So I noticed my engine sounded differently the last couple weeks (since I got my oil changed at dealer) and so I popped my hood and found the air filter element on the driver side had not been put back in correctly. There was about a 1 inch gap at the top that would have let air into the engine, along with some dirt/dust/debris that had collected around the gap. In total I drove about 250 miles like that, should I be worried? I am thinking it is probably not to big of a deal but is there something I should look out for or do (clean o2 sensons etc)? Any insights?

Not much you can do about it now but put it all back together properly. Unless you went through a bunch of dust you are likely in not any danger of having hurt anything.

Clean that ish....ur maf is probably dirty too by now pretty soon ur car will stall

I don't see a problem since it was only a short while. +1 on cleaning the MAF though. The only likely damage is the fact you know you were sucking **** straight into your engine.

Might want to have a "word" with service writer, or person who serviced car,, tell them ****'s to pay attention to the details!!!!

^^ Agreed! I would definitely have a few choice words for whatever clowns did that. I doubt it caused any appreciable difference in the long run, unless you were running a rally in the desert sand somewhere for those 250 miles. Maybe if you make enough fuss, they will perform a free TB cleaning for you.

As long as you didn't drive through a sand storm, it should be fine. Your O2 sensors should be fine as well, but you may want to clean your MAF sensor and throttle body.

Thanks for the insight guys, figured it probably wasn't that big of a deal, going to clean the MAFs tomorrow (idk why i said o2 sensor), will definitely let the service adviser know Monday.

you can always take it back to the clowns and complain to the service department. They should clean everything up for you for free.

Since it's Easter I won't post what I think you should tell the service manager at your dealership. I would take it back, let them know what you found in detail after driving 250 miles. You could try requesting they clean your sensors due to their error. Since Infiniti mechanics are trained so poorly find an independent shop to get your service done. That gives you the possibility of buying quality oil filters (Wix) and 5W/30 synthetic (Mobil 1) and have them change it for you.
Gary

Unbelieveable.

Tell the ******* dealer to do another oil change for u in case it has sand particles or any other debris.... Dont need that rubbing against the engine parts at 7500rpms. Should have them clean the MAF and TB too. Shmucks.

Heard back from the dealer, they apologized but said I should be fine. They said the inside of the intake is micro-polished so no dirt should have stuck and not to worry about cleaning it. I am going to clean the MAF anyways, I have cleaner and it takes 2 minutes. Peeking inside it does not look dusty at all so I guess the engine vacuum was strong enough to pull all the crud right inside (and hopefully right back out the exhaust!).

They said that the gap like I described should have triggered a CEL. They also said with the clips it should be impossible (which annoyed me because the tech did not put the clips back and the gap was big enough for me to reach in with my hand and pull out a leaf). I don't really think having the air filter improperly installed would trigger a CEL, unless the 2 MAFs were registering a big difference in air flow.

Hmm read this and now thinking twice about touching the MAF sensor, it would seem Nissan makes their sensors with unicorn hair (probably the same unicorns they get blood from for the tranny fluid).
https://g35driver.com/forums/intake-...limp-mode.html

Well Unicorn blood did sustain the life of Voldemort for a while so i guess Nissan engineers, in all their wisdom, figured out it will be good for the tranny.