Weapon R intake killed my Mass airflow sensor

just put my weapon r dragon intake on my 02 (maxima). all was well for a while, i drove around for like 30 miles just listening to it, then i drove to school and to my friends house, about 75 miles in all. then just out of the blue i was driving and i nailed the gas and at around 5000 rpm as it switched to the second intake runner the car felt like it popped out of gear and it just stalled out on me. I couldn't get it to start until i disconnected the plug on the airflow sensor, and even then it will have a rough idle and won't rev over 2500 rpm even if you reconnect the plug while it's running.
so i took the intake off and returned the stock aribox and as i expected the i still had the same problem.

in my opinion the Dragon air filter was quite greasy out of the box and i was wondering if it's possible for the sensor to have gotten covered in filter oil and therefore can no longer function properly. now i know i'm not the first person in the world to get a Weapon R dragon intake and out it on a VQ35, so has anyone else run itnto this? What options do i have to remedy this, other than buying a new airflow sensor? i tried brake cleaner on the sensor to no avail. please, help a fellow nissan man out. i can't even drive to my stupid job or to school.