Service Parts - Air, Oil and Fuel Filters

What is a Filter?

A filter's job is to keep an air or liquid clean from contaminants that may cause damage. It does this by allowing that air or liquid to pass through the filter (the filter medium, which could be paper or a synthetic material), which would catch various particles down to a specific particle size. Those particles remain in the filter and are not allowed to re-enter the system. They are therefore removed once the filter is replaced.

In the case of the R32, R33 and R34 GT-Rs, they only have an air filter, engine oil filter and a fuel filter. And generally, the air filter and engine oil filter are the ones most people focus on.

Air Filter

An air filter is positioned generally at start of the air intake of an engine, and ensures that clean filtered air only makes its way into the engine to use for combustion. This is important to help protect the cylinder walls within the engine. Imagine not having an air filter installed and the engine sucks in a whole bunch of sand/dirt that may be in the air while driving. The sand would go into the combustion chamber and could get rubbed up against the cylinder walls causing scratches by the pistons, reducing the ability of rings to seal, and therefore lowering the amount of compression that cylinder can produce. And compression = power and balance.

The factory service manual for the R32 GT-R states to replace the air filter every 60,000KM, while performance options (except K&N) range from 10,000KM - 25,000KM replacement intervals. I replace mine every 20,000KM.

R32, R33 and R34 GT-Rs can utilise the below air filters:

Standard type

• Nissan - 16546-V0100 | OEM
• Pitwork - AY120-NS001-01 | OEM
• Nitto - 4NC1011W | Aftermarket
• Ryco - A360 | Aftermarket
• Mann - C 2964 | Aftermarket
• Sakura - FA-1818 | Aftermarket
• Baldwin - PA2135 | Aftermarket
• Wix - WA9464 | Aftermarket
• ACDelco - 88930021 | Aftermarket

Performance type

• Nismo - A6546-1JB00 | OEM
• Apexi - 503-N101 | Aftermarket
• HKS - 70017-AN101 (filter) + 70017-AK101 (replacement filter media) | Aftermarket
• Monster Sport - ND1A | Aftermarket
• K&N - 33-2031-2 | Aftermarket

Nissan/Pitwork is a good OEM and cheap option if easily accessible to you, while the Nismo can be quite expensive. Watch out for filter efficiency as higher flowing generally means less filtration ability, and therefore more engine wear.

An Apexi air filter on the left and a Pitwork air filter on the right.

Oil Filter

While oil is known as the lifeblood of an engine, the oil filter is what allows that oil to stay clean so that the engine is not damaging itself with dirty oil, over the life of the oil until the next change.

Here's a little bit of trickery. The R32 and R33 GT-Rs both use the same oil filter, while the R34 GT-R uses a smaller oil filter. From what I've gathered and researched, the changeover to the smaller filter is more for packaging reasons, and you could theoretically use the smaller filter on the R32 and R33 GT-R RB26 variants if you like. This is supported by Nismo's product catalogue when looking at the Nismo oil filter for R33 and R34 GT-Rs:

"This is a smaller diameter size than the oil filter used in RB engines before October 1998, but it is the same size as the genuine oil filter used in RB engine-equipped vehicles from October 1998 onwards, so we are listing it as a compatible part number". If however you want to play it safe, use the correct one for your variant of RB26.

The factory service manual for the R32 GT-R states to replace the oil filter every 10,000KM or 12 months, whichever comes first. I replace mine every 5,000KM or 12 months, whichever comes first.

R32 and R33 GT-Rs can utilise the below oil filters:

Standard type

• Nissan - 15208-H890C | OEM
• Pitwork - AY100-NS007 | OEM
• Nitto - 4ND106 | Aftermarket
• Ryco -  Z145A | Aftermarket
• Wesfil WZ145A | Aftermarket
• Mann - W 7041 | Aftermarket
• Sakura - C-1826 | Aftermarket
• Baldwin - B113 | Aftermarket
• Wix - WL7143 | Aftermarket
• ACDelco - 19266361 | Aftermarket

Performance type

• Nismo - 15208-RN021 | OEM
• Ryco - Z145AST | Aftermarket
• K&N - HP-1002 | Aftermarket

R34 GT-Rs can utilise the below oil filters:

Standard type

• Nissan - 15208-53J0A | OEM
• Pitwork - AY100-NS005 | OEM
• Nitto - 4ND108 | Aftermarket
• Ryco - Z442 | Aftermarket
• Wesfil - WZ442 | Aftermarket
• Mann - W 610/4 | Aftermarket
• Sakura - C-8029 | Aftermarket
• Baldwin - B1406 | Aftermarket

Performance type

• Nismo - 15208-RN021 | OEM
• Ryco - Z442ST | Aftermarket
• K&N - HP-1002 | Aftermarket (maybe - will thread on but is taller and wider than the stock filter. Let me know in the comments if you have this fitted to your R34 GT-R)

Much like the air filter, the Nissan/Pitwork filters are a good OEM and cheap option. The Nismo can be purchased for a bit more than Nissan/Pitwork and should be better, although no real figures are provided in the Nismo description besides percentages increases (which doesn't really help).

R32/R33 GT-R sized oil filter on the left, and the R34 GT-R sized oil filter on the right.

Fuel Filter

Often the neglected filter, the fuel filter ensures that your fuel stays clean, reducing the chance of blockages in the fuel injectors. A clean filter also helps to ensure adequate fuel flow to the fuel rail.

The factory service manual for the R32 GT-R states to replace the fuel filter every 100,000KM. I replace mine every 20,000KM, as in a performance application when making more power than standard, I feel more comfortable knowing my fuel filter isn't potentially causing a fuel flow drop to the fuel rail if it were to be dirty.

R32, R33 and R34 GT-Rs can utilise the below fuel filters:

• Nissan - 16400-53J10 | OEM
• Pitwork - AY505-NS004 | OEM
• Ryco - Z387 | Aftermarket
• Wesfil - WZ387 | Aftermarket
• Sakura -  FS-1804 | Aftermarket

Again, Nissan/Pitwork would be the options to pick from if you can easily get them.

Dirty fuel from an old fuel filter.

Filters across air, engine and fuel are generally cheap and easy to replace. They have a massive benefit of helping to keep your engine and associated parts running for well into the future. Take care of the car and the car will take care of you....right? :)