior part down. The board is a couple of contacts, a rheostat slider with a contact brush that moves with the door, 3 solder pads out to the connector.

If one of these new units could be upgraded for a reasonable $ I think it would be a great investment to bankroll a run of 20 or so and sell to MUD members in need.

 

[AoiCruiser]

Could always just go crazy and use this as an excuse to convert to a haltech and throw on a turbo

J/k, from my experience, the best option is to find another 93/94 AFM. I have tried aftermarket replacements with varying levels of success over the years, but none of them seem to read quite the same as the OEM unit.

I did look at Haltech which would be a nice upgrade down the road to avoid using a VAF at all. However, it looks like they only make it for the 95-97 LC's according to their site. I'll just have to call and see what they say if I decide to cross that bridge

 

[FMC80]

@effjay80 you sent your inop VAF to BavRest and they couldn’t fix it? What was the original issue and did they explain why they couldn’t repair it?

 

[NKP Garage]

I did look at Haltech which would be a nice upgrade down the road to avoid using a VAF at all. However, it looks like they only make it for the 95-97 LC's according to their site. I'll just have to call and see what they say if I decide to cross that bridge

You'd have to wire it in yourself. Not terribly difficult, but takes a couple hours of staring at the EWD to figure out the pinouts.

 

[AoiCruiser]

Yes there are several VAF to MAF threads on here but nothing plug and play. At present seems the best options are either roll the dice with the Resurrection Auto gentlemen in South Carolina or if you have a non-functioning unit send to Greg at Bavarian Restorations. I had an old non-functioning VAF that I sent him but he deemed it non-restorable.

There are a slew of new Chinese knockoff VAFs available on ebay. I'd really love to pay Bavarian or somebody else with the knowledge to take a look at one to see if it could be brought up to OEM/Denso specs. There's really nothing to the guts of these things and they obviously have the mechanical exterior part down. The board is a couple of contacts, a rheostat slider with a contact brush that moves with the door, 3 solder pads out to the connector.

If one of these new units could be upgraded for a reasonable $ I think it would be a great investment to bankroll a run of 20 or so and sell to MUD members in need.

I'd be curious as well on why he couldn't fix it. I just mailed mine to Greg at BavRest yesterday. Hopefully, he can get it going for me but we'll see. My buddy accidentally pulled the wiring out while trying to help me work on my 93. I'm probably going to get another VAF from a part out so that I have a back up either way. I just wish there was a work around even if it was expensive and time consuming. It'd be something I could pull the trigger on in the future. I just want to know there are options so I don't feel apprehensive if I keep this rig for another 20 or 30 years. The concern is if the VAF goes out in the future and BavRest isn't in business anymore for some reason. I don't want to get stuck with a 4000 lb paperweight haha

 

[AoiCruiser]

You'd have to wire it in yourself. Not terribly difficult, but takes a couple hours of staring at the EWD to figure out the pinouts.

I have a buddy who's a guru with his research looking into getting my the EWD for a Japanese model since it is imported. I'm going to start studying it as soon as he gets it. It's certainly intriguing that I could have that as a back up and move away from the VAF issues if it will truly work.

 

[effjay80]

@effjay80 you sent your inop VAF to BavRest and they couldn’t fix it? What was the original issue and did they explain why they couldn’t repair it?

It was given to me as a non-functioning unit, was opened up, and had just been sitting here in the junque box. I was hoping it would be repairable so took a chance sending it and Greg agreed to check out and see what possible. After receiving he said that the solder pads on the internal board were too destroyed to repair. We left it at that.

 

[AoiCruiser]

It was given to me as a non-functioning unit, was opened up, and had just been sitting here in the junque box. I was hoping it would be repairable so took a chance sending it and Greg agreed to check out and see what possible. After receiving he said that the solder pads on the internal board were too destroyed to repair. We left it at that.

Did you end up buying a refurb model or what did you do to get your rig going?

 

[effjay80]

Did you end up buying a refurb model or what did you do to get your rig going?

Still have the original intact installed and functioning but scares me less. This was planned as a backup.