Right now, I am looking into getting my first engine modification, an AEM CAI. I live in Southern California, so I don't have to worry about flooding, or deep water. But I still want to get a bypass valve for the intake. I know, I am probably a little paranoid, but, if I was to get the AEM CAI with bypass valve, would I have to do any cutting to the intake. Some of the posts that I read on here said that you neaded to cut the intake to make it fit if you were installing the intake with the bypass valve. Is there any truth to that? Does anyone have any pics of their AEM CAI with bypass valve installed on their Gen3 GSR?

Thanks for your help.

 

You do have to cut the pipe. Here are some pics.

 

take my word for it and do NOT get the bypass valve. there is a good chance that junk will tear up and get stuck in your throttle body like mine.

 

I agree, don’t get the bypass valve. I live in Alabama and It rains a lot down here, and I have had no problems with My AEM CAI. I have driven through deep puddles and nothing has happened. Since you live in Southern California where it rains maybe 5 days a year I wouldn’t worry about hydro-locking your engine, unless your car is slammed to the ground.



[Modified by Yyz, 12:17 AM 11/12/2001]

 

Thanks everyone for your replies. My car is stock height, so I don't have to worry about it sucking up water from deep puddles. Thanks for all your help on this topic, I appreciate it.

 

yeah who the hell would ride in a puddle too. if its raining hard, then ur gonna go slow and see everything.
save your 40 bucks and your engine and dont' get that crap

instead spend 10 bucks on the K&N filter cleaner and clean and reoil your filter more often
the oil keeps the water from gettin sucked up as well

 

Didn't AEM fix the bad bypass valves that got sucked into the engines?!? Isn't it safe now?

 

ive been running a CAI on my 00 GSR for a year now. Even through a NY winter I had no problems with. Its not going to suck up water unless your stupid enough to drive through half a foot of water...

 

I installed the bypass valve on my CAI. I figured that $45 is a small price for added piece of mind. Currently, I'm at a stock height on my GSR, but I won't be in the near future, so the bypass valve might come into play someday.

It does rain a bit during the winter in SoCal. Sometimes the rain can be pretty hard! At night puddle depth can be somewhat deceiving. I'd be pissed if I hydrolocked my new car's engine, all because I wanted to save $45.

SOL-SIF **** Outta Luck- Self Inflicted Failure

P.S. I just read about an unfortunate soul on Honda-Acura.Net who had a very unfortunate mishap with his CAI. If you want to read about someone from SoCal that got water into his engine, check out the post. You might then, consider buying and installing that bypass valve. It's a very easy install, and it just might save your engine from sucking up a puddle

Go to the article below to see SCC's test of the bypass valve on an NSX...
http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/ar...ech01_0401.jsp



[Modified by passion4healing, 5:15 AM 11/13/2001]

 

bypass vavle and california = POS

i have an aem and used the bypass valve and dont trust it at ll

so, i dont even use it anymore......

what i do is move my filter from cai to short during rainy season, takes about 10 minutes

 

exactly! plus, when you put the bypass on- you've just lost a couple hp from what i've seen :/

 

I just read the article on the NSX and how they tested the CAI in 1 foot of water. Now I am not sure about the placement of a CAI on a Integra, and where it exactly sits, but it seems like you would have to go through a lot more than 1 foot of water for the CAI to suck up water. Should I be worried about using a CAI when it rains? It seems like a constant bombardment of water (rain), and never letting the filter dry out, would allow for some water (droplet size) to be sucked up.

I wonder how much water people have actually sucked in through their CAI when they hydrolocked their engines. Was it a large amount, or was it just a few drops?

Does anyone have any pics of where the filter of the CAI sits on a Gen3 Integra? Are there any other intakes that offer same HP gains/sound as the AEM intake that are safer the AEM? Alternatives that are just as good, if not better, than AEM?


