INJEN install how-to: complete guide to installation w/pics

[generic808]

Okay, first off, I'd like to say that the installation is quite simple and straight foward. If you have basic mechanical skills, it shouldn't take more than 40-45 minutes tops. I have a lot of experience with installing intakes, exhausts, headers, etc., and it only took me 35 minutes, but that's because I took pics along the way; otherwise, it would've taken me about 25 minutes. I didn't even use the provided instructions because everything was pretty self-explanitory.

But, and it's a big BUT, if you don't know the difference between a hex wrench, open-end wrench, torque wrench, or a ratchet, please do not attempt this on your own. Please have a qualified professional or someone with good mechanical knowledge to help you out.

My impressions of the INJEN intake? I absolutely love it! Throttle response has noticeably improved. It looks great in the engine bay and it sounds fantastic! I've always loved the way the G35's and 350Z's sound, and this makes the Altima sound very close to those cars. No exageration here, it really does. I knew that the G35's sound came from the motor and not really the exhaust (like most people think) and this intake just proved it. I know with a more open exhaust with straight-through mufflers, these Altima's will sound almost identical to the G35 and 350Z.

I lay everything out to make the install easier. No looking around for parts.

Remove the factory filter. I already had a K&N installed. Anyone interested?

Unscrew the clamps holding the hose from the filter box to throttle body.

Remove MAF sensor by pushing clip and pulling up and out.

Use a plier to remove tension hose clamp from crank case breather box.

Remove crank case box from air box.

Use 10mm socket to remove screw holding air box down. It's located behind the top air box on the right side.

Remove entire air box from engine bay.

This is what it should look like after air box removal.

Parts removed from engine up to this point. Top and bottom of air box and crank case vent box.

Install INJEN hose over CCV box port and use the 2 clamps supplied.

Install vibra mount right below where CCV box was located. There's an existing 10mm bolt, just remove and replace.

Install brackets onto filter head, line up heat-shield and center heat-shield. Slide filter into brackets and tighten hose clamp around filter head.

Place large INJEN hose onto throttle body and tighten 2 hose clamps.

Place short ram intake onto viba-mount but don't tighten yet.

Run intake into hose connected to throttle body.

Screw down MAF adapter plate onto new intake.

Plug MAF into adapter located on new intake.

Install CCV box onto new intake and screw down hose clamp.

Install new filter onto open end of intake tubing and tighten hose clamps.

Adjust and tighten all remaining screws, bolts and hose clamps.

Finished installation

Oh yeah, one last thing. There is a remaining hose which comes out from the crank case into the factory air box. There is no new location for this small hose so I wedged it between the filter and the heat-shield.

If anyone is interested in picking up my K&N drop-in filter (part # 33-2031-2), which has only been used for 1812 miles, contact me at: [email protected]. $30 shipped via USPS Priority to the first taker.

Well, I hope this little tutorial will help some of you out. If you guys have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

[prlwhitecoupe]

Hey man awesome tutorial, it must be nice to finally have an intake on there. So what exactly does it sound like? I've always wanted a car that sounded like the G35....even though I knew it was the motor itself as well. I have a 2.5 so I don't know. ANyway my question to you is, did the K&N drop-in filter make any type of difference? I've been really interested in picking one up...its a good little mod, save on air filters! But does it make any difference to the sound of the intake?? Have you noticed any type of boost in horsepower/throttle response?....

Now all you need is a video of the injen at work so we can all hear that growl!!

[generic808]

Believe it or not, there was a slight increase in throttle response with the drop-in K&N. I'm a believer/follower in K&N products; I've used them for years and they've never disappointed. I've been waiting for them to release a FIPK intake kit for the Altima's, but there doesn't seem to be one in the near future. I'm one of those "gotta have it now" kind of guys, and the INJEN was available so I had to scoop.

If you don't want to spend so much on a full intake set-up, I'd say go ahead and get the drop-in K&N. It pays off in the long run and it does slightly improve gas mileage. I'm pretty sure I got about 1 mpg more after I put it in. Or maybe it was just a placebo effect on my car

[generic808]

FIRST DRIVING IMPRESSIONS:

I just got back from an hour long drive. Now I was one of the lucky ones to have driven one of the first G35's in Hawaii. Years back, I was dating a girl whose father was one of the top brass at Infiniti Hawaii and he bought her that car to replace her G20. Boy, did I fall in love with that... G. Not the girl, but the car The first time I started her up, it was music to my ears. I couldn't believe the sweet sound coming through the firewall into the cabin. I've never heard a motor purr like that before. It was a deep, smooth, mellow tone which no other car could compare to.

