hey guys, i have a 97 itr with various mods including a injen cai. my question is this, i had removed the splash guard some time ago because it was hanging down and sometime dragging the ground (from the previous owner) and now with my cai the filter gets wet when it rains. how likely is a hydrolock? what effects will a soaked air filter have on the performance of my car? anything other comments are welcome. thanks

 

It will NEVER hydrolock do to a wet filter... NO MATTER how wet it is...

the water will increase resistance and the humidy in the air will reduce the number and density of Oxygen molecules... however the moisture in the air may have a cooling effect once inside the engine... eitherway not really a problem..

My cai is TOTALLY expossed to the elements and does fine...

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by andrewasf77 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">anything other comments are welcome. thanks</TD></TR></TABLE>

I like long walks and smoking crack....

 

when the filter is submerged in water that is when the hydrolocking of your eng will commence. If your cone filter is just wet it causes less air to be brought into your intake mani thus looses hp.

I recommend sawing your cold air in half, re attatching it with a rubber boot and 2 hose clamps....when it rains or you hit rainy season..take off the bottom half of the cai and put the filter on the end of the top piece, effectively making it a short ram...and avoiding hydrolock.

Oh..the diff between most cai and short rams is minimal. Or you can put your faith in a by pass valve..(i wouldnt)

 

so when the filter becomes very wet i may experience a bogging because my motor is taking in less air?

 

It will be virtually un-noticable...

and cai's make a BIG difference in performance depending on the air temperature under the hood and outside...

there is somewhere in the neighborhood of 1-3% increase in power for every 10 degree drop in F.

and as far as the airbypass bs... DON'T BOTHER... they're worthless... if you have eyes & a brain you have all the equipment you need to avoid a 2Foot+ deep puddle... which is all that will cause hydrolock and even then you have to STAY on the throttle to suck it all the way up the pipe and into the engine.

 

so there are no ill effects to not running a splash guard?

 

If you run straight into a one foot puddle, a splash guard may deflect enough of it away so that the water doesn't get up into your intake tube. But how often do you go through huge puddles? Its up to you, I don't run a splash guard. But if its pouring down rain, I'll usually just sit it out, because I don't feel like taking the risk.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by andrewasf77 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">so there are no ill effects to not running a splash guard?</TD></TR></TABLE>

If you want I'll go take a pic of my intake... the front bumper isn't even attached to the fender... and the inner wheel well rubber is ALL shot AND I cut out he little air inlet dealy (where the stock fogs go) so it's getting hit with about as much water as it could without the bumper being COMPLETELY removed...

and I HAVE driven through OVER 1ft puddles... Drive it rain or shine I'll go pour a gallon of water on it and drive around if you like...

there is NO problem running it w/o a splash guard... Iceman intakes don't even come with one... I don't think the aem does either.

 

as far as the wet filter is concerned, believe it or not the water will actually help the filter draw air in temporarily when wet. the water molecules have a way of cooling and directing the incoming air. however, they also attract more dirt. water vaporizes by the time the air gets to the motor. a fine mist of water will not harm your engine components.

 

the aem bypass valves do work dont listen when someone says they dont unless they have personally had a problm with it. as some poeple might recall when it first came out there were pics in super street i belive adn clips on the internet of one of aem's engineer with his personal nsx (fully built crazy $$$ motor) on the dyno with a clear intake routed out of the engine bay right into a fish aquarium full of water and u can see the water going crazy until the bypass valve and not adrop after it

 

You're an idiot n00b. Bypass valves only work when your filter is completely submerged in water. If its not completely submerged, it doesn't do a damned thing. Way to misinform people.

 

not only that, the bypass valves dont actually keep a positive seal which lowers pressure in the intake which negates some power gains as well. you cant have it all, all the time. yet another justification for comptech ice box design w/a K/N breather element. bypass valves also get brittle as time goes on.

 

the best thing to do when hitting a puddle is shift in to neutral so u reduce vacuum from the intake.

 

or just turn the car off..