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Can a GM dealership turn off AFM?

21K views 44 replies 19 participants last post by  smwalker 
#1 ·
I'm not asking if the they will, but can it be done if I know someone in the service department?
 
#2 ·
Yes. I think would think they would if you paid them.
 
#3 ·
going with no. But that is just cause I know what I am talking about.

Seriously they will not do it unless they are one of the performance orientated places. Most dealerships do not have the software to turn off AFM.
 
#4 ·
going with no. But that is just cause I know what I am talking about.

Seriously they will not do it unless they are one of the performance orientated places. Most dealerships do not have the software to turn off AFM.
Correct. Dealers can not "custom" modify your software nor would they want to.

The real question is what do you have to gain by removing AFM and why would you throw away this technology?
 
#6 ·
If you don't want to buy a performance tuned PCM just put it in manual mode. It works for me until I figure out if I'm going with a handheld or a canned tune.



 
#12 ·
It looks like the Vararam is finally going to happen. It's "supposed" to be here in 2 weeks.
 
#9 ·
Turning off the AFM elimates a lot of unpleasent noise with and aftermarket catback. AFM does not come on very much in these cars..so turning it off is not gonna kill your gas milage. The easy way around it if your not ready for a tune is to put the car in sport mode but let the car shift it self (also called manual mode). Just like in the Corvette, the sport mode in the A6 is not only for allowing you to shift manually. If you leave it in sport and let the car shift itself, it changes to a different shift logic in the TCM that is a bit more sport oriented. Downshifts are firmer and everything is snappier compared to the "cadillac soft" normal mode.
 
#10 ·
Ummm no...

Sport mode is the car shifting itself. Manual mode is putting the car in sport mode then tap up or down on the shifter...

Sport mode has firmer shifts and AFM

Manual mode has manually selected shifts and no AFM.
 
#13 ·
#16 ·
Shouldn't there be a fuse under the hood that when pulled would simply shut off all power to the AFM solenoids? (or a wiring harness connector) Simple, reversible fix although you will prolly throw a code. Same with TPMS, should be afuse. Pull the fuse, system deactivated, no-touch to the ecm. Same operation will permanently shut off ABS (but why would you)
 
#19 ·
It's very, very unlikely AFM would be controlled or defeatable by a fuse, plug, etc. It's a "function" in the overall tune that controls the powertrain, and not a module or separate part that can just be turned on or off.

Hence, why custom tunes that edit the overall software are the only way to make it exist or not. Fuses keep lights, windows, radios, etc. running, not ingrained functions in powertrain software like AFM. If they did, I have no doubt people here would be playing with such things much more readily, and before anything else.

So again, this isn't a dealer defeatable thing unless there were ever a PCM flash made available by GM that didn't incorporate the AFM function, for them to download.
 
#23 ·
But the AFM solenoids are electrical are they not? Hydraulic in movememnt, but electricity turns them on and off? Disconnecting the solenoids or, for example, failure of operation of one of the solenoids, would cause a fault in the AFM portion of the ecm such that the car would not attempt to enter AFM mode, therefore always by default remaining in standard mode.

My ABS example will shed some light. Have a failed wheel sensor, or rip the wires loose on a chunk of ice (here in the frigid northern tundra) and your ordinary spit system hydraulic brakes continue to work, but your ABS will not even attempt to work since such operation involving only 3 of 4 wheels could be catastrophic.

Now, it is a simple enough thing for someone to try, disconnect the solenoids (or even one) or find the fuse and pull it.

Are you sure you are not a GM emgineer just caught with his pants down? :wink2:
 
#20 ·
Your best bet is to get a sensor to read out of spec....

Of course there is no reason to disable AFM in the first place unless you are doing it ath the hardware level.
 
#24 ·
Your best bet is to get a sensor to read out of spec....

Of course there is no reason to disable AFM in the first place unless you are doing it ath the hardware level.
seeing how i drive 100 miles a day now i love the 25 mpg , going avg 75 mph.. i get with the afm, just curious why there are soo many people against the AFM....what advantage would u have shutting it off...i have flows in the back and hardly ever notice or care about the slight change in exhaust tone with the afm
Misguided notion that the car will be slower off the line in AFM??? From a stop AFM should not be activated so there should be no difference in engine operation until you reach a certain speed and have held off on the gas long enough for the car to respond. There is also a high speed cutoff, above which even though traveling at steady state freeway speeds AFM will disengage.
 
#21 · (Edited)
seeing how i drive 100 miles a day now i love the 25 mpg , going avg 75 mph.. i get with the afm, just curious why there are soo many people against the AFM....what advantage would u have shutting it off...i have flows in the back and hardly ever notice or care about the slight change in exhaust tone with the afm
 
#25 ·
if you are right then people are fukctatrded.... the noise in negligeable... worse admitadly with aftermarket exhaust. AFM takes less than two engine revs to turn on... umm even if it were off then there would be no way of seeing a difference as once you went to wot the engine would go to full power in hundredths of a second.
 
#29 ·
The reasons I do not care for the AFM is due to the vibration when it kicks in. It also transmits an off tone through the exhaust, kinda like a pipe is clogged.
Most of my driving is around town. So AFM kicks in and out quite a bit.
For me, it is a personal preference. I do not like the feeling of the car when it kicks in, nor the sound.

This for me is good enough reasons to disable this feature considering it has no impact whatsoever on mpg with my type of driving.
 
#37 ·
Best case scenario for me would be to have AFM on during Regular Mode, but AFM off in Sport Mode. I sure wish it can be done eventually, I'm sure a lot of people would do it if it were possible.
 
#41 ·
Disabling AFM in the ECM is at the software level.



 
#44 ·
Great first post too!
 
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