Well, sorry to say, but the Altima doesn't sound like that on start-up. But, at certain RPM's, she comes very, very close. I mean, the sound is almost identical at certain areas of the powerband.

@ 1000-1500: Just warming up the vocal chords. You barely notice a difference, if at all. I have a critical ear, so I do notice a slight change in tone.

@ 1500-1900: Humming a nice tone. She's breathing a little better and starts opening up the vocal chords. A very nice mellow sound at this point. Noticeable, but not irritating like those four-cylinder cars with the soda can mufflers.

@ 2000-2500: She's singing sweet melodies. This is where she sounds ALMOST EXACTLY like the G and Z. This is the area I find myself trying to stay at most of the time. Of course my gas mileage rating went from 23.4 mpg to 21.8 mpg in one hour

@ 2600-3000: She's singing like Whitney before she met Bobby. You can't distinguish the sound from the G and Z. Very nice, aggressive sound.

@ WOT: She sounds amazing! This is definitely music to my ears. Sounds like the Mariah Carey of old, not the new druggy Mariah. I can't even explain the sound coming out of her at WOT.

The difference between stock and the INJEN is amazing. You just have to get one for yourself to understand what I'm talking about. I think the sound alone was worth the money spent. At first, I was hesitant to purchase a WAI for almost $3 bills. That's the going price for CAI's, so I couldn't justify my purchase. That is, until now. I have no regrets whatsoever.

Now I can't wait to get my exhaust done. I'm thinking about going with HKS Hi-Power mufflers and just redoing the bottlenecks in the exhaust. I personally think HKS has the best sounding mufflers on the market, hands down. Nothing can compare to HKS. Or maybe I'll just give in and end up with the Stillen cat-back just to get it over with.


Modified by generic808 at 4:30 AM 9/24/2007

[SHIFT_COUPE]

Looks great!! Thank you for the write up! Can't wait to get mine

[EzeebMOS3]

Hey guys i just called up cardomain, they said my intake wouldn't be shipped for a few weeks. So I called Stillen, they took off $20 and found one for me in their tennessie warehouse, shipping it out tomarrow and at my door this thursday. I'm Loving stillen right now, haha let you guys know how it works out!

[LongBeachCoupe]

details on this "drop in" k&n?I dont want to drop 300 on this now..

[generic808]

K&N drop-in filters are a direct replacement of your factory filters. It gives you better performance and gas mileage. And it saves you money on replacement filters becuase it never has to be replaced. It only has to be cleaned every 50,000 miles with a K&N cleaning kit, which costs around $10 and should be good for 3-4 cleanings. I believe they havea million mile warranty on these things. I've always used K&N and I love them. You can do a quick google search and read up about it. They retail for $45 or so. Let me know if you're interested.

[EzeebMOS3]

Hey man are you gonna get Vids up of the intake in action?

[generic808]

I shot a few clips with my Canon SD630 and tried the youtube thing, but it says it's an invalid file or something like that. Unforunately, my computer skills aren't even half of my mechanical. I'm computer illiterate! Any tips or advice on how to get my vids online?

[SHIFT_COUPE]

What format are the videos you shot in? Worse comes to worse you can email them to me if they aren't too big and I'll upload them for ya. Just make sure your video is in .WMV, .AVI, .MOV, or .MPG for Youtube.

[generic808]

I guess my cam automatically put it into a THM file, whatever that means. Can I somehow convert it to one of those formats? Or can I email you the THM clips?

[chow]

omgo mgo mgomg.... I LOVE THE g35 sound.

Ive been waiting SOOOOOO long for a mod for the A/C but didnt want to purchase the CAI right now b/c its fall and almost winter Didnt want the CAI to experience its first few kms with super cold air and what not.. but now that you mention that it changes the sound of the car to the g35 sound.. i think i may as well buy one now.

Hopefully they ship to Canada, i find it hard to order parts.. If not, a trip down to the states isnt too far... especially if im going to be hearing the VQ hum... mm..

Also, i was waiting for the NISMO CAI, you think that will do exactly the same thing? Im assuming they both will be either the same or similair... cept one has the branding NISMO :O.

Anyways, get back to me.

[generic808]

Chow, the INJEN is NOT a CAI. It's a WAI (warm air intake) but for some reason, INJEN labeled it a CAI. I guess maybe because they add a heat shield and it dips down a little? I have no clue! But honestly, the Altima's have no space for a CAI. It's pretty cramped in the engine bay so I doubt a CAI will be made for our cars.

