STRSHP

Went by the dealer to complain a bit about the quality of the work they do and mentioned to the service manager that they had just installed a K&N air filter for me. He said that Porsche knows about a problem where the oils are getting sucked out of the filter into the mass air sensor and failing the unit. Since the K&N is an aftermarket filter, Porsche is not covering the repair. Anyone have the problem with the filter? Anyone not have it fixed by Porsche?

speedyellow996

I asked my dealer about installing a after market filter and they told my of your problem. They made it very clear that it would not be covered under warranty, this is a well known problem.

Ed Newman

I concur that id that is the cause they shoudl not cover it. I also know that my Boxster lost its Mass Air sensor with the factory air filter... could they be missing a problem with the mass airs and just blaming aftermarket filters?

NMoore

My dealer technician has seen a number of them fail the MAF. They also run too rich. $150 for the diagnosis (at a dealer anyway), $380 for the part plus labor. Cannot be repaired by cleaning.

If you have one, for sure take it out and thoroughly blot up any excess filter oil. Pretty iffy risk to take considering the trivial performance potential.

willwest

K&N performance potential...

NONE

You can do better (or just as BADLY!) by simply removing the factory filter.

Waz996

Hi..
do you have more information about the MAF unit?
what is this unit really and what does it do? and if ever it fails how will one know about it?
Is it accessible by removing the air filter to clean it?

Wael
996 C2 1999

Karl S

My experience with Porsche is if you have an aftermarket part of any kind on the engine and they can even loosely tie it to the failure of one of their parts, they won't cover it under warranty. It seems that when you install an aftermarket part on the engine, you are releasing Porsche from their warranty obligations not just for that part but for everything that is associated with it.

This includes aftermarket chips, piggybacks, sport cats, air filters, etc. About the only thing I know of that is safe, is an aftermarket exhaust. Since it is at the tail end of the combustion process, there is nothing they can blame on the muffler.

BTW, Porsche will also void your warranty if they find out you have driven the car on the track. I know, I lost my warranty on drive train and emissions for this very reason. They didn't even ask me if I tracked the car, they just assumed it from the "configuration" of my car (roll bar, 5 point belts, fire extinguisher, etc).

I have learned my lesson the hard way. There is very little to be gained and a lot to be lost by trying to bolt on performance improvements to the 996 engine.

Karl

Ed Newman

The mass air sensor measures the mass of air (density and volume) enternig the engine. It typically uses a wire that runs through the air channel the wire changes reistance based on air flow (heat loss I believe) and feeds the info to the DME unit to determine air/fuel mixture with additional input from O2 and other sensors

Sean

I have a BMC air filter (similar to K&N) on my 986S. The performance difference is negligible. The only reason for the change was to alter the intake sound... I guess it did make the egine sound a little different, maybe better.

But is it worth risking warranty coverage? Of course not...

STRSHP

Thanks for the comments. Going to go down and put the Porsche filter in.

Jason @ Paragon Products

Just an FYI from the K&N website:

Contrary to what you may have heard or read, in the USA, a K&N Filtercharger will not void your vehicle warranty. The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, passed in 1975, prohibits a manufacturer from conditioning its warranty of a consumer product upon the consumer using any article or service (other than one provided without charge under the warranty) which is identified by brand, trade or corporate name, unless expressly authorized by the Federal Trade Commission. If the manufacturer does not provide air filters free of charge, they cannot void the vehicle's warranty simply because you have installed an aftermarket air filter.

wwest

Jason.

Your statement is HORRIBLY misleading.

The ACT you reference only applies to aftermarket products deemed compatible with or "like/kind" from the original manufacturer, or manufacturer's designated supplier.

K&N "WET" filters in NO WAY fit that criteria.

Loren

If the filter (either BMC or K&N) is over-oiled it will foul the mass air flow sensor regardless of whether it is a Porsche, Mercedes or BMW. These filters will not void your warranty but... "misuse" will (i.e. over-oiling). I have yet to see a dealer prove that an air filter (of any type) was cause of a MAF failure. There are quite a few MAF sensor failures (on all these cars) regardless of the type of air filter. (I just had one on my Mercedes last month).

IMHO of course!

pestodude

Guys, When you talk about "oil", I hope you're not talking about regular motor oil. I race motocross bikes which use similar foam filter elements. Any motorcycle shop sells special foam filter "oil" which goes on like oil but has an alcohol base which evaporates away leaving a viscous, sticky coating which will NOT be sucked into the intake. The trick is to do your filter at night and let it sit overnight to insure that it "sets". Regular oil will not "set" and in fact will pool at the bottom of the element and from there can get sucked in. No Toil is a great brand. It also washes off the filter very easily. Bel-Ray and Uni also are good.

NMoore

K&N and (and BMC, I think) air filters use lightly oiled cotton inside a wire mesh as a filter element instead of typical dry paper. Particles are trapped in the oil. They may be cleaned, oiled and reinstalled and therefore have a very long service life. Not the same oil as the foam elements you often see on two-strokes, more like parafin.

The performance attributes are rather like premium audio/video wiring--no doubt different than stock, but at most incrementally and dependent on the application.

I think the message here is that hot- and cold-wire MAF sensors are inherently fragile, and MIGHT get fouled by excessive filter oil,if present. If you have to pay to fix it, well you could have had any of the smaller aluminum or carbon upgrades instead.

So if you run one, it is probably a worthwhile exercise to take some paper towels and blot up any excess oil on the exterior of the thing.