Ok, I've heard that if you drop a K&N Air filter into the stock airbox w/ the top of the box open it's just as good as having a Short Ram. Now for my question, say I popped my hood, but not unlatched it, got some heavy-duty rope to keep it tied down, but still with that 1-2 inch gap for air to pass through, do you think this would be a good way to have a rigged CAI?

Btw having a real CAI in my area of the US is nearly impossible as it rains like every other day or so. And no I don't believe that a little piece of plastic by pass vavle is going to completely stop hydro-lock. And besides this the cost of a filter is like $40 in comparison to a couple hundred for the real thing.

 

Personally I'd go with the actual short ram. Where do you live that it rains so much? If you get the AEM CAI the bypass valve actually works. Or you can get something like the Injen short ram intake with the cold air extension, and put the extension on during non-rainy season. But that's just my .02

 

if you knew how the bypass valve works you wouldnt worry about hydrolock with it on a cai..

you could just stick a cone filter on the end of the stock intake hose..

later

 

I live in South FLorida, just west of Ft. Lauderdale. And as for knowing how the by-pass valve works, I'm pretty sure I do. AEM says themselves that it will open the valve if the air filter element is submerged in water. I believe them on this, but i have yet to drive my car to a dead stop in a 3 foot deep 'puddle' of water. I would like to test the by pass valve by dumping, oh say, 1 to 3 gallons of water out of a bucket on the air filter and see if the by pass valve opens to save my engine from the dreaded hydro-lock monster, but, alas, I don't have a spare engine to destroy.


[Modified by DarkKnight[DMD], 6:34 AM 1/2/2002]

 

[QUOTE] I would like to test the by pass valve by dumping, oh say, 1 to 3 gallons of water out of a bucket on the air filter and see if the by pass valve opens to save my engine from the dreaded hydro-lock monster, but, alas, I don't have a spare engine to destroy.


Sport Compact Car already tested this , they submerged a AEM CAI that was attached to a NSX into a big fish tank or somthing.This was done on the Dyno.The bypass valve didn't allow the water into the engine.

 

Think about what you just said and what I said. You said submerged and I said dump a couple gallons on the filter. And I just thought about a better test:

How about we take a hose and spray the intake with a hose for ten minutes to simulate driving at city speed through a well rained on road. Do you think the water will create a drop in pressure and cause the by pass valve to open? Or do you think it'll suck in the water?

Also this has gone waaaaay off topic. Please answer my question in my first post!


[Modified by DarkKnight[DMD], 7:04 AM 1/2/2002]

 

To answer your question....

1) The way the air box is on a civic if you take off the cover it's just an open tube which isn't exactly the best thing- especially if you're leaving the hood open.

and

2) That's just ghetto.

 

i tried that on my sister's civic ex 97 auto. sounded like it had an intake. but then we realized there was no filtration. or what u can do is put the filter vertically so that it blocks the hole, and like tape it in. but **** might still get in it. not as loud. ghetto shortram? its ghetto tho. just get those cheap $30 short rams on ebay. they worked pretty well in my sister's exBF's civic si. it was like plastic tube with a tenzo R filter that was glued onto the tube. then the tube of the intake was stuck into the stock tube from the throttle body and clamped down. $40 on ebay.

 

What in the ****. You guys are scrimping on these little things... makes me wonder whats gonna happen when you get a little more serious with things...

"Oh damn Ive lost the valve cover screws... I guess Ill duct tape it down"

Not cool. Just save your money and get something decent for gods sake.

 

follow link and read. http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/ar...ech01_0401.jsp

 

Here's the best way if you son't want a CAI. Do what you said with the drop-in K&N, but don't keep the hood up. That rubber seal that runs along the lip of the hood, rip that off just along the section of the passenger headlight. It works really well for a slight ram-air effect. I know it works, it's been done to several cars I've tinkered with. This allows you to keep your hood latched and allows cooler air in.

 

you mean something like this

 

DarkKnightDMD: You idea is done by the Ford Focus guys all the time and they swear it works.

 

Why are short ram intake even made? Decreases horsepower. Hot air = less dence = lak of oxygen in engine = lose horsepower. Simple!!!

 

they make them cause the cold air set-ups just can't breath enough air fast enough for motors with big cam's...best set-up is a stock box w/foam filter or comptech ice box

 

Well said!

 

where can i get a k&n filter? local auto supply store like schuck's? how much does it cost? does it really help?

 

yea your local car parts store should either have one, or be able to get one fast....i have absolutly no idea on the price sorry

 

If you have a Discount Auto Parts or something like that they have it for I think $23.

 

Just get a ice box and be done with it.

 

ok the whole test that was done on the bypass valve is well and good but whose intake is that long. the water traveled a vertical foot inside the tube. depending on how low your car is that may be enough to get to the point where the pipe flattens out again.

 

first off, you would practically have to be parked in a lake while gunning the engine
for water to get in your motor and hydrolock it. driving through the heaviest rainstorm and splashing through puddles won't do it, unless you're driving with your
bumper off. i've done both many times with CAI without incident.

are you racing in the rain a lot lately? no? then use common sense - shorten it up. i have used an iceman CAI for almost two years. run it long in summer/hot months and for races, short for winter/rainy. tone will change slightly, horsepower difference will be almost nil. it takes me no more than 5 minutes to shorten my intake now - you can pull it right out from underneath without taking off bumper.

people talk **** about the iceman, i love it, and i don't think there's any
difference in power between it and the aem - it's just a freakin tube. if you're really worried about water, use aem (with bypass), otherwise iceman will work just as well and is a little cheaper.



see? easy.

 

actually i did an ls swap in an eg with an ice man and the kid only had it for like a week before he went driving in the rain and hydro locked it he wasn't being an *** and i honeslty don't think that a bypass valve would have helped. have you ever put your hand in front or an intake to see what kind of vaccumm that little honda motor can generate? its pretty amazing.