VAM messed up

[dsrk98]

I recently removed the VAM for some cleaning. The car does not want to idle right now and seems to miss. I used some carb cleaner and was careful not to get any on that sensor thing inside. Can carb cleaner ruin the meter?

[svobud]

in a word, "yup" - and I would suggest trying to find a replacement. All VAMs on SVOs are the correct ones - or the ones from the 87-88 Turbocoupe (pretty cure about thos years on the Tbird).

[dsrk98]

Thanks

I figured as much with my luck. I ordered one online from a ford dealer for $248. Hopefully I won't get a email saying it's unavailable

[pegasus.v.o]

I have heard you can order rebuilt vam from some parts suppliers such as Auto Zone. You can also get one from an 87-88turbo coupe. Those are the correct years.

[svobud]

Re: Thanks

Originally posted by dsrk98
I figured as much with my luck. I ordered one online from a ford dealer for $248. Hopefully I won't get a email saying it's unavailable

YOUCH! If it had been me, I would have found a used one from a 87-88 Turboecoupe....paid less than $50 for it and cleaned it up myself.

I'm not a tightwad by NO means, but $250 is kinda expensive for a VAM.

[dsrk98]

Shoot

With svo parts prices being what they are, I thought I was getting a "deal"

[SVOeric]

that probably is a decent "deal" on a new one, from Ford, but I understand that the autoparts places have rebuilt replacments for about $100

and you can usually find a good used one for about $50

[8T6 SVO]

Damaged VAM

How was this VAM damaged? Just so I won't do it to mine. Are these things that fragile?

8T6 SVO

[svobud]

Re: Damaged VAM

Originally posted by 8T6 SVO
How was this VAM damaged? Just so I won't do it to mine. Are these things that fragile?

8T6 SVO

Carb Cleaner. Nasty stuff if used on electronic hardware. Don't use it on your Throttle Body either. At least, that's what we're suspecting is the cause. There is a specific cleaner on the market now (like Throttle Body Cleaner) that works worderfully.

[dsrk98]

You got it

Forgot was I was dealing with (not an old carb car) and sprayed the outside but must have gotten some on that thing in the middle.

[SvoTy]

I would really like to know why you think that the VAM is bad? Have you checked the codes to see if the ACT is out of range? How about the voltage to the processor to see if it is making a clean sweep through out the travel of the air door without any dead spots?

Just cleaning the outside of the VAM with choke cleaner should not kill the VAM. I have kind of kept quiet but I have used choke cleaner on mine since it was new. I would not reccomend it to other people because mine has lived with me spraying it but I would look for other causes before I spent a lot of money.

Have you gone back and checked all of your hoses and clamps? It sounds to me like you have a vacuum leak somewhere. Look at the connector that plugs into the VAM. Make sure that it does not have a contact pushed back in the connector and make sure that all of the pins are clean.

[dsrk98]

Vam

I took the good vam from my other svo and installed it. The car ran fine so it must to the vam that is bad. Ford's vam is obsolete however, NAPA sell a brand new one (unknown who makes it) for $170 or a re-maned one for $111.
Thanks for the responses to this problem

[StevenD57]

I have some spare VAM's I'm selling for $50 each plus shipping. Fully tested with smooth voltage sweep from 0.34 volts to fully open at 4.58 volts.

[GT350R]

Acually Steven, the vam should be .2 KOEO and .8 at idle. then anything over 4.5 is WOT.

DSRK, I have a great chart on my site that shows the pin oout voltages. Its something I really reccomend people check once in a while. I found a car not long ago that had an EEC temp sensor that told the computer the engine was off the scale and around .31 volts cold (around215 degrees) and around .18 warm which is around 300 degrees. Needless to say , it was very bad but you would have never known it as it did not show on a code scan. Though , i have yet to see a temp sensor show on a code scan.

Spraying the outside should not have damaged anything, but it sure sounds like it did if you swapped another one in and it ran good.

KEM makes a great replacment for much cheaper than the Ford piece. The quality of everything I have ever seen from KEM was outstanding , and in some cases I would even say it blows the Ford pieces away. Another one woth noting is that I have found quite a few new VAM's on Turbo Fords in the junkyards, so its always worth a look.

If the problem persists, make sure you do an ispection of the harness and plug in that area. You did not mention what year the car is,but I suspect the early 84's used a different type of connector that has a rubber boot over the plug which will hide corrosion and the typical ford shrinking insulation. I had that problem once on a 83 TC that no one could fix. Not 100% sure if the early 84's use that style plug or not though.

[dsrk98]

Thank You