[Modified by 2001 Integra GSR, 4:44 PM 11/13/2001]

 

TTT

 

Constant rain won't be a problem. It's only when the filter is nearly completely submerged will it be a problem. Engine vacuum always prefers to pull in whatever is easier to pull in (i.e. air, not water). Only when there's no air to pull in does it pull in the water. In the rain, drive around at low-rpm (what would you want to be doing at high-rpm in the rain anyways?) and if you see a huge puddle that you absolutely cannot avoid, lift off the throttle and step on the clutch. And if the puddle is an absolute death pool, just turn off the engine too!

The filter sits just above the lower fender liner. Measure from the ground to the bottom of the fender liner (8"?) and that's roughly how deep of a puddle you can go through.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Just put it this way Spend 40 now or spend money later on on a new engine...

40 or 1000$+

tough decision huh?

 

Is it true that the AEM CAI causes a loss in torque, but an increase in top end HP?

IMO, there are still too many variables to look at regarding a CAI.

 

I put a lot of research in before I spent my $$$ on the CAI. I called whoever needed to be called. I posted my *** off and also read a lot of posts on H/T.

Everyone says that dollar for dollar, the CAI is the biggest improvement you can make for your car. I'm thrilled with the CAI. Not only does it make noticable gains in the butt-dyno department, I believe it adds a couple of mpg. It also happens to sound pretty cool when at WOT.

I completely recommend this product, and understand that it's the best on the market. I put on the bypass b/c I love my car, and won't do anything detrimental to damage it. I need my 'teg as a reliable means of transportation, which is one of the main reasons why I got the bypass. I'm not going to jeopardize anything with my car.

You can concern yourself with the 3", 6" or 15" of water, or you can buy the bypass valve and have piece of mind

 

Is there anyone here on this board that has actually hydrolocked their engine because they did not have the bypass valve installed? How much water did you drive through to hydrolock your engine? What were driving conditions like at the time?

The stock air intake on integras...what prevents them from sucking up water? Does the stock intake have anything like the bypass valve that prohibits water from going into the engine? Could it be adapted to the AEM CAI, instead of buying the $40 bypass valve?


[Modified by 2001 Integra GSR, 4:09 PM 11/14/2001]

 

Hey dude how you move your CAI into short ? you got your pipe cut out or something ?

 

I live in San Antonio TX and when it rains here it floods but you have to drive through a lake for the intake to suck water, so just use your common sense when driving in the rain. I've driven when its pouring rain and never sucked water remember the intake has to be completely underwater for it to suck water, and you loose power with the bypass valve so just use your head when driving.

 

I just order my comptech ice box yesterday. Its supposed to come in next week. I chose it becasue its supposed to be a little quieter and when compared to the AEM w/o the bypass valve the preformance is similar. But with the bypass valve the AEM loses about 4 hp so that puts the Comptech even or maybe ahead. I was also worried about water and the Comptech has very ittle chance of injusting water into the engine. So taking all of these things into consideration I chose the Comptech Icebox. I have driven with the AEM so I will compare it to the Comptech when I get it on and i'll tell you guys how I like it.

 

I live in SoCal as well. I'm not paranoid either, but I do know that when it rains there are many deep puddles all over the place. The way I see is that hydrolocking can take place not only when driving down the street, but also when say your on the freeway and hit a puddle which in turn splashes water up towards the filter. Its happened before and I just dont want to take that chance. Plus, at night its very hard to avoid a puddle you cannot see, especially if you are on the freeway or you're in an unfamiliar area and are unaware of where the puddles form.

So, I would definitely install the bypass valve just as a form of insurance. Will I cut my AEM that I paid good money for...no, this is why I plan on switching back to the stock intake system for the winter because I just dont want to go out and buy the Comptech Icebox (which has been known to hydrolock as the result of a freak accidents.)

 

Nope, "fixed" a car that did though.

It was a stock ride height 00 Civic Si, about 6" of water.

Car was at ~2000rpm (cruising down a side street) during a rain storm.

All non-ITR tegs pick up air from under the ABS unit.. 24" i'd guess above the ground, inside the engine compartment and under something else, then travels through the tube to the resonator, through a tube to the stock airbox, through the filter, intake tube, tb, im.

No, it'd be damned hard to hydrolock a stock gs-r intake.

 

I gained 4whp when I removed the bipass