I'm gonna adimit i am kinda a newbie here, but i have a question for those with AEM CAI on their integras. Is that thing more trouble then good, or is it worth having a bypass if I am not driving my new gsr in the snow?
Thanks

 

only if you drive through two feet of water!!

k

 

I think unless you are plowing through some 5' snow banks you should be ok.

the way the bypass works is when the regular filter is submerged in water, the pressure difference it takes to open the bypass valve is less than it takes to suck all that water into your engine.

think of it as a straw.

if you have a really small hole in it, when you hold the straw in the air and suck through it, there might be no air that enters through the hole, but once you submerge it into that water, tea, or coke, you will start to get air from through that hole, the pressure it takes to suck the drink through the straw is less than that it takes for the air to enter through the hole in the straw.

don't know whether you wanted to full explanation or not, but there it is, to the best of my understanding

 

Whenever bypass valves come up, every one is very negative about them. Is there a performance reason for that? It seems like a good thing to get if you have a CAI just for safety's sake. So what's the story??

 

There was a recall on bypass valves because the filter pieces were getting sucked out of the bypass valve. Great... if sucking water isn't the problem, then inhaling foam into the motor is. If I got a CAI, I'd probably get the bypass valve, and then install a thin piece of metal screen. Cinch the screen between the bypass valve and intake coupler, and that should prevent the filter pieces from getting pulled into the engine even if the bypass valve comes apart.

 

i hate my bp valve. removed it last night. first the recall on my early version, now it has a little tear in the foamy part. the instruction advise you to rmv it at the track for best performance. it does work as a piece of mind i mean peace of mind thing if you're worried about hydrolock.

 

Well, i just got my AEM CAI, thanks for the advise, i may wait on the bypass for a while until i feel that the filter has a chance of sucking a lot of water.
Thanks again

 

POS

 

Bypass Valve

I've been running the aem cai for about 3 months now. No problems in rain, of course i'm carefull, dont run wot and avoid puddles like the plague but i have been through some really shitty storms without a hitch.

 

What do you think is a POS?
sorry for being slow

 

As you can already see, this is a very contentious subject. I suffered from major paranoia about hydro lock when I first got my AEM CAI, so for ~$40 it gave me some piece of mind. Will it prevent hydro lock when NOT totally submerged? I don't know. Does it reduce the chances? I'm not sure but I'd say yes. Have people had problems with them? Most definitely. The first versions were recalled due to a part of the valve getting sucked into the throttle body making the throttle stick wide open. Thankfully, I bought mine after this had been fixed. Does the bypass valve decrease performance? Hard to say given that I've not seen a dyno plot on a CAI that uses one, but I've not noticed any change in performance since I've put mine on. One more thing, if you get one (with or without the bypass valve) be sure to take special care when installing it so that it does not rub against the coolant overflow tank or any of the AC piping or fixtures. I completely rubbed through the insulation of an AC line and started rubbing down the actual aluminum piping before I caught it.

 

well put neo.
you'll find that many who think it's stupid are in kali and don't have as much rain to deal with...
as far as performance, i would imagine that during extreme wot (wait, i thought wot was wot ) there could be some turbulence generated in the tubing as the bypass lets in a little air. that's my theory anyway.

 

had one lost some hp cutting my intake n puttin that crap on to me i don't think it helps much still water gets in my manifold....only time it would be good is if it was flooded n that happen

 

(Neo) thanks for the info, i'll keep my eye on it during the install.

Thanks for your thoughts guys

 

if you're that worried about hydrolock, just slap your stock intake back on when the rainy season comes.. i'm sure you can spend 30 minutes out of your whole day to do it

 

Well I am sure I lost some performance with my bp valve. It is sucking air, since it is dirty, from under the hood. Taking a hacksaw to my CAI was a little nerve wrecking. I am not sure if I would do it again.

 

i have the bypass valve on mine,but if i wanted to take it off,i already had it cut,can i still be able to make it work properly ,maybe with a rubber gasket of some sort?

 

You will need rubber hose with 3" internal diameter. I have been wanting to take mine off, but don't know where to find the hose. Maybe some turbo shop would have something like this.

 

why not get the iceman cai if you are concerned about hydrolock? It's a better solution than the gimmicy by pass valve

 

Lost some HP? Its a pipe with a filter...how much is there to lose, and is it really noticeable???

The bypass valve does exactly what its supposed to do. Prevent hydrolock when the filter is submerged. Whats the problem?

Unless the filter is submerged, then I dont believe hydrolock will occur. There simply isnt enough water that would get through the filter element and not be vaporized. As long as your filter is properly oiled and in good shape and you have the BPV, I really believe hydrolock aint happenin.

 

The problem is, I believe, under WOT, the bypass valve is opening and sucking in air at sometime. The BPV is collecting dust faster than anything else under my hood. I know it has to be opening and sucking air. The day after installing it I first noticed some dust, after "testing" it.

 

If you read the directions on the aem bypass valve, it says you will lose hp/ AEM wrote when you want maxium hp take the bypass valve off and slip on a rubber tube. I wouldn't get it.

 

plz explain why the iceman cai is better against hydrolocks?
I have considered some time about getting a CAI, but have been a little worried about hydrolocking the engine. I think there were a test on sport compact car april issue i think wher they tested the bypass valve....

-siu lung