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CAI driving in the rain

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Old 04-02-2004, 05:05 AM
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CAI driving in the rain

Anyone ever had problems with it sucking water, or is it only a concern if you are driving through deep puddles?
I would think that if you are WOT that it would have more chance of sucking in a bit of water. I checked that wheel well and it does get a little wet in there. Should I worry about it or not?
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Old 04-02-2004, 05:35 AM
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http://www.autosportz.com/airintake_...passvalves.htm

Try getting a by-pass valve.
IF your putting it by the wheel well(which must are, some go behind the raidiator) then you might get one of those heat shields to help. but even that might now help to much.

Bottom line if you drive through a huge *** puddle you might be in some trouble
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Old 04-02-2004, 06:05 AM
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Ive had my PR CAI for almost a year now, and ive gone through, rain, snow, and all this crappy weather someone can throw at me. UNLESS you COMPLETLY sumerge your FILTER, you will not run into any problems. On the filter itself it has a "tackifiing agent, and water proofer" they said that prevents water from entering the filter. Just try to be care is my best advice, and dont drive through 3 ft puddles, and you should be ok. !
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Old 04-02-2004, 06:18 AM
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i have the injen intake and have driven in lots of rain with no problems.
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Old 04-02-2004, 08:43 AM
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no problems with CAI here...
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Old 04-02-2004, 09:14 AM
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Same, weve had pouring rain here the last 3 days and no problems driving.......
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Old 04-02-2004, 04:08 PM
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i put a motor in a 02 focus a month or two ago because the owner had a cai and drove through a puddle hydrolicked the motor and threw the crank right out of the block through the radiator and into the ac condensor but i dont know what size puddle and im imagineing they were revvin pretty high so just be carful
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Old 04-02-2004, 04:20 PM
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for your car to hydro lock u need to drive through a puddle deep enough to cover the entire intake filter. so just stay away from puddles that are that deep and you'll be fine.
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Old 04-02-2004, 04:57 PM
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I was worried about this before i got my cai. I was worried also even though i live in L.A. People in chicago with a cai has no problems watsoever so I feel very comfortable driving in the rain. They say water should be in your car in order to reach water in your intake.
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Old 04-02-2004, 09:58 PM
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i live in S fl and ive been through puddles that were deep enough to stall out suv's. it was disasterous the drive home we saw 37 stalled cars. none were nissan!!!!! mosty volksawagen and honda. i didnt have my injen style intake on at the time but i think that if i did i woulda been screwed. water was so high that i felt i was floating on the water. this was deeeeeeeep water. in the lower parts, some cars were up to the windows in water. wat would happen if i was in a situation like this again with my cai. should i just park my car or wat? P.S what is hydrolocking i been hearing this term alot and never found a definition, is it when water enters the engine.
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Old 04-03-2004, 12:41 AM
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This past winter, S. CA had a bad storm. Hailing and hard rain. I got off of work in Compton and the rain was so bad that cars were breaking down left and right and the puddles were so deep that I saw someone sweeping water out of their store. So imagine the street being flooded to the point where you can't see curbs and that's the storm I was in. At the time, my car was dropped on Maxspeed springs. I was driving in HEAVY traffic, lost, and I felt water smacking the bottom of my car. I have a PR CAI knock off from ebay on my car. I was really really really worried that it was gonna suck up water. Being lost and in a dangerous neighborhood, the last thing I needed was my intake sucking up water. As I was driving, the water that the wheels splashed from every car, including my car, were waves about a half a foot higher than my hood. Oncoming traffic was splashing water onto my car and I had to avoid cars driving along side me splashing water onto my car. I sat in traffic for three hours in the same city and I can't tell you how relieved I was when I found a freeway. Now, after hearing this story, I can assure you that 99.99% your car will not suck up water unless you rev it up or are in a deeper flood. And if I remember correctly, only one maxima, on the org, had the experience of his CAI sucking up water. So don't worry too much.
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Old 04-03-2004, 09:35 AM
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For water to be truely sucked up into the engine will require the entire filter element to be submerged. If the filter is splashed, the engine vacuum wouldn't be able to pull the weight of the water upwards because the lighter air would take the priority. The water would simply drop off the filter. Mist and small droplets of water aren't a problem either. The CAI filter sits about 14+" up. If you're stupid enough to be driving thru puddles over 4" you're not only risking your car, but you're risking your life. It only takes 4" of rushing water to move a 3500lb car. If you see a flooded street, don't go through it. It's really as simple as that. If you're worried about sucking in water through the CAI then disconnect the CAI pipe at the MAF. The engine will be fine and the MAF screen will act as a debris filter. Since it's raining, they'll be no dust in the air and the motor will be fine running like this for a short time. Most race cars don't use filters anyways.


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Old 04-03-2004, 01:25 PM
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I remember that I saw an article in the Sport Compact car about 2 yrs ago, where a guy submerged his air filter in a water tank. He had the bypass valve ,and nothing happened. He had a 300 zx ,so I d say that may be the best & safest way.
About cars having wate up to the windows...That means total loss.When the water is to that level, best thing is to get out the car ... Imagine that a lot of electrical components may be cooked...
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Old 04-03-2004, 02:03 PM
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If the filter is in water. Wouldn't the engine turn off if there is no air getting to hit? So would the bypass vavle keep the engine from hydrolocking?
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Old 04-03-2004, 02:40 PM
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yes, because what happens, is the lower filter gets into water, and then the air sucks through the bypass valve, instead of sucking the water up, which is much heavier than air... essentially, when one hole is blocked off, the intake uses the other
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Old 04-03-2004, 03:20 PM
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I carry an xtra filter w/ me so if it flash floods i can pull over and make a hybrid(short ram{frankencar style}) in about 5 minuts.

my neighbor hydrolocked his engine, it is possible to do and around here theres not very good runoff so if it rains real hard real fast it will flood the roads.....
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Old 04-03-2004, 08:52 PM
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Originally Posted by ohannon7
I carry an xtra filter w/ me so if it flash floods i can pull over and make a hybrid(short ram{frankencar style}) in about 5 minuts.

my neighbor hydrolocked his engine, it is possible to do and around here theres not very good runoff so if it rains real hard real fast it will flood the roads.....
i think i will go that route also, i have an extra cone from my poor man intake and ill keep that with me in my trunk just incase.

It floods bad around my parts since we are at sea level, the grond is already saturated even on the hottest dryest days. my old neighbor hood only need 20 minutes of hard pouring rain before the water would flood. when i said in my previous post where i saw like 37 stalled cars that was after 3 straight days of pouring rain. it was the 1st time i heard of schools being canceled due to rain.
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