mdb_foxmx

Hey everyone. I was driving down the freeway today in pouring rain, and I wondered about cold air intakes in inclement weather. The merit of the cold air intake is that it relocates the source of intake to a place away from the heat of the engine, but in pouring rain, couldn't the filter get waterlogged? I've also read a bit about cold air "boxes" which accomplish a cooled intake but are still located in the engine bay. Can anyone shed any light on this subject? Thanks.

JP375

iTrader: (1)

theres plenty of info if you search, I remember reading quite a few threads about this

zachgeyer

iTrader: (3)

bypasss

dalaw

yeah a lot of people on this board have hydrolocked their engines because of CAI and rain.

Boost_Junkie

iTrader: (2)

well dont take off your splash gaurd...and get a bypass valve if your really worried...you just have to be smart about y our driving...

streetglower

iTrader: (13)

it is better to just leave the stock intake on or get a SRI. I had the Injen CAI and I drove through high water one day and stalled the engine. Paid $300 to get it back running again, then a week later, the tps sensor went which caused the tranny not to shift, and had to have the throttle body replaced. It is a pain when it happens. And I was lucky I didnt bend a rod or something.

se7engen_riDe

if you have a cold air intake and driving in rainy weathers, i suggest you watch out and stay away from puddle of water. or you can get a bypass valve.

xX03EXx

Holy crap, CAIs can suck up water? No way!

civ10jbiz

what will a bypass valve do?

Boost_Junkie

iTrader: (2)

but the bypass valve only comes into action when the whole filter is submerged in water...

i agree with streetglower...stock intake or sri...intake really dont do much anyways...but i know you guys are looking for the sound

TeRRoRiFiC35

iTrader: (3)

me and my friend were having this discussion yesterday after another friend tried to install his intake on his maxima. in rainy weather, a CAI is more likely to suck up water into the engine causing the engine to ultimately seize if it picks up enough. now say you have a bypass valve on the CAI. the water would not be able to slide up the walls of the CAI because the bypass valve will go in closing the amount of air that goes in. this will also cause the water retained to stay against the walls instead of sucking in. when having a CAI, you are not really supposed to drive. if you do, you're supposed to disconnect parts of it, but it really isnt worth it.

DaRk_MauL

iTrader: (7)

wel i got a injen cai and here in belgium we dont see much other than rain
so problem water getting in the filter and even in the engine but i wen searching
on the net and found this maybe you can make it by yourself!
http://airtuning.com/HOME.HTML sorry that its in dutch
you just place it around your filter so you wont get any water inside

grtz

01blackCVC

iTrader: (6)

Go with an SRI... if not, get a CAI with a bypass valve from AEM.

civic01vtec

iTrader: (20)

Civic_RedLine

iTrader: (18)

luckily I have the v2 short ram so I dont need to worry.
My friend got old generation hoopty accord with body kit and his cold air can be seen from looking at the bumpper design. It gets floody here in cali so all he does is avoid puddles. he told me he never sucked up water, but if I had his intake, I would definately get a bypass valve. Think smart! 50$ or a new engine.

mdb_foxmx

Thanks guys. I think I have to say the CAI's are a little risky, and they don't add any performance. If sound is what you want, the SRI's are far less likely to cause problems, and probably give you just as much sound.

I didn't know the V2 system was an SRI?

usafstud

iTrader: (2)

i stalled my engine when i was up at laguna seca

went to the local club at the track day

went thru a 2-4 inch puddle, the engine stalled and partial hydrolock

the cop came and almost took me in for smelling beer on me. he let me go and i was able to start the car with a few hard cranks

Kubias

iTrader: (1)

I had a 3rd gen Eclipse with a CAI and it scared the crap out of me to drive in the rain and in the winter. Now, I talked to some guys in the city and none of them had heard about an seize ups and most of them drove Civic's. As for my Civic and being in Minnesota I wasn't going to take the risk and got a SRI. If you want to have CAI intake like some others said get the bypass or get a SRI.

masarak

iTrader: (1)

Pretty much. The V2 filter sits right between the battery and the block just under the hood--it isn't relocated outside the engine bay. The design of the intake is supposed to make up for sucking up hotter air from the engine bay, though. In any case, it makes a mean noise and you'd probably have to be in water up to your door handles to hydrolock with it.

usafstud

iTrader: (2)

The chambers inside the V2 changes to get the right resonance(frequency) for maximum airflow.

deconstructed

Yea that intake is sweet. I'm ordering one tonight when I get home.

EternalBlue_Vic

iTrader: (14)

usafstud, what's up with the tape over the headlights in the pic of you at the track?

masarak

iTrader: (1)

Right. It still sucks in hot engine bay air, but it's theoretically more efficient than a regular sri—which partially makes up for the performance you "lose" by sucking in hot air.

usafstud

iTrader: (2)

its to protect ur lense from cracking when rocks are being tossed up by Corvettes that ur chasing

also, if it was to track, it'll keep it all in one piece and not a hundred pieces on the track

Shifter

Guys,

A cold air intake will allow hydroloc ONLY if you attempt to drive through a stream of water that is deep enough to totally immerse the intake opening. This is also true of any stock intake. Of course, the old carburator cars had filters that were located on top of the engine, so they were much less likely to have any problems driving across a flooded road.

Now driving in pouring rain will at worst, get your air filter a bit wet, but it won't take long to dry it out after a few miles of dry-weather driving.

So, just stay away from flooded roads and you'll be fine.

scansel912

iTrader: (4)

TRUE DAT ^^^^ It's dumb anways to drive on flooded roads. A light current will sweep away our 2500 lb cars.