I'm looking to buy an AEM cold air intake but am concerned about driving during the winter with it. I know it will probably be fine in the snow and won't hydrolock my engine if I'm careful, but how will the road salt affect it? I'm sure it will get very dirty but will this affect performance and drivability? One guy told me to wait until spring but I don't want to have to swtch it every year when winter's coming. Would I be better off with a short intake? I really want the CAI after all the good things I've read. Help from anyone would be appreciated.

 

just get a bypass valve if you're worried about hyrdo lock. if you're worried about salt etc, with the bypass valve u just unbolt the valve and put the filter at the end of it to make a shortram. just store the extention away for the winter

 

I never thought of that but it sounds like a good idea. Do you know anyone who has tried this? I've seen the bypass valves installed but they're usually quite close to the throttle body. I'm guessing I should position it further away from the TB or else i would have one short intake during the winter. I wasn't goign to bother with the bypass valve but maybe I'll ask to see what the guys at the shop think. Thanks for the idea. Anyone else have suggestions?

 

actually ive never seen it done. i thought about it after pondering for a second after reading your thread. you can place the bypass valve right before hte initial bend (kinda in the distributor area) that way when u pull off the filter, lower tubing and bypass valve you'd have a true shortram intake. pretty cool if ya ask me. hell i might do it just because i thought of it

 

Umm actually I live in Minnesota, it gets pretty darn cold and salty here also. I have a body kit on with the AEM CAI, and it still works fine. I haven't checked it out yet, but I think it's doing good so far. My front bumper has all kinds of open flares that get rite to the filter too and so far, nothing has happened. I think you should be fine too. Just wash your car often and get rid of the salt buildup from underneath the plastic cover and cracks.