i need to put my stock air box back in.. my car stalls out and the rpms arent steady... plus i think my car is runing rich. time for the dealer...

 

Thats what mine did. I was slowing down on the highway to exit and all of sudded the rpms dropped to like 300 and it bucked and than quit. It restarted, but within a few seconds it would start dropping rpms and die again.

 

is this only for the 2k2's? i kno the 2k2's have a lot of MAF probs, but like i said what my car does and its a 2k1...

 

Thanks yeah that is a good idea. I am going to put my stock intake in the trunk just in case my MAF will go out. Hope it won't.

 

Thats exactly what happened to mine when I had the frankencar intake on. It left me stranded on the side of the highway for 3 hours untill I could get a friends to get my stock setup so i could get it towed to the dealer
It took 10 days for the dealer to order the parts... Ive since sold the intake and put on an InjenCAI and have not had any problems since.

 

It seems that the 2002s are having the majority of the MAF sensor failures. However, I believe late in the model year revised the MAF. That *MAY*, and I emphasize *MAY* help out. Only one way to tell though.....

 

hey odum is your dealer ok with you using the injen intake or do you know yet

 

brining my car to the dealer right now ... seriously i am...

 

Well, I was gonna put the stock one back on when I got home last night, but the wreck sent the car in the opposite direction. I'm gonna take the intake to the body shop and have them put in on while its there. Heck, my best ever 1/4 mile was bone stock, so it cant be that bad for right now.

 

Did your SES light go on or did it just die?

 

You've waited longer for less

 

I saw some pics of your Injen intake on your site...looks good! I like the black hose instead of the red.

I have a few questions for you. How close to the ground is the air filter (I cant find any pictures of the bottom half of the assembly)? Do you know the dimensions of the air filter - I want to reuse my K&N if I can. How does it sound compared to the FC? Last one, where did you end up getting it from and how long did it take to receive?

Thanks in advance,
Brian

 

Do you think that MAF will not get damaged with InjenCAI intake??

 

TimW: Yah not kidding *cough* Maximus1000..... I waited... what was it, like 8 hours next to a high way waiting for him, not to mention almost getting capped by the bum!

TellschMax02: Well I really didnt have a choice on the black tube, Injen forgot to send me the red one, so I went to Pepboys down the street and cut me a 2 foot peice of black tubing for 3 bux, and cut it down to the perfect size to fit.
Ill take some pictures of the filter for you tonight and probably have them up on my homepage by tomarrow. The filter looks identical to the size of the cone filters that go on Honda intakes (i.e. AEM) but the tubing should fit any size cone filter, and theres ample room for a larger filter IMO. I bought the intake from www.lighteningmotorsport.com for $252 plus $10shipping, I think it was a temperary price, but im not sure I had it 7business days
As far as comparison to frankencar, well. its looks better, sounds better, and IMO performs better. The only disadvantage to this setup was the hefty price.

Dany: Im not sure if it will or not, so far the car is liking it more than the frankencar intake, but theres not telling. I hoping since I had the MAF replace already, that the new MAF will be stronger/last longer.

Anymore questions let me know guys.

 

does your dealer approve this intake unlike the frankencar

 

sorry maximus1000 and smokingodum. i hate to hear that. i just took mine off for service last week. i had no probs up until then. did you notice anything strange starting to occur? i am pleased with the franken. i am now hesitant to put it back on especially since my vehicle is one the first production models(oct01). sorry again guys i will wait and see how this pans out.

 

2 things:

1. Have you had the fuel cut tsb done?

2. Are you certain that your intake is connected properly and that no air is getting in behind the maf?

I had the same problem. I could make the car stall by going full throttle in gear and then slamming on the brakes and taking it out of gear. It had absolutely nothing to do with the Maf. The tech did the fuel cut tsb and messed with my idle a bit and it has been fine ever since.

I've also installed/re-installed my stillen intake a couple of times now. On a couple of occasions, it has separated from the throttle body and the car ran funny/stalled because air was getting in behind the maf.

Especially for the 2k/2k1 folks, I'd check both of these before assuming the maf is bad. Not to say that the dealer would just tell you it's bad . . . they always know what they are talking about. . .

(see my vias threads if you have any doubt)

 

yup, everything was checked, double checked, checked again and so on. no air leaks anywhere. when i brought my car to the dealer i told them to do the fuel cut off tsb for 1st gear thingy, and then they told me that my car was runing rich, the MAF should be fine since i can rev past 2500... anyhow that was when my intake was in.. (knew them so didnt mind it) so i put in my stock box today and my car still stalls when i rev it or sometimes coming to a stop. ill take it to the dealer tomorrow and have them "deal" with it.

 

that an intake such as the Injen CAI would be less likely to cause a failure becuase of oil in the MAF? Just from reading everyone's posts, it seems quite a few of the failures may be from oil from the filter getting in the MAF and fouling it up. The air filter on a Injen CAI is a lot further away from the MAF than on a Frankencar, for example. I wonder if there's less likely a chance for the oil to even reach the MAF because of the distance involved.



Tony

 

i wish that you were right. i have the injen cai installed and as i was driving home from work last night... kaput -> blown maf. in my ultimate stupidity i took it straight to the dealer thinking it was a fuel system problem. dumb dumb dumb. btw i have a monster on it which is not oiled.

 

That sucks. sorry to hear that.

I am wondering as it was dicussed before if the MAF failure is because of the vibration that comes from the engine??

I saw on this board some guy had an intake similar to FrankenCar on his 2002 Maxima and he used the stock rubber hose to connect one part of the middle pipe. Maybe by doing this we can reduce the vibration from the engine? When I was installing my FrankenCar I thought about it, but I used rubber hoses that came with FrankenCar Intake.

