I am the original owner of a 1993 Nissan Altima. My mechanic states that the air intake (part # 165751E400 “air duct”)has dry rotted. He put some silicone hoping that would seal it but it did not work. The part is no longer available from Nissan. The car runs very rough and wants to stall when coming to a stop. It also smells like gasoline in the cabin and the gas mileage is terrible 17 mpg. I have tried to find someone who could custom make a new hose with no luck. My mechanic stated that pulling one from a used car would have the same problem. What other options are available? The hose is about 8 inches long and about 3-4 inches diameter. It has other small hoses that attached to it. Do I throw away an otherwise reliable car?
Try finding a “speed shop” in your area. They can fabricate one in a very short time.
You could put a tuner intake on it for about $45>.
Simple… Replacements for that car are NOT hard to locate. Hell just jump on Ebay and buy yourself an upgrade to the one you had …They come in all kinds of colors and are made of Heavy Duty Silicone… One of those will outlast the car…
Problem solved.
Blackbird
The symptoms you are having would be expected if the air intake isn’t air-tight. Air leaks can cause the air flow sensor function to report the wrong intake air flow. So the computer has difficulty then setting the correct air/fuel mixture. So the good news is that once the leaky intake is fixed, the fuel smell and poor mpg will likely improve.
I wouldn’t entirely discount the possibility of finding a used but serviceable original at a car recycler yard. The rubber intake boot on my Corolla of the same vintage is still ok.