Do It Yourself Infiniti VQ35HR Air Filter Change

This article is to assist you in changing the air filter in a VQ35HR.

Yesterday I decided to change the air filters on the Z. I had a spare hour till the GF came down so I figured this would be something I could do that would take an hour. As it turns out, I should have picked something else, entire time was 10minutes.

Difficulty: 1 out of 10

Tools you will need:
3/8″ ratchet
12mm socket
14mm socket
I also choose to have a helper, my 16yr brother

To make my life easier I used a 1/2 cordless impact. I’m telling you, after this job yesterday then helping a friend do a disc brake conversion on his car, this is by far the best tool you can get to make your life easier.

Now to the air filter change. I choose to put in K&N drop in filters because the cone style filters are illegal in stock class. Every article I do for the next month or so will be a mod that’s legal in stock class.

For the Nismo, there is a brace that goes across the front that sits right on top of the filter boxes. That brace has 6 bolts that hold it on, 3 on each side, the two up front are 12mm the one rear is a 14mm.

Brace with bolts pointed out

Bolts up close

Use ratchet or gun to remove bolts

Now that the brace is removed you can see you have clear access to the air box

This is the part that is beyond easy. You simply pop two clips and the air filter element pulls right out. I thought I was going to have to fight with the box, but nope, Nissan has done its homework. This is what made this job so easy.

Two clips you unlock

You can see how the air filter element just slides out

Now just pop the filter out and replace.
K&N on left, old one on right

For those that have an HR, I would recommend you check and clean your air filter every other oil change at least. Notice how dirty the filter is, and this is only 10,000miles. I’ve put 2000mi on the car since I’ve had it. Had I known it was this bad, I would have done this earlier.

Air filter size difference

Once filters are in, slide the filter elements in and re-clip then attach front brace. Make sure you do both sides. Filters are exactly the same on both sides.

Originally posted by ldstang50