Just something to think about...

 

i'll try out the fitment of that tonight.

-steve

 

thanks.

what i'm going to do when the stupid maf actually arrives is place a rubber bushing between the engine block and the cai bracket.

 

another way to stabilize the intake is to use the rubber spacer from ur stock air box...put some of those on the bracket to reduce vibration.


now we have one blown MAF for ingen....soo soon.

 

Yeah it might be good. I am not really sure that MAF dies because of the engine vibration, maybe it is something else who knows??
I just thought about it after people here mentioned that vibration might be the reason for damaged MAFs..

 

I am just wondering you said to put the rubber spacer on the bracket?

What bracket are you talking about?

Thanks.

 

the injen cai has a bracket that mounts to the engine.

 

franken car didnt have a mounting plate like Berk tuning's. and instead it comes with a bracket that holds one screw of the maf adapter to the strut tower.

there are several rubber spacer that was on the air box originally....after u take out the air box. u can take one or two of the rubber spacers and use it on the franken bracket to reduce the vibration...

 

I was looking for about two weeks into purchasing an intake but all these MAF problems are poping up. How long have you had your InjenCAI on and how much did it cost you. I don't want my two month old car breaking down on the road because of my after market parts. You know.

 

if it is the filter oil screwing up the MAF, would connecting up an AEM bypass valve to a CAI help prevent oil from reaching the MAF? i know it's supposed to work for water, but would it work for the filter oil as well?

 

they only work if there is a good amount of water. the small small oil particles that accumilate over time won't get stoppeed by that.

 

MAF sensors are failing with stock intakes too, Chaser. Whether they're failing more often with aftermarket intakes or stock intakes is unknown. But placing the blame for MAF sensor failures on aftermarket intakes is not a conclusion I'm prepared to reach yet.

 

And you don't think that this might be because a lot of ORG respondants have intakes installed... fewer with drop-ins... and fewer still with stock paper filters still in there?

BuddyWh

 

Precisely, Buddy. That's why it's not fair in my estimation to conclude that aftermarket intakes are responsible for MAF sensor failures. They may be a contributing factor. But I suspect the design and construction of the MAF sensors themselves are primarily to blame.

 

It's about time somebody challanges this MAF failure nonsense.

The MAF sensor works by means of a heated element which sits in the air flow path. The element is heated and the current which flows through the element is measured. As more air flows past the element it is cooled down, thus more current is needed to heat it up again. More current = more air flow. Thats how the MAF works.

This element which hangs in the air flow path is very dourable and I highly doubt that any oil or dirt getting on that element makes it fail. You can clean the MAF element with Air Intake Cleaner. You can spray it DIRECTLY onto that element. Now please tell me how some oil or even dirt would effect it? BTW-The element is very similar to the Tungstein wire in your toaster. Do crumbs cause the heated Tungstein wire to fail constantly in your toaster?

I don't think it's the element in the MAF thats failing, it's most likely the ciruits within the MAF itself which are failing. Electronic circuits can and will fail. Non of which is caused by the air flowing through the MAF itself. I wonder if Nissan could provice you with the analysis of the MAF Sensor which has failed and determine the actual cause of failure. If indeed the element which hangs in the air flow failed because of contamination, then we can look at our aftermarket intakes. If on the other hand it's the electronics within the MAF itself which are failing, then the intakes have NOTHING to do with the cause of failures.

By Nissan putting out a TSB on MAF failures, they are almost admitting to a known production weak point or faulty product which has been put onto their cars. I doubt Nissan Corp is even the manufacturer of that sensor. It's probably Bosch or some other big automotive supplier, and I'm sure Nissan is getting reimbursed from that supplier for the failed parts.

If your car is still under warranty and your MAF fails, it should be replaced FREE no matter what type of intake you have. Challange them if they refuse. Make them analyse the sensor and find the root cause of failure, tell them your lawyer will be in touch with them for a copy of the analysis, which by law, your are entitled to.

 

Must be the work of "Le Cost Cutter".

 

Your post supports my contention, njmaxseltd. The problem, of course, is getting Nissan to admit it. The TSB is obviously worded to cast blame on something other than the quality and construction of the MAF sensor itself. Otherwise it might become grounds for a recall . . . an action every auto manufacturer abhores.

I also agree that legal action is possible if the dealer refuses to honor your warranty in the event of a MAF sensor failure. But once again, you have to ask yourself how far you're willing to go in this eventuality. Ultimately you'll still have to pay the cost of repairs out of your own pocket even if you're reimbursed at some future point.

I still say that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. My advice is simple. Unless you're convinced that they're willing to turn a blind eye towards your mods, DO NOT TAKE YOUR VEHICLE TO YOUR DEALER WITH AN AFTERMARKET INTAKE INSTALLED OR AN OILED FILTER IN YOUR STOCK AIRBOX! Those who fail to heed this simple warning will reap the consequences. Experience has proven that over and over again.

 

I agree and have said it over and over, take your car to your dealer with aftermarket parts at your own risk. Most will just say "see ya." Some will let you slide because they are honest/smart enough to know what problems aftermarket parts do and do not cause.

As for lawyers . . . many on this board throw around the idea of "getting a lawyer" as if it is the answer to any problem. When dealing with a $500 issue, it is not worth it to most and is almost always going to be more expensive to you than it is worth.

 

Sufficient MAF sensor failures have occurred that I thought it appropriate to mention them in the FAQs. I've included suggested methods for increasing the probability that the dealer will repair the MAF sensor failure under warranty. If anyone has any suggestions for modifying my post, please let me know.

 

is there a link to the TSB anywhere.