I have a CAI with bypass valve. Driving in the rain yesterday, I was very confident that my car was in good shape. I had nothing to worry about. Then, in one of the threads I posted in, someone said they hydrolocked their engine

Why wouldn't everyone that gets the CAI get a bypass valve? Figuring all the money we spend on our cars, a little insurance (50 bucks for the bypass) goes a long way.

Whenever I hear about someone hydrolocking their car, I can't help but think that their failure was preventable. SOL-SIF.

Thanks.

 

To hydrolock...you have to COMPLETELY submerge the filter in water right? That seems pretty difficult. I've been having my worries though...my splashguard is torn up and the injen cai seems a bit exposed.

-Rod

 

people dont get the BPV for a few reasons 1) it negates all gains and 2) it's a POS

icebox ownz

 

the bypass valve doesn't work all the time...try it out, drive into a deep puddle and submerge the filter. you may still hydrolock. And all the while you are getting no gains from your intake because of that bypass valve. So the real question is: why the hell would anyone get a cai and a bypass valve when it's no better than the stock intake?

 

i have to agree with everything already said. The bypass valve has been shown to be a POS!!! it doesn't always work...if even ever.

and yes, you woudl have to COMPLETELY submerge the filter, which would be EXTREMELY hard. To do so you'd need to go through not only a really deep puddle but also a long puddle. You could easily drive through an 18" puddle in a pot hole w/o any trouble because the water would have no time to work its way into the bumper and fill the area where the filter is. You'd have to have a long puddle that the car remained in for enough time so that the water could seep into the bumper and fill that area.

IMO if you are driving in conditions where you are in danger of hydrolock then you are probably being too careless with where/how you drive your car.

 

I've driven through some pretty heavy rainstorms and no hydrolocking with my AEM CAI. *knock on wood*

IMO, the BPV is somewhat of a waste of money. Unless you frequently drive your car in a lake, you don't have much of a chance of hydrolocking.

 

bypass valves are **** i went thru soo many of them its retarded. if you got power they will break end of story.
i dont run them any more and dont look back on it .
they suck and you would have to be an idiot to hydrolock your **** . . . imo atleeast

 

Well said. I always see idiots getting rescued from helicopters tring to drive through 2 feet of water EVERY year on the news. Water is powerful, DON'T mess with it.

 

put on your stock intake for the rainy season. is that extra 5 hp worth it while it's all wet and slippery outside?

 

Why not just cut your CAI just before the curve down into the fenderwell and convert it to a 'shortram' setup whenever it rains? I did this when I had a AEM CAI and used it in a 'short ram' setup in the rainy season. It literally takes 5 minutes to go from a short ram setup to a full CAI.
No BV, no hydrolock.




[Modified by emr88, 6:18 PM 12/18/2002]

 

so if ti raisn when your at work , you go out in the rain and change it ang get wet ?
i thougth about it , but that made me think twice.

 

so am i screwed if i already cut my aem cai and put the bypass valve in it or can i use it as a shortram in the winter and how would i make the two pipes go together now that there are cut when i wanna go to put it to a cai

 

silicone coupling like the turbo guys use. thats what i did on my old cai andthen got sick of it and get a new one

 

Can someone explain why a bpv would negate all gains from a cold air intake. I know it causes some horsepower loss but I really don't think it completely cancels out the gains of a cold air intake. Someone mentioned that you might as well go back to stock...i'd like to know if these are dyno proven points or are you just exaggerating....thanks

 

AEM has dyno tested and most apllications it is a ~1-3 HP loss.

 

 

Can someone also elaborate on why the bypass valve doesn't always work...is this from experience or did AEM state this...etc. Thanks for your input guys. I'm just debating whether to put my short ram on.

 

i still say the best way to go is just have short ram on whenever or just when raining then put on the cai extension for races or dry weather.

 

id agree with this, except it probably only negates 94% of gains
oh yea, and i love my iceman. damn as long as you have the splashguard there you have to practically drive into a river while redlining to hydrolock it.

 

yeah

 

so then should i just try to sell my cai with the bypass valve and get a different intake

 

well lets just say if ur filter is all covered in water u got more to worry then if ur car is gonna have hydrolock or not cause ur ecu and wires will be covered in water since the filter to be 100% covered is about the same height as the ecu and ur door so u got lots of other problems then that, ive seen it happen in a video. a guy is garage gets flooded and his CAI is covered so they tow his car out with out starting it and after letting his car drip for a bit lets just say it was a smoke show even before he turned the car over to engage. he just turned it to the battery position on. it was funny so ur ok man dont worry just dont drive fast over puddles if ur worried like i do slow over water puddles.

 

I acutally did hydrolock my civic ex motor. However I cut the splashgaurd for more air. Well I also wanted an excuse for getting a LS motor! I did not have to submerge my intake either just one puddle did it. All I can say is if you have an AEM CAI you run the risk of hydrolocking so just be prepared if it happens.

Kirk

 

i dont get it because..well....i live in palm springs

 

i had one on my 98' LX sedan before i sold it. i then had one on my 98 gs-r, but it broke at the base, under foam part. so i molded it w/ plastic weld. it worked for about 2 mons. & broke again . i got a bigger intake when i bought tb, & got a bypass valve for free...am i going to use it? hell no! when are you actually sumerging your car under that much water. i'm not saying you won't or can not, because i personally know at least 4 people who have hydrolocked their engines. i guess all you can do is be carefull. don't drive in real heavy rain & aviod puddles. common sense applies well in this aspect. or maybe reiforce the bypass valve before putting it on, or use something stronger. personally, in my opinion AEM bypass valves suck...but hydrolocking your engine sucks even more.