I bought my 05 sedan exactly a month before my MAS Air Flow Sensor went out and needed to be towed 120 miles. They blamed it on me using a Fram replacement air filter that I bought at AutoZone (used less than 1K miles). They told me they would warranty it as an exception. They also said this is a common problem when people don't use OEM filters. Now I'm scared to get an intake. I have always replaced my air filters on all of my other cars and never had a problem. Does this sound normal?

 

i had an altima and a lot of people w/ intakes blew their MAF once it got wet. with my altima i never had an issue except when i went through a flooded street. luckily it was covered under warranty.

as long as you take care and have your intake oiled properly you shouldn't have an issue. i drive through the huge storms with my JWT and no issues

 

This is not normal, usually people will over oil the K & N filters and that will harm the sensor. A replacement filter without oil shouldn't make a difference. I'm on my second G35 with a Stillen CAI and have never had this issue.

 

Only if the filter is over-0iled.......
but if there's any doubt, use the OEM.
To me it's not worth the chance.
C.

 

Thanks guys. I was using a normal replacement filter. Not a performance filter that requires oil. I still have no clue what happend. I think they are full of crap.

 

MAF sensors are very fragile. Use of a non-oiled OEM replacement filter should have no effect on MAF sensor reliability. I know that the 02-03 Maxima/Altima did suffer from MAF reliability issues, especially after adding an intake. Those issues were addressed with revised MAFs. It's odd that your car had to be towed because the ECU should go into limp mode and should be able to rev to around 2500rpms, even with a blown MAF. It's a safety feature.

 

I would have tried to remove it and carefully clean the element. But if you are on the road, lack of tools might be a problem. But as Dave said, it's odd it didn't run. Even with no sensor at all, it should still start.

 

It started, but would die before I could get it in gear. Thank god for infiniti's road side assistance. I was in the middle of no where.