Hey I just installed a CAI and heard/read that water getting into CAI is really bad...well I was at school and it rained... I waited it out but there was water on the road n there was no avoiding it. My question is is it really bad to get even a tiny amount or is it only bad if you go through a pudle of water and have any of you had problems with water going through water? I dont have time and dont really want to be taking the CAI off everytime it rains cause thats time consuming and plus I need to car to comute between school and home.

Best advice i can give you is sell the cai and get a short ram, not worth the risk of hydrolocking for the extra 2 hp your getting over people like me with the short ram. and to answer your question now a light mist of water should not hurt anything, your intake has to actually suck up water and in order for it to do that it has to be somewhat under water. i sold my cai the first time i went in an unavoidable puddle and my engine died, luckily it didnt lock but it wasent fun for the 3 days it took to dry the wells out and finnally revive her after wondering if i was totally screwed. and the short ram sounds just as sweet and a good one is only like 90 new or 50 used. just my .02
joe

98 RS: Mods: Custom Stage 2 Turbo kit , 55mm throttle body, gutted cat, evo cat back exhaust, p/p intake manifold,p/p Head, af-x underdrive pulley, B&M short throw shifter,Built bottom end Je pistons eagle rods 8.8:1 compression.





Status:Up and running again! nice new paint

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New Addition: 2007 Eclipse GT 6 speed

Thanks, I'll look into the short ram

or you can take my bypass valve off my hands for $25 shipped and you can keep the cold air without worrying about water

pics somewhere near the bottom of the page here
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/578236

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EVO IX - just a really expensive boost gauge and a K&N air filter
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________________________________________
95 Eclipse RS - Rolled
96 Eclipse GS - Traded
95 Eclipse GSX- Sold
01 Blazer LS 4.3/5spd dropped and clean DD
88 Camaro RS 361 CID with a 6spd and a bar 10 second street car on motor.

yes sucking up water is bad .i used to have the same problem with sucking up water . then i made a aluminum plate . worked great never had that problem again . also it looks good and it cheap ass hell . dont get rid of the cai unless your going turbo
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It is only bad when you completely submerge the filter under water (even for a split second). Slight spray on the filter doesn't do anything.

-K-

Hydrolock is far more expensive than you think. Especially for the piddly ~5hp you get out of a CAI.

Don't fck around. Get a shortram or go back to stock. Bypass valves, plates, or other methods of denial only work for so long.

just cut the CAI down to make a shorty

1998 dodge avenger 4 cyl AT
Mods are:
Not enough

Okay. I ran a cai for 1 year with no problems. Mine was located in the same place as /\/\blue car/\/\ and I got pretty wet sometimes. Never did anything though. You need to LITERALLY submerge the filter and the vacume the engine produces is enough to suck water into the pipe and up to the throttle body.

It's happened but I think your dumb if it happens.

Keep the cai and don't really worry about it getting "wet" just worry about submerging it.

I eat emo kids for breakfast

1995 Eagle Talon (SOLD)
72' SuperBeetle
72' Standard Beetle
56' Deluxe Beetle

You DO NOT need to Totally submerge the filter to cause Hydrolock! Although a little spritz here and there wont hurt anything. Ive hydrolocked twice going through decent puddles at about 30 mph. Sometimes you'll get lucky and it will burn right through and bog you down for a second and shoot a cloud of steam out your exhaust. Other times it could stall out on you and you can pull the plugs and crank the water out. But i wouldnt take that chance. CAI is not worth that trouble. I took a Sawzaw to mine and hacked it. Or you could get a bypass like was mentioned above.

Chris
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98 Eclipse GS 5 spd- sold
95 Camaro Z28
64.5 Mustang 302 3spd

Ok there are alot of people debating this situation however for the person who originally made this post, ask yourself 2 questions
1) no matter who says what or how long they have had this or that the fact that you are running a cai means a. you have about 3 extra hp than you had before you put it on Literally. and there is a (chance) might be today, might be tommorrow, might not be till next year or might never happen at all but because you have it your chance of hydrolocking your engine is 50/50 you might you might not thats it. there are things you can do to change that a little and i believe if you add a bypass valve your hp will match that of a short ram because i wiuld think the valve would slightly effect hp.
question 2) are you willing to take the risk over so little? i was hard headed too and here in florida it rains like hell and i never had a single problem driving in monssons here and my filter was exposed and rain would get at it going 90 down the highway from the air hole in the front nose and i never had a problem so you couldnt tell me nothing than one day it started rainning out of nowhere and it was a hard i cant see two inches in front of my face rain and i hit a puddle, a low puddle maybe a few inches but ill tell you this the car died instantly and i got out and looked under the car, the cone was not under water just the very bottom was barley touching the surface of the puddle and it was enough to suck it up. everyone is gonna have there opinions on this matter but i sold my aem cai on ebay and got enough money to buy a short ram aem and still have some change left.
so basically with the cai theres always that chance, without it there isnt, and with all the mods i have i didnt notice a difference in performance and the sound is almost the same.

98 RS: Mods: Custom Stage 2 Turbo kit , 55mm throttle body, gutted cat, evo cat back exhaust, p/p intake manifold,p/p Head, af-x underdrive pulley, B&M short throw shifter,Built bottom end Je pistons eagle rods 8.8:1 compression.





