injen intake and large amounts of snow/water: my experience
12-15-2003, 01:32 PM
#1
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injen intake and large amounts of snow/water: my experience
A lot of people question how the injen intake handles in the rain. They also want to know if buying an AEM bypass valve is necessary. I'm here to offer my experience with the injen intake.
I bought my intake last winter, shortly after christmas. I installed it in the middle of january, and have had it on since then. With the exception of breaking my maf sensor right before installation (my own fault, unrelated to anything with the injen), the installation was simple. The directions, although a little roundabout at times, were able to be followed without pulling your hair out. The pictures were pretty much useless, as they are small, grainy, and in black and white. This was the first major mod i had done, and installation took a little over an hour.
Last weekend (12/6-8) we got hit with 14 inches of snow (not as bad as you guys in MA or VT, but still enough to make things difficult). Then, on wedsday into thursday, temperatures rose into the 50s, and we got like 3" of rain. Because there was still so much snow around, and not all of the sewers and drains had been cleared, the water pooled up and there was a decent amount of flooding.
Through that time, i still had the normal 75 mile commute to and from work. That meant driving local streets to the highway, hitting the highway at anywhere from 60-85MPH, and then driving local streets to work.
The highway was no problem. I usually drive 70-85 MPH on the way to work, and about 60-65MPH on the way home. Checking the filter when i got to work, i found that it was dry.
I live in a somewhat rural/suburban area, and a lot of the streets where covered in water. I realize that the general answer to people asking about the intake and hydrolocking is that you should stay away from puddles that reach your fender. Well, last week, there were puddles that were easily 12-18 inches deep in the middle of the road. While i usually try to avoid deeper puddles, there really was no choice. I hit several puddles that were up to the fog lights, and accidentily went through one that was (at it's deepest) up to the top of my 16" tire. I didn't go straight through this puddle, but caught it where it was roughly halfway up the tire. Everytime i hit a puddle, i prayed that no water was being sucked up the intake. When i got home, i checked the intake filter. At this point i feel i should i mention that i do not have the stock injen filter that came with the intake on. I have an APC filter, which is bigger, and has the "bottom" part (where on an injen filter the "injen" logo would be) open. Not open, like rocks and dirt can be sucked in, but open in that it's covered with filter material and can suck in air, compared to an injen filter, which is closed and only sucks air in the sides. So i got home, and checked the filter. The whole thing was dry.
I should also mention that sunday night i took the maxima out in the snow and pulled the e-brake a little bit. I checked the filter then, too. I wanted to make sure that with the car sliding all over the place, there wasn't snow flying up into the filter. There wasn't.
It seems that since the filter is placed over the splashguard that is mounted to the bottom of the car, water cannot get to it while the car is in motion. The one thing i would still be worried about though, is that by stopping the car and idling in deep puddles, that there is still a chance that water could collect above the splashguard and be sucked in by the intake. The other thing i should note is that it's been several days later, and the car has not acted funny or strange, or exhibited any of the normal symptoms of having water in the engine or fuel.
I hope this has been helpful to anyone that is interested about the possibility of hydrolocking their engine because of the injen intake.
References:
hydrolocking - a short, but to the point explanation of how exactly hydrolocking affects your engine. The only thing i would not believe is the prices they quote for repairs.
AEM Bypass valve - The FAQ for use of the bypass valve produced by AEM. As far as i know, AEM is the only manufacturer that produces a bypass valve.
injen's filters - what the stock injen filters look like.
APC's filters - not the exact filter, but the same style of filter that i am using on my intake.
I bought my intake last winter, shortly after christmas. I installed it in the middle of january, and have had it on since then. With the exception of breaking my maf sensor right before installation (my own fault, unrelated to anything with the injen), the installation was simple. The directions, although a little roundabout at times, were able to be followed without pulling your hair out. The pictures were pretty much useless, as they are small, grainy, and in black and white. This was the first major mod i had done, and installation took a little over an hour.
Last weekend (12/6-8) we got hit with 14 inches of snow (not as bad as you guys in MA or VT, but still enough to make things difficult). Then, on wedsday into thursday, temperatures rose into the 50s, and we got like 3" of rain. Because there was still so much snow around, and not all of the sewers and drains had been cleared, the water pooled up and there was a decent amount of flooding.
Through that time, i still had the normal 75 mile commute to and from work. That meant driving local streets to the highway, hitting the highway at anywhere from 60-85MPH, and then driving local streets to work.
The highway was no problem. I usually drive 70-85 MPH on the way to work, and about 60-65MPH on the way home. Checking the filter when i got to work, i found that it was dry.
I live in a somewhat rural/suburban area, and a lot of the streets where covered in water. I realize that the general answer to people asking about the intake and hydrolocking is that you should stay away from puddles that reach your fender. Well, last week, there were puddles that were easily 12-18 inches deep in the middle of the road. While i usually try to avoid deeper puddles, there really was no choice. I hit several puddles that were up to the fog lights, and accidentily went through one that was (at it's deepest) up to the top of my 16" tire. I didn't go straight through this puddle, but caught it where it was roughly halfway up the tire. Everytime i hit a puddle, i prayed that no water was being sucked up the intake. When i got home, i checked the intake filter. At this point i feel i should i mention that i do not have the stock injen filter that came with the intake on. I have an APC filter, which is bigger, and has the "bottom" part (where on an injen filter the "injen" logo would be) open. Not open, like rocks and dirt can be sucked in, but open in that it's covered with filter material and can suck in air, compared to an injen filter, which is closed and only sucks air in the sides. So i got home, and checked the filter. The whole thing was dry.
I should also mention that sunday night i took the maxima out in the snow and pulled the e-brake a little bit. I checked the filter then, too. I wanted to make sure that with the car sliding all over the place, there wasn't snow flying up into the filter. There wasn't.
It seems that since the filter is placed over the splashguard that is mounted to the bottom of the car, water cannot get to it while the car is in motion. The one thing i would still be worried about though, is that by stopping the car and idling in deep puddles, that there is still a chance that water could collect above the splashguard and be sucked in by the intake. The other thing i should note is that it's been several days later, and the car has not acted funny or strange, or exhibited any of the normal symptoms of having water in the engine or fuel.
I hope this has been helpful to anyone that is interested about the possibility of hydrolocking their engine because of the injen intake.
References:
hydrolocking - a short, but to the point explanation of how exactly hydrolocking affects your engine. The only thing i would not believe is the prices they quote for repairs.
AEM Bypass valve - The FAQ for use of the bypass valve produced by AEM. As far as i know, AEM is the only manufacturer that produces a bypass valve.
injen's filters - what the stock injen filters look like.
APC's filters - not the exact filter, but the same style of filter that i am using on my intake.
12-15-2003, 01:42 PM
#2
my car runs like crap when it is raining really hard with my Injen CAI...but I have the skyline body kit so I am assuming that more H2O is getting to it....it is fine unless it is raining really hard and I will hear funny noises coming from the intake, like the engine is stuttering...but it has never died and I have never felt like it would....I would never go and sit in a puddle half way up my wheels to see what happens though...I just try to avoid bad weather
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