AFM, air flow meter "sticky flap"

[dutchgeordie]

My Spider occaisionally conks out because the flap in the air flow meter gets stuck. The engine won't restart untill the flap gets unstuck, either by tapping the AFM housing or by disconnecting the hose and pushing the flap to release it.
Moving the flap I can feel it catching when it's got about an inch to go and when I push it open all the way is is really stuck and no tapping will release it.
Is there a way to recondition it, open it up file things down or whatever and reassemble ?
Or should I not attempt it and fork out several hundreds for a replacement?

Apart from the occaisional full engine stall I have a problem that I guess is related. When on a leisurely drive I have no problems and the engine picks up nicely and gives enough power. But when I put my foot down, full throttle, in any gear the engine picks up and then splutters. It does not conk out but looses power and keeps spluttering untill I ease back on the throttle and then it ticks over nicely again. Could this be related to the AFM or should I be looking elsewhere?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[RRoller123]

See the nearby posting on this topic, the inside of the housing can be sanded down carefully to release the arm. Alternately, some folks disassemble the entire thing to repair it, but I have not tried this.

[PhillySpider]

ok, i have this problem Mark...where is the "Nearby thread"?...

[RRoller123]

http://www.fiatspider.com/f15/viewtopic ... FM#p264557

Here above is one, and the Search function above brings up a few others, if you enter: "sanding AFM"

Good luck, it makes a big difference, and what the heck, if the unit is bad, you aren't going to make it worse by trying, so nothing lost.

Pete