suspendedHatch

Just got my response from AEM. They're saying its my fault and they're not going to replace my intake. In less than four months, the intake pipe rubbed the chassis right at the hole where it dips into the fender well. It must only be doing it during engine torquing or when the suspension is compressed, cuz I have it centered. When I noticed the damage, I adjusted it ever so slightly biased away from where it rubbed, and then I noticed damage on the other side of the intake pipe beginning to occur. So obviously I had it pushed away from the chassis as far as I could from where the damage took place. I think maybe there is a slight enough variance in casting of the unibody, or maybe the chassis is stretched or deformed from the loads that have been put on it over the last 10 years, that I am lucky enough to experience this damage but that it hasn't occurred to enough customers to warrant a response from AEM to the initial design of the intake.

In any case, there is no warning in the instructions that the chassis will actually rub a hole through the intake pipe. I thought maybe it would do some cosmetic damage at most or else there would be stern warnings. There is no 2 dollar rubber sleeve included with the intake. There's no recommendation to enlarge the hole. I would have done both had I known the consequences. I feel AEM could have prevented this from happening to me with only a minimal effort, since I am so retarded and deformed I can't install two clamps and a single 10mm nut properly. Clearly it must be my fault and not the fault of the rubber mount that flexes to the point that I can rub the intake pipe 360 degrees around that hole. And I'm just wondering what combination of loads I can put on the chassis to actually saw the ******* thing off.

And I think about all the metal shavings that got ingested by my previous engine.

I wont be buying another intake since I plan on turbo-ing this car sometime early next year.

Thanks AEM for your sympathy, customer support, your careful R&D, instructions, and your uncompromising business strategy. I will be persuing and engineering degree so that someday I might be able to properly install a cold-air intake.

skip.two

picture? never heard or seen this before.

Grimm

yea me either....only advice is don't go CAI, or put some rubber agound it, like a coupling?

suspendedHatch

These pictures were taken with the intake partially removed to show the damage.

Synthesis

i have an AEM also and just took a thick rubber hose, cut the side of it and placed it around the opening. its been holding up fine.

you're right AEM and other manufacturers should include this with the CAI, or suggest it in the instructions

jimee pop

mine did this too.. id suggest putting rubber edge trim around the cutout or something to protect it

suspendedHatch

I thought of doing that at the time, but decided it wasn't necessary or there would have been some clue in the instructions.

HyBriDcxR

It's your fault for not checking to make sure the piping isn't rubbing after the install.
It's common sense to check and make sure that it's not rubbing. AEM shouldn't have to warrant something stupid like that or have to put it in there instructions.

Mine rub the first time i installed it and caught it after a day. It got scared a bit, but i could see that if i left it any longer it would have gone all the way through.

For it to not rub keep playing around with the piping and it won't rub.
Or go get some rubber piping and line it around the hole.

94greddycivic

that has happend to everyone i know with a Aem intake....all we do around here is cover it about 10 times with electerical tape and that solves the problem....you could also get a connector like the one from the intake to the TB and slide it up to that point...thats what i did on mine

skip.two

yea i put some rubber trim around that area. works

Archidictus

Metal on metal = chipping and cutting. Common sense. It's not hard to shove a rag down there or use an extra strip of rubber coupling.

suspendedHatch

I did use common sense when I deduced that there was not going to be a problem or else AEM would have mentioned it or included something in the design to prevent it, in order not to tarnish their name and have a huge customer backlash.

I did that Mr HyBriDcxR. Like I said in my initial post, I could easily rub it 360 degrees around that hole, due to the huge amount of flex in the rubber mount even after attempting to torque it down using a big washer. I am not an idiot. I have been taking auto classes for years, and have been involved with performance installations for even longer. I've never had this amount of damage occur from an off the shelf product from a big brand name. I stay away from any product that is this tempermental to install.

Maybe if there's enough people, we could petition AEM to include a warning and a rubber sleeve with their intakes.

Archidictus

Or a solid or metal-core bushing. Or you could stop bitching =p. Increased airflow.

suspendedHatch

Maybe you should work for AEM, Mr sympathy. Hah hah.

If that were necessary, why wasn't it included in the package?

da935oul

Mine started to scrape so i wrapped some thickblack fiberous tape around it and problem solved. it SUCKS.

zerogrip

The same thing happens to 5th gen ludes. It's common sense to protect that area with duct tape or rubber trim. There is no reason for AEM to be held liable but i agree that this should be mentioned in their instructions. I seriously doubt you can get them to include a rubber sleeve without effecting the cost of the intake itself.

suspendedHatch

God forbid they raise the price 2 dollars and save their customers $150 dollars.

blackeg

it happend to me too. i first noticed it a while ago, when just the paint was chipping off, so i put a piece of plastic in there to stop it. the plastic fell off and the hole continued to be cut. im not sure if it sliced completely through my intake pipe yet, but ill find out in a week or 2 when i do my turbo install

I'll cut ya!

They should have at least offered to replace that section of the intake at cost, dicks.

zerogrip

lol, it looks like AEM has already covered this for other intakes (from the website):

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Often the inlet pipe is mounted to the engine at the throttle body while the “cold” end of the inlet pipe is mounted to the body of the car. The movement of the engine on its mounts allows the engine to rock inside the engine bay. The motion of the engine must be compensated for by offering a flexible link between the engine and the body of the car. The soft mount accomplishes this task. Without the soft mount properly installed, the inlet tube may break and void any warranty on the pipe.</TD></TR></TABLE>

http://www.aempower.com/truck/...&tid=

wilsel

Suprised they won't send you the replacement piping since it cost them less than $5 to make it.

95ej_coupe

the same thing happened to mine, except it was rubbing against my strut bar. I noticed it before there was a huge hole in the intake.

I just took a rubber peice and using a couple of ties, i tied it around the intake so it doesnt puncture the intake. Looks like *** though

Bob_Digi

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HyBriDcxR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It's your fault for not checking to make sure the piping isn't rubbing after the install.
It's common sense to check and make sure that it's not rubbing. AEM shouldn't have to warrant something stupid like that or have to put it in there instructions.

Mine rub the first time i installed it and caught it after a day. It got scared a bit, but i could see that if i left it any longer it would have gone all the way through.

For it to not rub keep playing around with the piping and it won't rub.
Or go get some rubber piping and line it around the hole.</TD></TR></TABLE>

ditto its ur fault for letting this happen

amy

this happened to me.... where it was rubbing it had become a small hole and then i just traded intakes with my brother..... problem solved

Mag00n

This was happening to me, although nowhere near as bad. I just wrapped it with several layers of duct tape