I just put my Z in the shop to have the Air Flow Meter replaced. The car only has 1200 miles on it and I have read similar posts on other message boards concerning the K&N air filter and this particular problem. Apparently, if there is too much oil on your filter (however much too much is....) it can cause your airflow meter to go out. I did not put any extra oil on my filter, simply installed it as-is from the Auto Parts store. The next thing I know, I am cruising down the street at a healthy pace.....I go to shift gears and I have no acceleration. I have no accaleration because the engine has died and I can't get it to start again. The replacement part is not something that every dealer carries on the shelf. Mine had to be flown in from North East. Just thought you guys would want a heads up.

 

I installed a K&N yesterday. It was fairly oily around the edges but didn't seem overly coated with oil.

The K&N seems to make the engine respond quicker upon accelleration and feels like it may have added a few horses. Additionally, the exhaust sounds deeper and more throaty than the sounds produced by the stock filter.

Can you confirm how long you had the K&N filter installed? Additionally, would you please cite the other post locations?

I may just remove the filter if this is a recurrent problem listed by other Z owners.


HFM

 

I've had mine in for about 6-8 weeks and had no problems with it at all.

 

I have a tad under 900 miles, and no problems with K&N. I heard the intakes suck in a lot of air, and that oil may be a problem, but this is the first time I seen anyone have a problem like this.

 

I will go try to find the forums that I found the articles listed in...I know, I know...I hate it when people post mystery reports...But truthfully there had been some issues with the K&N filters and Honda vehicles (Honda/Acura). I researched it before I went to purchase the filter initially. Trust me, I hope that this is an isolated incident. I really enjoyed how smooth the engine ran and how well it it accelerated with the K&N filter in. But I was mystified by the behaviour and when I found out that it was the air flow meter and that the part was going to take days to arrive, I felt like I should say something.

 

If other problems you heard about with K&N were on hondas then it is not the same thing since honda uses a MAP sensor instead of a MAF sensor like Nissan uses. I would highly doubt that a MAP on a honda could get contaminated by oil due to the way it functions. Now a Z car is another story it uses a hot wire in the airflow, if it gets dirty it will need to be cleaned per FSM. the only way i could see a problem is if the filter was not sealing around the edges and an object (dirt/leaf) struck the hotwire and damaged it .

 

Be careful installing the K&N air filter. There are two foam gaskets that come with the filter that need to be installed on the filter holder because the K&N filter doesn't fit as well as the factory filter. Without those gaskets in place the K&N filter pops out of the holder and doesn't fit properly in the air box. Check the install carefully to make sure there aren't any air gaps around the edges of the filter. A gap could allow debris into the intake and bugger up the hot wire. The guy that had the MAF problem may have had this problem as well as excessive oil. Once installed the filter is a good piece. Too bad they don't make it to fit properly!

 

A fellow 300 owner had the same problem. If the MAF sensor on the 350 is similar to the 300, then excessive oil can coat the wire in the MAF sensor and greatly affect its operation.

I have a K&N filter or equivalent re-usable filter in every one of my cars w/o any problems.

Michael.

 

Got the car back a few days ago...the service manager said that the air flow sensor 'just went bad...." I quizzed him a little to see if it might have been the K&N filter and he didn't seem to think so. So, hopefully this is just an isolated incident and nothing to worrry about. Just out of curiosity, for all you guys out there that are using K&N products successfully, how can you tell if the filter has too much oil on it? I didn't add any oil to mine, but is there a possiblity that it came from the manufacturer "over-oiled?" How would one tell?

 

I've never had any problems w/ re-usable filters being "too oiled" out of the box. But I would think anything is possible.

You should only re-oil your filter after cleaning it. The K&N oil is actually red and the gauze filter is white. When I cleaned and re-oiled the filter for my 300 last year, I applied a thin line of oil at every peak and the oil soaked all the way down to the valley.

But if the filter looks too oily (or oil is running) after cleaning/re-oiling, then just dab it off w/ a lint-free towel.

Michael.

 

If you afraid it has to much oil do this... If you have a compressor at home or if need, go to a shop and do this. Blow it out with air. That's what I am going to do when I get mine. I will be going to a friends house and just blow it out, I figure the high Pressure will be sure to blow any oil if any...

 

hmmm.. i've been having my K&N filter for 3 weeks now. Got it on 4/23. I just had a similar problem. The same exact symptoms as ez350. I'm starting to think its the sensor. I did install the 2 foam gaskets so i know i installed the filter correctly. Maybe its the oil from the filter? or the MAF sensor just went bad?? I dunno but my car is stuck 2 blocks away from my house...

 

Will the car start, but not stay started? If so, I would say you are probably expereincing the same thing. I will say this, though. If you have the stock air filter, put it back in before you send it to the dealer to have it repaired. There is ot reason an air filter should cause this problem (Courtesy Nissan sells them on their site, for crying out loud), but if they see anything other than stock equipment, they may try to say it is your fault.

 

I blotted my filter down very good and let it air out a day before installing. That was 7 months ago! No problems ever!

 

yeah it won't stay started.. i already replaced the stock filter back. Did you tow your car to the dealer or what?? I started it up back yesterday and it seems to be running fine now, but i'm gonna take it to the dealer just in case

 

If the MAF is contaminated, which seems to be the case replacing the filter isn't going to help if the sensor itself is still dirty. Take the MAF sensor out and clean it. Use a brake cleaner that's safe on plastics and a swab to clean the hot wire and thermistor in the sensor. Often times all it takes is a little cleaning and not replacing the whole sensor. In this case your car is somewhat stuck, so it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot. Good luck.