Status:Up and running again! nice new paint

Custom stage 2 hahn turbo kit
Hahn Super 16g turbo (ceramic coated)
Hahn manifold (ceramic coated)
Hahn Downpipe assembly
Hahn intercooler piping smic
Hahn oil line kit
Type s bov
2G Gsx smic
walbro 255 fuel pump
Synapse missing link
Vortech s-fmu
NGK Bkr7e11 Plugs
A-pillar w/boost, a/f, oil pressure gauges


New Addition: 2007 Eclipse GT 6 speed

Okay, I'll just keep my mouth shut then. No point in e-bickering about something that is totally avoidable.

I eat emo kids for breakfast

1995 Eagle Talon (SOLD)
72' SuperBeetle
72' Standard Beetle
56' Deluxe Beetle

im wondering if you guys could clear something up for me: what if somebody was running a high compression engine? in my opinion, a CAI would be crucial for that type of setup. i remember reading a post somewhere about a guy who was dyno-tuning an all motor setup and claimed that the engine was "knocking like a screaming whore" or something like that. He put on a CAI and it significantly dropped intake air temps and helped with the detonation problems. I dont know but could this be a reason somebody would choose a CAI instead of a short ram? Using a short ram for this type of setup and retrieving air from the already hot engine bay would be a no-no. Correct me if i am wrong. I also read somewhere that detonation is caused by improper timing curves. How are these two issues related?

That blue car got me boobies once

i got an ebay CAI, cut about 2 inches of it off so the intake tube goes straight down, no turning towards the wheel...its about 6-7 inches off the ground. takes 10 minutes to do, you still keep the "cold" part of it, and no worries about water, problem solved..if any1 needs pics lemme know, but as i said its very easy..all ya gotta do is just cut a little

I'd just invest in a bypass valve. I got an AEM one on my AEM CAI, came free w/ car You can find them on eBay dirt cheap.

lower me

Thanks all really apreciate the responses

Its simple bypass valve. I had a short ram and all I managed to do is suck up heat from headers. install CAI do it smart and add a bypass on the top bend. If you manage to suck water in the bypass you would have water over your hood at which point your screwed anyhow +).

Bypass valve on ebay for under 20$ or you can buy one from just about any CAI manufacturer. I run one on my Weapon intake and no troubles at all.

i use the AEM short ram intake, and it never sucks up water, even in the shittiest weather conditions which occur often here in northern ohio...

i've heard you can buy cut out sheetmetal kits to make an intake box at autozone? it will keep water out of that section...

also if u have aftermarket headers and dont want the short ram because of it gettin hot air from the header, just buy some exhaust heat wrap tape from autozone and you'll be set

--95 ESi-> OBX 4-1 header, AEM short ram, OBX ignition, Eibach pro kit, KYB GR-2's--

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Built. That's All...
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2 Fingers of Scotch with a milk back... Stat!

Id like to see the pictures, if possible, of the cut intake you are describing...

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Bypass valve fo'sho' It's a $30 piece of mind. Water, unlike air, doesn't compress very well.

AEM cam gears, .030 over, .020 milled head, Unorthodox UDP, port match intake/head, polished exhaust manifold, e-bay CAI, Magnaflow muffler

1995 GS A/T: Crushed, what started it all
1999 RS M/T: Back to stock
Mazdaspeed6: sold and quazi missed
1999 Eclipse GSX: HX35, waiting for Shep STG3

Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah, stop argueing. First off yes you do need to have the filter completely submerged in water and sucking really hard, because the water has to travel straight up quite a good distance as well. Small puddles not a problem, rain directly hitting it not a problem. There is moisture in your engine at all times do to condensation so a little water is not going to do anything. If you are driving through a gigantic puddle then of course there is a great risk but you shouldnt be driving through 5in plus puddles anyway, in any car. I had a cold air intake on my car for over a year in the winter even in NEW ENGLAND and i had no problems. If you see a huge puddle that is up to the bottom of your bumper or more go around it. If there is no way of avoiding it let your foot off the gas when you go through it. I would not get the bypass filter i have heard horrow stories of it breaking off and getting sucked into the engine. AEM even did a test showing how the intake had to be completely submerged in water and sucking hard to hydrolock. Anyone who drives through a puddle higher then the bottom of there bumper and is jamming on the gas is an idiot. Just look out for deep puddles and dont step on the gas if you have to drive through them and you will be fine.

Chris
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98 Eclipse GS 5 spd- sold
95 Camaro Z28
64.5 Mustang 302 3spd

Wow everyone is so tough online, your like those people in chat rooms that come in talking shit to everyone but your some scrawny dude that has been in 1 fight and your mom called the other kids mom to complain. Just shut your mouth seriously, what difference does it make if you take your foot off the gas when going through a puddle??
Your foot on the gas is going to cause your engine to be sucking in more air and sucking up any water. Your foot off of the gas is going to mean that water is going to have to travel 30 some odd inches straight UP into your engine. Think of it as a straw the only way you are going to get the liquid up is if you suck on the straw, you can submerge the staw in liquid but it will only go as far up in the staw as the depth of the liquid. You shouldnt be driving through a massive puddle in the first place. See all these idiots on the news stuck in massive puddles there morons do a 3 point turn and find another way. I take my foot off the gas when I go through puddles all the time the car doesnt jerk or spin out of control, so what i have angels guiding my car?? If you are going through a puddle that is so large you have to creep through it then its your own fault for getting hydrolock and your a moron for doing it twice.

Looks like we need to have basic grammar and spelling lessons over here ...I seriously don't know how some people make it out of grade school. I apologize to the mods for being off topic

2007 wrx