Help! Drove With No Air Filter Now Car Won't Start.
 

Somebody help!

On a friend's stupid advice, I drove my 99 Maxima SE for about 10 minutes with no air filter to enjoy the sound. Then when I stopped to put in my K&N air filter (which I just cleaned and oiled), the car started and stalled immediately. It started and stalled again a couple of times, and now it doesn't start at all.

The battery is fine, since I tried getting a boost first. The car simply cranks and then won't start.

What could it be?

Please help ASAP!

try cleaning your mass air flow sensor.

Thank you for the reply.

I don't see anything in the mass airflow sensor.

Is there a chance that I could have killed the engine? What if something got in?

damn dude, have a lil more sense. y would u run ur car without a filter!

is ur mafs plugged in?

Can't think of anything worst to regret now...

First get a new friend.
I suspect it wasn't driving without a filter that caused your problem.
More to do with when you installed the K&N (why do people buy air filters that need to be oiled? most sensible people stopped doing that in 1954). You've probably dislodged a sensor connector, like the MAF for instance. Either that or you've got oil all over the MAF internals from that junky K&N thing.

If it ran fine til you tried putting the other stuff back on, then it should run with the stuff on, as well. You sure the MAF is plugged in? You sure nothing is f'ed up with the filter/opening?

Yep, it's the oiled filter that did it, not running your car for 10 minutes without a filter. That's not going to hurt anything. Overoiled K&Ns are well known to mess up the mass airflow sensor.

Nothing appears to be there. I didn't drive it on a dirt road or anything, just on the steet for a couple of minutes. Many people I know tried this crap.

The only thing I can think of, is perhaps I sprayed too much cleaning oil on the K&N filter when I cleaned it. I was kind of oily when I put it in. But I did everything according to the instructions.

....................................

Well if it's the overoiled K&N piece of crap then what is the worst thing that it could have done to the engine?

What should I do? Get the car serviced? Wait till the morning and try to start it again?

I already tried starting it 1) with no filter and 2) with an old paper filter. It does not start in either case.

Exactly, it ran perfectly fine till I put the oiled K&N back.

Your engine is fine but your MAF could be ruined. Without a MAF your car can't run or idle properly. I know the 5th gen Maxima MAFs are really sensitive and many have been destroyed by filter oil but I haven't heard as much about 4th gen MAFs. They're probably similar.

Did a quick search for you, read up:
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=457224
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=455889
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=448282
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=443903
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=434965

If this were my problem, I would remove the MAF, carefully clean it by spraying it with carb cleaner, (do not touch the internals) then try again to start it. Make sure the battery is fully charged.
By trying to start it repeatedly you'll have flooded the engine.
Remove the plugs and leave it overnight so the cylinders can dry out. Or if you're desperate, after cleaning the MAF you could try using one of those quick-start aerosol sprays that contain ether.
And if it still doesn't start you can always get stoned on the ether, then you won't care anymore :run:
** I edited this because, thinking about it, I don't recommend the ether spray. They are fine for carburettor cars but they often contain oil and that wouldn't be good. I have used one myself on my Sentra (very like a small Max in terms of its MAF and TB and so forth) but it was much upstream, just a whiff into the air intake tube.
If you really want to go faster and not resort to WW2-era air filters, you might investigate the modern version of something I mentioned too many threads back. (water mist injection)
I happened to notice over on the 5th gen Forum that some guy had a Max equipped with water/alcohol mist injection. From what I recall, (I tried a primitive version in the 60's) I got about 5HP on a 1200cc motor. Might get 15HP on a Max. And it improves fuel economy.

Thanks guys for you feedback. I'll try to start it. Lesson learned : NOT TO USE OILED K&N CRAPPY FILTERS!

Where exactly is the MAF sensor and what does it look like. It would be nice to know before I crean it with rubbing alcohol. I would assume it is in the MAF unit right?

If you look to the right (driver side) of your intake manifold and throttle cables you'll see a black plastic square on top of the tubing. The MAF is inside there.

LESSON...dont over oil K&N Filter.....