To me, intakes are intakes. The difference between an INJEN and a NISMO (if they make one) wouldn't be noticeable as far a performance goes. They'll just look a little different from each other, but they'll basically do the same thing. Suck in more air than the factory air box, that's it. I personally was waiting for K&N to make a FIPK intake system, but I haven't heard anything about it, so I went ahead with the INJEN.

Trust me when I say it'll make your car sound like the G. Not at start-up or idle though, but definitely above 2000 RPM's.

[chow]

keep me posted with the video upload!

BTW care to inform me about the difference betwen a WAI and a CAI?Thanks.

[SHIFT_COUPE]

keep me posted with the video upload!

BTW care to inform me about the difference betwen a WAI and a CAI?Thanks.

A Warm Air Intake (WAI) otherwise known as a Short-Ram Intake is a system that generally uses a shorter piece of piping and the filter actually sits in the engine bay.

A Cold Air Intake (CAI) is a system that relocates the filter element out of the engine bay. Typically it sits behind the bumper cover near the wheel well etc. This system is able to suck in "colder" air as you drive because it is away from the hot engine.

Fairly simple way to explain it. Someone can elaborate if they want to.

[SHIFT_CR]

Injen Cold Air Intake System w/MR Technology on eBay $279 Shipped!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...ZWD1V

[SHIFT_COUPE]

Injen Cold Air Intake System w/MR Technology on eBay $279 Shipped!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...ZWD1V

The #1 reason that I don't buy parts off of eBay.

The part number listed in that auction is RD3022. That is a part number for a 2003-2004 Jetta VR6

There is no such intake made for the Altima.

[EzeebMOS3]

We need the Vids!

[SHIFT_COUPE]

Generic, Email me the .THM files. I'll see what I can do with them.

[EzeebMOS3]

As far as loudness goes.... while your driving, how does it sound from the inside perspective? If you have the windows down can you really hear her good when givin' some gas??
Modified by EzeebMOS3 at 1:58 PM 9/26/2007

[generic808]

As far as loudness goes.... while your driving, how does it sound from the inside perspective? If you have the windows down can you really hear her good when givin' some gas??

Modified by EzeebMOS3 at 2:18 PM 9/25/2007

The difference in in-cabin noise is slightly noticebable under medium throttle and very noticeable at WOT. At cruising speeds below 1900 RPM, there is no difference. When the throttle opens up a bit, the noise level rises slightly. Not much, but you know there's something under the hood. My suggestion is to hop into a G35 or 350z because it basically sounds the same in-cabin as those cars.

WAI vs. CAI = What Tyler said is true. The CAI's usually just relocate the filter to a lower, more foward position (usually around foglight area) to suck in colder air.

Pros: Colder air has more density, thus creating more power in a internal combustion engine.

Cons: Usually cost a lot more. Good chance of getting water into your engine because of the location of the filter. I had a CAI on an old car and it ran right to the fog light cut-outs. I used a very fine mesh to keep larger parts of water out, but I was always paranoid when it rained hard.

[generic808]

Generic, Email me the .THM files. I'll see what I can do with them.

Tyler, I just sent two video clips to your email. Thanks again.

[prlwhitecoupe]

Question guys, is the Injen intake only available for the 3.5s? I have a 2.4...but I can't seem to find one for my engine.....???

[generic808]

Question guys, is the Injen intake only available for the 3.5s? I have a 2.4...but I can't seem to find one for my engine.....???

Here'a link for the black and polished for your car:

Black: http://www.cardomain.com/item/INJSP1974BLKPolished: http://www.cardomain.com/item/...=none

They're on sale so you better scoop!!

[generic808]

Finally got the vids uploaded:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRIGwp4DIZA

[chow]

I looked at the ebay thing, it looks like the one that generic just installed. You sure thats an improper part number? It seems fine.

[generic808]

The one on ebay is only a universal filter head, not the entire intake system. It would probably fit over the throttle body, but you'll end up having all this extra space left in the engine bay. It'll look very odd in my opinion.

This is the proper part: http://www.cardomain.com/item/...=none

[generic808]

Okay, here's the video clips. Sorry, it took so long, I'm computer illiterate so I hit a couple of speed bumps along the way. I only ended up with 2 decent clips out of the 4 I took. When I have the time, I'll post more vids at idle, cruising speeds, and WOT.

The vids do not really demonstrate how the intake really sounds. The best way I can describe it sounding like, is that of a G35/350Z. At cruising speeds above 2000, it's sweet!!

First vid in park: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRIGwp4DIZA

Driving vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO0TFXLMQEs

[shift_mikey]

Hey g, thanks for taking time to record and post those clips! I like the way it sounds. I'll definitly be checking back for vids of mid acceleration/cruising/normal driving. Sounds great though!