a buddy of mine recently had to get a whole new engine because he was stupid and drove in a huge puddle and the CAI on this civic sucked up water and ruined the engine. my question is that i dont want this to happen to me, i heard something about a water-seal or something to prevent this from happenening. can anyone instruct me on where to get one and how to put it on??? btw i have a place racing CAI.

thanks, don

 

i have the same one place racing. your ok as long as you dont ride in a ditch or water thats over say your bumper lights. you dont go jet ski'n w/your car your cool.....

 

You can get a bypass valve made by AEM. I personally don't think the risk warrants it, but I'll say that until I get hydrolocked, I'm sure

Do a search for more info on this.

-Sryth...
__________________________________________________ ____________________________
'98 SE 5spd, Pebble Beige, PRCAI, Stillen Y, Stillen FSTB, ACT clutch.
Pacesetter STS to be installed this week!

 

First thing, your friend drives a Civic, of course he's stupid!!

Yes, AEM does make a bypass valve, it only works if there's a huge drop in air pressure from the cone, meaning that it probably needs to be half submerged already. This is just a guess, I don't think anyone has done the test 'coz nobody is gonig to risk of hydrolocking their motors just to test out a piece of equipment! I have done my research on the bypass valve, the first generation AEM were defective, but since the they have already fixed the problem, and the people that have used it swears by it. Of course I don't know they swear by it because they just came back from running thru the lake and their engines are still running, but if $45 gives you a peace of mind... then you should get it. Or just drive smart!

There is another company called RTEC also makse a bypass valve, and with the polished aluminum and stainless steel mesh, the cool factor is so much better than AEM.

http://www.rtec-usa.com/images/weppr...linefilter.jpg

Tifosi

 

Here's a link to an article on the AEM bypass valve. It's pretty interesting, as it involves a complete test with an Acura NSX.

http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/te...ted/index.html

I didn't know about the RTEC valve. I'll have to check it out.

-Sryth...
__________________________________________________ ____________________________
'98 SE 5spd, Pebble Beige, PRCAI, Stillen Y, Stillen FSTB, ACT clutch.
Pacesetter STS to be installed this week!

 

Ok, good article! I only see one problem with the testing.... Look at the picture


That clear pipe is hella long! It says it sucked up 18 inches of water up??? What if that vertical clear pipe is shorter (the whole testing piping system is lower)? The water would have gotten up to the right angle to the horizontal pipe and gone straight to the engine. Makes sense what I'm talking about so far?

Ok... none of our CAI is going to have that LONG of a vertial tube going down to the filter.... Look at the pic! The pipe is coming UP and out of the engine! It's not on the same level a normal CAI would be!

Ok, the red line should be the level where the CAI should be. Look at his view sight (green line), He is looking UP!!! The water is way pass the normal CAI lever already!

What do you guys think of my theory on their test? Heck, they should have used an 8 ft pipe going up the ceiling, go vertical and come back down to the engine bay! Then they can have the water level higher than the car and the motor would still be running! Realistically, you better have a dive tank when you do that!

Tifosi

 

Ok, you have a good point, but... ...this was an Acura NSX, not a Maxima. They stated that this setup wasn't ideal for this vehicle. I don't think (I may be wrong) the Maxima has anywhere near the vacuum of this beast. An NA Max shouldn't get enough pressure to pull the water up 18".

Isn't the PRCAI like 30"? Granted, it's not a vertical pipe (like the test), so you can expect the water level to be higher, but there's still a lot of room.

Another thing to remember is that this valve is to protect you from the worst-case scenario: totally submerging your intake pipe for a brief period of time! This test is a greatly exaggerated situation. In the real world, you won't have your pipe totally submerged for very long (if at all).

Assuming you have a strong enough vacuum to suck air 30" up a 3" tube on a 45-degree angle (I don't think we do), it would take a while for the water to actually travel that far (with the valve on). Hopefully you'll be out of the puddle by the time it gets up there.

-Sryth...
__________________________________________________ ____________________________
'98 SE 5spd, Pebble Beige, PRCAI, Stillen Y, Stillen FSTB, ACT clutch.
Pacesetter STS to be installed this week!

 

if you drive in a puddle is it for certain that your are going to get waterlock?? it didnt seem to likely that this would happen but i am a bit worried. has anyone ever had waterlock happen?? i would rather not go through the trouble of ordering this if its really not needed. i live in IL. and it rains a moderate amount out here.

thank for all the replies guys

 

chill out , your gonna be ok, and you dont need a bypass valve...
i dont think there is anybody that has had water get in there motor b/c of a CAI. Place Racing one is in mine. no problems . drive in rain all the time. no problems...just dont worry so much. if you wanna waist 40 or 50 bucks then go ahead otherwise your ok. just do go driving in a lake and not expect water to get in your motor..

 

I concur. I've only heard of a few cases where hydrolocking occurred. They were situations where the pipe was totally submerged for several seconds. As 96shogunmax said: avoid lakes, and all will be well!

-Sryth...
__________________________________________________ ____________________________
'98 SE 5spd, Pebble Beige, PRCAI, Stillen Y, Stillen FSTB, ACT clutch.
Pacesetter STS to be installed this week!

 

 

I don't know if have nothing to worry about. My boy drove into a puddly of water on a 740iL without any CAI. I don't know what happened, and where he got water but I know that his engine block cracked. Maybe b/c of the pressure, maybe b/c temperature diffrence. The point is the car is total loss now.

 

That's most likely from the difference in temperature. On boats they use water to cool the engine, and the plumbing runs over the exhaust manifold so it can be warmed up. This is so the cold water doesn't cause the hot engine block to crack.

Hydrolocking is different. It comes from the fact that your pistons have a hell of a time compressing water, so it causes all kinds of internal problems.

-Sryth...
__________________________________________________ ____________________________
'98 SE 5spd, Pebble Beige, PRCAI, Stillen Y, Stillen FSTB, ACT clutch.
Pacesetter STS to be installed this week!

 

I meant pressure as in hydrolocking. Maybe it cracked b/c the engine block couldn't handle the pressure which occured in hydrolocking. Maybe I'm wrong. I just thought that BMW's engine won't crack it it got a little water on it.

 

I would think that the pistons/valves would go before the block if water was sucked in. Did water get in the engine? If so, was there any other damage besides the cracked block?

-Sryth...
__________________________________________________ ____________________________
'98 SE 5spd, Pebble Beige, PRCAI, Stillen Y, Stillen FSTB, ACT clutch.
Pacesetter STS to be installed this week!

 

I don't know the details, all I know is he drove into a puddle, cracked the block, 740 is gone. How and what else got damaged I don't know. I would definetely get that AEM bypass valve with a CAI, even for a peace of mind.

 

What do you guys use your cars for????? Boats
You dont need this. Just dont drive in 3 feet of water. But if you are stupid and drive in 3 feet of water in your maxima, you just desirve to have your motor locked up.

 

Someone said it best: If you're in a deep enough puddle to completely submerge the pipe, then you've probably got more problems than just hydrolocking.

I think a stock car would experience problems going into a 1' deep puddle. Maybe I'm wrong.

-Sryth...
__________________________________________________ ____________________________
'98 SE 5spd, Pebble Beige, PRCAI, Stillen Y, Stillen FSTB, ACT clutch.
Pacesetter STS to be installed this week!

 

Your absolutly right! If some idiot drives his car like it is a boat, then he diserves it.