I decided to ask K&N if they had heard about the MAF failure claims in the Boxster. I thought everyone might like to see what they said.
Dear XXXXX,
At this time, K&N is unaware of any evidence that K&N air filter oil from a K&N air filter can damage or cause the malfunction of a MAF sensor, regardless of the make of the vehicle involved. K&N takes seriously any claim that one of its products is incompatible with its designated application or can damage or cause the malfunction of any automotive component. Such claims are thoroughly investigated and, when appropriate, testing is undertaken to determine their merit. In the case of MAF sensors, ongoing tests have shown that contamination from K&N air filter oil has not caused any failures or malfunctions of the MAF sensors in the test vehicles. K&N is aware that MAF sensors can become contaminated for a variety of reasons, unrelated to a K&N air filter (such as backfiring, blowby, leaking airbox or leaking intake duct) and that various methods have been used by some service departments and repair shops to clean a dirty or contaminated MAF sensor, such as spraying with an appropriate cleaner. K&N has not completed any tests as to the efficacy of such a process and, therefore, does not officially endorse or recommend any cleaning process. However, if given the choice of either replacing a MAF sensor or cleaning it, K&N recommends that the consumer ask his or her automotive dealer to attempt cleaning, before replacement. It should be noted that the presence of contamination does not mean the contamination was the cause of the MAF sensor failure. Sensors can fail for electrical or mechanical reasons, unrelated to any visible contamination.
For more information about filtration and to answer any other questions you have about K&N products, please visit our website at
www.knfilters.com and go to
and our FAQ page at .
Thanks for writing,