When I start my car I can hear what sounds like water from inside my air filter. It sounds like there is a little water in there that the intake is trying to suck through. It just started raining yesterday. I only hear the sound when the car is on. It seems to be idling fine otherwise. And the sound is definitely not coming from the Coolant Reservoir. I left it parked at work to be safe. Anybody know what this is and how to fix it?

Thanks in advance!

 

Does the car have the stock air box and everything attached or is there an aftermarket intake on it?

If it has the stock air box, have you tried opening it up to look inside? Also, is this a 4 or 6 cylinder?

 

Thanks for the quick response. It is a v6, vtec and has the stock air-box. I didn't have a screw-driver or anything to take the top off, plus it was dark and raining. I plan on going back in the morning to take a look.

 

Gosh, I'm finding a wealth of information on this site. I'm happy to have become a member. However, I still haven't been able to find any other threads with the same issue. My ride is on the way to bring me over to take a look inside the air-box. I'll update after I take a look. In the mean time... any thoughts? I'm hoping the water evaporated or something, but I have no idea how water would have made it's way inside the air-box in the first place... :/

 

Turns out the water is dripping from the drivers side bottom of the car. Beneath the headlight. That's where it ends up the sound is coming from. Now it's dripping water from there after I started it. It's not antifreeze, it's cool water. :/

 

I apologize for all the posts but I got to the air filter and there was a puddle of water in the bottom. I soaked as much as I could with a rag, and am buying a new air filter. How the heck did that water get in there!?

 

are you missing the passenger side splash guard/is it installed correctly?

the 4 cyc have a intake air resonator box thing right under the thing that holds the filter. the v6 may also have this plastic/removable box and it could be full of water somehow..

on the 4 cyc i found it easiest the remove the bumper and splash guard on the intake side of the engine and then the 10mm bolts that hold the intake resonator can be removed and the box can easily be removed also.

so do this:
remove the air filter.
remove the thing the air filter sits in
is there a hole underneath it that goes into a plastic box underneath it?

i am not familiar with the v6 layout though

 

The V6 also has a resonator chamber. Yeah, check to see if that is also filled with water. If it is, you may need to get a shop vac and suck it out.

Also check the rubber air cleaner seal #6 for tears, etc. But, if water came in, it may have came in through another area of resonator chamber.

This situation does sound unusual for a car with the stock air intake system.

 

there she blows. just remove everything in the bottom picture and make sure your splash guard is on correctly and no more water problem. only negative of removing this resonator is the intake will be slightly louder. but most like this effect

this way there will be no where for any water to sit and your intake can work correctly again. i would think that a resonator filled with water would cause hesitation and major loss of power too.

also dont worry about any small amounts of water that may happen to splash up towards the filter. as long as you dont drive through ponds and completely submerge the intake opening it wont suck up the water or cause any damage. most people go with a short ram intake or cold air which is a pipe with an open filter that has no protection anyways. so screw that plastic box

 

Just use a quarter-inch ratchet, extension, and a quarter-inch 8mm socket. Should be able to undo those screws no problem with a 8mm socket.