If you wanted a cool sound you could of just hacked the airbox :smash:

i stil dont get why u gotta oil up an air filter. shti not like K&N gonna give u 10 HP or 5 HP let alone any gains.. no biggie, just use paper, more better, cheaper, and saves TIME !!

i'd use the COMPUTER DUST CLEANER and just spray the MAF.. ck ur connections, and what not....

:king2: perfect!

Running your car for 10 min w/o an air filter will hurt the engine if something flies into the throttle body while the butterfly is open and it lodges itself into one of your cylinders! Over-oiling the K&N filter will gunk up the maf sensor. If you've seen what it looks like before, its a very delicate thin wire that protrudes into the intake path where the air passes thru. If something flies into the throttle body and hits that wire, say good bye to your MAF sensor and $300 that you could have spent on a nice mod for your car.

I haven't seen this mentioned yet, but it's possible that your car will have a CEL code stored in the car's computer. You might want to check that out. If it's the MAF sensor will this throw a code? I bow to the wisdom of other orgers that have more experience with these cars. Good luck.

Brent

Oh man, gluck dude! LOL try resetting the ECU, cleaning the throttle body, check the manifold to make sure nothing is blocking the entry, make surethe MAF is connected. hahaha gluck!

"Help! Drove With No Air Filter Now Car Won't Start."


HAHAHAHAHAHAHA :mrgone:

I don't get what's so funny about someone else's misfortune. Yeah, it wasn't the wisest thing to do, and I'm sure in retrospect he wishes he hadn't. But, to show such a lack of maturity in saying something like this, IMO is the bigger mistake.

Brent

driving without the airfilter is one of the dumbest things a person can do but we all have done dumb sh!t. check your codes. if need be get a maf off of ebay for about 30-50 bucks. do they use sand on the rodes in toronto? cause if you sucked up any sand in your engine you're pretty ****ED.

Very true, but I've said it already and I'll say it again...if that were the case, I think he would have known before he shut the car down and tried to start it up again. He would have known as soon as it happened, long before he went to shut it down.

You want me to be helpfull? Im guessing it has something to do with your intake. So it's most likely your maf as everyone else stated...maybe something struck the sensor when you werent running a filter, maybe you didnt plug it in... It could also be a vacume line that isnt plugged in or tightened enough, or just a random leak between the maf and the throttle body....and i laughed becuase well its funny, air filters are there for a reason, its almost like driving with a rim but no tire....

Once again thanks to everyone for the feedback. Even those that had a good laugh.

So here is an update.

Yesterday night, I followed people's advice and cleaned the MAF sensor with rubbing alcohol and a cutip. I'm not sure if that was it, but I saw red "stuffn" on its sides (it could either be the glue used to hold it, or the oil from the K&N). It wouldn't clean off and I didn't apply any force. When I put it back it still wouldn't start.

So today morning I got it towed it to my mechanic. First he checked the ECU for codes only to find none (but the knock sensor which is irrelevant in this case). Then he noticed that there is no pressure in the fuel pump. When he disconnected the fuel pump and added a little of fuel, WHAAMM and the car started. Then he made sure that the camshaft position sensor works. Later we noticed that when the car is being started, the security light is always on. My mechanic basically said that for some reason the ECU is not sending the signal to the fuel pump and the engine is not getting any fuel. His best guess what that it's the immobilizer (anti-theft security system) and that the K&N, MAF, and driving without a filter has nothing to do with it. What do you guys say?

Crap, today I spent $125 just on towing. Right now the car is at the dealer and they're going to get back to me on Monday. What will the news be? Security?

The fact still remains, it is a bad idea and it is bad to do what he did. He just got lucky it didn't happen. That is my point.

they will probably just have to reprogram the key....60-120 bucks....i hope your mechanic checked the fuel pump fuse...

Don’t blame the K&N filter, blame your :tard: self for over oiling it. I have been running K&N filters on my car for four years and not a single MAF has gone bad (5th gen with REALLY sensitive MAF). As a matter of fact, I had gone through three MAF in a year; after the last one was put in I put in the K&N and it has been good for four years.

First if it's the maf the cel light will be on definetly. If it's not, then it's got to be something else. If the light is on, pull the code and go from there.

Good Luck