I see that most CAIs for the 6th gen accord have their filters sitting in the front bumper by routing the intake pipe through the hole in the chassis that gets opened up after removing the resonator and stock air filter box, whereas most short rams have their filter sitting right on top of that hole, in the engine bay. Currently I have a diy short ram.

One day after driving through a lot of rain I looked down that hole and noticed that the inside of the bumper was all drenched wet with water. It seemed like if there had been a filter sitting in there it would be soaking wet by now! So my question is -

Is this normal ? Or is there something not right with the bumper that is allowing so much water to splash in ?

If this is normal then is it a real hydrolocking risk ?

 

This is normal, and does not pose a hydrolocking risk. Generally speaking, you need to submerge the filter to risk hydrolock. Just avoid driving in floods or deep puddles, and you would be fine with a CAI.

 

It's normal, and that's not a real hydrolocking risk what-so-ever. It takes effort to hydro lock via cold air intake. You'd have to completely submerge the filter in order to do that. I have a 5th gen and my cai sits in the same relative area, I drive in the rain all the time, and i've been into some pretty deep puddles (half way up my whell, or 1/4 up my intake... and I have no issues.)


-edit- damnit phil you beat me to it

 

thanks guys. its reassuring to know that.
amazes me as to how even though the filter element could be all wet with water but still pose no threat to the engine. Maybe because of the speed at which the air is going in all it does is increase the moisture level of the air in the intake - like driving in very high humidity levels.

{edit:} btw does this apply to only oil coated filters or even dry filters like AEM Dryflow ?

 

It can apply to both. And when you're driving in the rain, water does go into the intake... but it's evaporated before it ever gets to the cylinders.

 

Youd have to be driving in a lake or pond to really be worried about hydrolocking. Considering if you are driving in a lake or pond, hydrolocking would be the least of your worries.

Just keep your splash guard on and you'll be fine.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by c0ke &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">-edit- damnit phil you beat me to it </TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm quick like that...

It would probably make more since once you think about what actually causes the damage. Air is compressable, water is not. Because water doesn't compress, once you get enough water in the cylinders it's similar to the pistons hitting a brick wall. But a little water in the cylinders isn't much different than, say, fuel spraying into the cylinders.