Alright, so my buddy and I are driving to get measured for tuxedos today and every car we drive by we are like "peice of shit", "that thing sounds like ass" yada yada...well, we pull into a parking lot and sure as shit, that sound is me...we go inside to do out business and when we come out my buddy is like, 'here, I'll start it up, see if you can tell what it is'...so he fires it up and there is this helacious like the P/S, alternator, or water pump is going out...that grinding kind of noise they make...well, I listen to all of those, and it isn't any of them...as least I'm guessing not the water pump, isn't coming from that direction...so I'm looking around trying to figure out what the hell it could be and I notice that my fucking CAI filter has fallen off or somebody stole it. This damn thing stayed on for 5 months just fine and all of a sudden it's gone!!! The sound has only been made today, but my car has been making a milder version of the sound for a couple weeks now...and I don't konw how long it's been gone...it could be as long as 3 weeks since I last gased up!

What do you guys think that sound could be first of all, and do you think there is any damage to the engine from not having a filter for even a couple days...I did notice there isn't any black smoke rolling out the tail or anything, so can't be anything major, right???

Thanks for the help guys, I really appreciate it!

Now, I needed something ASAP so I can drive my car and take my girl to dinner 60 miles away (nothing good here), so I'm driving on an APC version of the Apex Super Cone filter...looks good, but I nkow it's cheap! FUCK!

Can you describe the type of noise better and if it is always present or perhaps only when you rev. Any better ideas on where it is actually coming from?

When my filter fell off (see GS vs Train Tracks in war stories) I was freaking out having it off for 10 min. Yes it very bad to not hace one. Any little thing could have got sucked in there... dirt, moss, a chipmunk, anything. I hope you didnt do any major dammage...

Well the good news is your intake system does not "suck" air in. As you drive air hits the filter and the tube just provides it a way to get to your intake. So you would have to get pretty unlucky to have something major jump up in there and travel the full distance into the head. The bad news is it could happened so it can't be ruled out.

Has the noise gotten any better since you put another filter on?

Same thing happened to me but mine was off for only about 10 miles. After that Ive got kinda paranoid I check to make sure my filter is on every now and then.

I'll try to go out and get a sound clip of the sound...maybe you guys can help me out before I start ripping shit out to fix it.

i have had the same thing happen to me. we were messing with something, and took off the intake, and forgot to put the filter back on. so i drove around for a day(30 miles) w/o a filter, nothing wrong yet and that was 7 months ago. i doubt anything is wrong related to not having a filter, unless your luck just flat out sucks.

that sounds really bad IMO, driving for perhaps 3 weeks w/ no filter? dust in between the cylinders and pistons perhaps?

>Well the good news is your intake system does not "suck" air
>in. As you drive air hits the filter and the tube just
>provides it a way to get to your intake. So you would have to
>get pretty unlucky to have something major jump up in there
>and travel the full distance into the head. The bad news is it
>could happened so it can't be ruled out.
>
>Has the noise gotten any better since you put another filter
>on?

So how come when I floor it my intake makes such a loud sucking noise? Im gonna take the filter off tonight and stick my hand over the hole....

I would think that the pressure changes in the cylinders would cause the air to be sucked in?

eXample: all the hot air going through the exhaust causing a vacuum.
I havnt been to science class in awhile though....:nono