Whuts up people, I don't own a Honda, I have a 1994 Saturn SL1 5spd. Not here to start fights or be a d***, just wanted to show up for a few things. One being advice for my buddies 97 Civic LX 4dr. 5spd. when he starts asking questions I can't answer. The other is to inquire about the title posted.

AEM's are finally available for Saturns, yeah we are slow in coming but it's cool. I have a bit of a worry about water ingestion, I haven't heard many stories of it, but should it be a serious consideration? I have heard that adding the bypass valve will decrease the power of the AEM, and it would be no different than having a HotShot intake on my car? The AEM sits at about the level of my fog lamps (pictured below). Anyone have any opinions, stories, etc. about this then either reply here or hit me up on AIM.



Thanks for the time guys / gals, if you want check out my car at CarDomain, its not much but I work with what I got. Later

-Whelan

 

I would not worry about it, unless your going to be driving in a lake. The intake will only hurt your engine if its get submerged in water, so just stay away from puddles. The bypass valve helps and I have one for sale if intrested.

 

cool, I figure if I get that weary about it I will just get one. But for now, I will do without it. The distributor for the Saturn AEM, SPS, told me that the filter is somewhat protected by the undercar plastic liner and it sits in front of the wheel well (which I knew) so it is pretty much in the best spot.

I guess I just limit driving in the rain and stay away from huge puddles. Thanks.

 

for the record what you are trying to avoid is keeping a non-compressable fluid out of your combustion chambers. why is that bad you ask...? the piston will not be allowed up while the crank is moving the rod. the rod will bend and if you dont change the rod right away, you will chip the sleeves (and they will ovalize which will require you going to overbored pistons or a total block replacement) if you drive it with it knocking. all this from about a cup of water in your engine

 

My buddy has his 94 Teg RS, he had to replace the engine from water ingestion, but he said it was his own fault, he got another engine (same type) and put another AEM on it and still no bypass, he said he would just be more careful. He also just put a $750 Greddy Exhaust on the car, sounds sweet as hell, with a 3" opening, probably the best sounding exhaust I have ever heard on an Integra.

 

dont worry too much about it just get a beater intake for the rainy season if it really bothers you..good luck and stay away from deep puddles but you know that already..good luck with the saturn tunning

 

does the cold air intake sit inside a fender lining? if it does, it should be protected fairly well as long as you have the lining intact.

 

On the Saturn it sits pretty much behind where my mesh grill is on the right side (facing the car), and in front of the wheel hub. So it is protected because there is a plastic undercarriage cover under it as well. In the winter since I live in NE I am gonna pickup a beater intake probably from Ebay for like $80 just to keep me occupied, I could always throw my modified airbox back on.

The issue with my car is that before 1995 the Saturn SOHCs were TBI (throttle body injected), and afterwards they were MPFI (multi-port fuel injected). What does this mean, well my TB is mounted vertically instead of horizontally, so in order to get an intake to fit, there needs to be an adaptor of some sort. Twistec makes an intake for my car for $250, but we found another way. A late 80's early 90's Cvalier 2.2L 4cyl (non Z24) has a TB housing that bends 90 degrees and fits perfectly stock on the TB of the Saturn. With this adaptor I can add any intake made for a 91-99DOHC engine. Lucky me the AEM fits so score with that one.

 

aftermarket exhausts sound like crap w/o raised compression y0
ImO...

 

There is no way to injest watter. When you go over a puddle, I assume you watch more than 3 feet in front of you when driveing. Just let off the gas and coast over a puddle. Think of this, how is watter gonna get sucked through a 4 foot hose when the TB is closed? Its not gona happen. Just don't WOT over puddles and you are

 

Can anyone explain the dangers of ingesting water? I had an episode of it earlier today. Damn weather, it's been pouring rain all week!! I was driving on the highway with my hazards on , getting splashed by 18-wheelers , getting the finger from old ladies ,while my car was getting drenched, and no doubt, my AEM Cai was catching hell too. I finally got of the highway, and that's when it got bad (huge puddle), coasting didn't work b/c that's exactly what I did. Pressing the gas, my car felt like it was a go-cart running on fumes . I pulled over immeadiately into as Taco bell. I went in, had some steak tacos , came back out and started my car with no problems , but back to my original question - Can anyone explain the dangers of ingesting water?

 

okay, when getting an AEM cold air intake, you have to be aware of the problems it might bring your car, in this case, hydro-locking. for you car to be hydro-locked, the intake filter has to be fully submerged in water. with your intake submerged in water, you have a 99% chance of getting it hydro-locked but with the AEM bypass valve, you narrow it down to a 70% chance. it wont affect your performance because it does not getting in the way of airflow. when/if you hydro-lock your car, the motor will be useless. you'll know when the engine is hydro-locked becuase it will not turnover. immediately after being hydro-locked you could try and dry out the distributar and spark plug, but thats not likely to cure it.

edit:spelling


[Modified by sslude, 7:49 PM 3/19/2003]

 

I had a friend ingest water to his Teg RS and had to replace the engine. When you get water in the engine the water is not combustable so it basically seizes.

 

Is seizing instanteous or will occur sometime later on? I just wanmt to know that I can drive my car the way I normally do, or will last night episode cause trouble down the road. I just got back from the movies and the car seems fine. Should i be worried????

 

If you car seems normal then don't worry about it, if you sucked in enough water to cause damage you would know, either you would of messed up a rod or something worse. Water ingestion is not like a bad belt or anything like that, it will show wear right away not in the long stanges. But if you car is like it was before you drove in the water then your fine.

 

yeah this kid is kinda dumb about it. He was driving the other day with the AEM on his new engine and it stalled out. He had it towed to his house. His dad went out later that night and started it, fired right up and drove it around fine. I guess he got it a lil too wet but it just needed to dry off. Oh well, I am going with an Injen kit anyways, 180$ and it comes complete with filter and brackets. shipped.