Well, to make a long bad story real short, I almost hydrolocked my engine on Friday night during a heavy downpour. I have the Fujita CAI and went through a huge deep puddle and as soon as I saw how deep it actually was I got the hell out of it. The car was pretty messed up for a while after {bad idle, couldnt accelerate cause it sounded like it would shut off, smoke from the mufflers}so I know I sucked in some water. But I took it easy {40mph}until I got home. I left it to dry and the next morning the CEL was still on but it drives fine. I plan on changing the spark plugs tomorrow but it seems to me I lucked out this time.
So then I went ahead and had my engine bay painted and clear coated. It looks so hot and shiny new. I took pics of the after but not before so I'll post them tomorrow. Be careful out there in the rain with Fujita. PS- Im lowered on progress springs too, so my filter is probably a lil lower than others but still be careful... almost



Looks wet but is dry!!!

 

wow nice! good to hear you got out fine, we just had a major storm up hear a few days ago and many cars hydrolocked up and down our streets/neighborhoods. And at quite a few cars came into service for hydrolocked motors as well!

Do you have a cardomain? I wanna see bigger pics of your car! Looks pretty sweet!

 

That's just what I don't want to happen to me when I get my Fujita..you think I'll be fine...even in normal rain? Scares me..

 

Normal rain yes you will be perfectly fine in. The splash guards wil be more than enough protection for the intake..........but come hard pouring rain, just be careful and don't be a retard and you'll be fine once again. And who drives in extremely hard rain?! lol

 

europeans

but not americans

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=493264

 

yeah buh what happens if your on the interstate and it starts pour cows and bulls...lolxz sorrwe i know chessy...buh you get my point...will it be ok even in that...and how about if you have a stillen body kit...? doesn't it require you to remove the splash guards? i dont kno just asking.

 

I agree... In normal rain i believe you will be fine. Also I forgot to mention that my splash shield is not in good shape on that side, and the center one is off due to lack of the thingys that hold it on. If I turn my wheel to the right you will SEE my intake filter. {its on the way from Ebay} Not mud flaps, splash shield. So it was totally my fault for having 3 things I should have taken care of. Just be careful...not like me. On the highway it should not happen so easy because there are not huge pools of water lurking in dips of the road there. Best believe I learned my lesson! Sorry...no cardomain tho. more good news is I disconnected the battery for a few minutes to try to get rid of the CEL and when I hooked it back up I had all my extra horses back. I need to get this thing tuned so it can drive like this all the time.!

 

I had a similar experience with my fujita a few months ago.

 

Interesting paint scheme

 

Yeah Im not too proud of the actual color now, but before the clear coat, it looked like chrome. But at least its stays shiny. I may do it all over with black. I tried 3 colors yesterday and the chrome looked the best...at first.

 

What about all the other intakes that are on the market? Will this happen to the intakes that do not go down into the engine bay? I have seen ones that just replace the air box and hook up into the intake manifold directly and are short, the filter stays where the air box use to be. How are these with water?

 

It kinda reminds me of a

 

think about it for a sec........how is water going to be way up there? Katrina 2.0??

 

I worry about this as well with my Injen, if I see a large puddle I do my best to avoid it. Injen has been installed for over a year and so far so good.

 

I always love to see what people do to their max. Isnt there other stuff you would rather spend the money on??? I know, I know....you love your car, but I am always so surprised how people pour money into something that does nothing but depreciate....looks great though I am sure....I dont mean to sound like a nerd. I am financial planner so i just think that way

 

Wow, half empty. lol $300 pair of ripped jeans come to mind.

 

Concerning the CAI, it seems in some photos the top peace on the radiator is still attached and in other photos the peace is missing, is it personal preference or does more air get in their when removing it, I left it on cause several pictures I looked at had it and it looks to direct the air towards the CAI

 

If I were to get the Fujita then i'd leave that front intake thing. If you take it out then your whole engine bay will get pissed on with dust 10x more than usual

 

Thanks PrjctMax. Do all the Fujitas come w/the splash guards? So if its in a normal rain, you should be fine, as line as you A. Avoid big puddles, or B. If there is a puddle go very slowly through it?

 

Looking good. If I can throw in a suggestion it would be paint the V6 3.5 Black!

 

I'm going to paint it black. The whole thing cost $80 by the way. And now that you mention it, I will put the ram air piece back in. As far as depreciation, dont you think this will make the engine look newer way longer? If you sell the car, you would open the hood and the potential buyer would just see the cleanest 04 engine around. Plus dirt can barely hang around after a good spraying so it's easy to clean in a flash. Thanks for all the feedback.

 

Not too sure about "if they all come with splash guards." And if you go real slow through a BIG puddle then you'll most likely just hear the water sucking up and and you'll hear the WHOLE process of your engine about to be scrap metal! lol imo...........no matter how slow you go through a BIG puddle, if it's high enough for it to touch the filter then you are SCREWED. So point being, go around them

 

Isn't there a bypass valve for these intakes? If they don't make one specifically for this intake, I'd get one that's the same diameter and put it in there. Just a little extra added insurance, especially if you live in flash flood areas.

I would try to install it right after the support bracket.

 

Nope, not for CAI's, there's one on the OEM intake though

 

If you guys can measure the diameter of the intake (ie -2.5", 2.75", etc.), I would just get one of these universal bypass valves and install it.

Here's a link just for a reference:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/JDMS-...spagenameZWDVW

I have nothing to do with the auction above, I just wanted to use it as an example.

Again, I think the perfect spot for it would be right after the support bracket. All you would need is a hand hacksaw and you'll be good.

 

Maybe water goes into the intake scoop in the front and then into the new filter that will be placed behind it. I dunno

 

This is a little off subject, but we just had our first day of rain in the bay area, and I am in need of new windshield wipers. What are some good wipers?

 

isn't there something they make so you can slip on over the filter to help provent water entering in? ( I forgot what it was called exactly)

 

for hi-jacking

Bosch Icons I believe 26 and 22

 

Injet makes a HydroShield which you slip onto your filter and it repels rains. This will only prevent small drops of water to entering the filter. It does not waterproof it. You want your air intake waterproofed, wrap a garbage bag around the filter. LOL. Intake is an intake it will suck everything that comes it way, whether its air, sand or water. Sand will stop at the filter level. Water and air will not. You have a CAI, you know the risks. You want to sleep at night, go back to the box with K&N.

I have a Fujita and so far so good. Makes me think twice every time it rains thou.

 

Actually I think the sizes are 26 (driver) and 17 (passenger)

Sorry OT

 

The engine bay looks great. I hope the shop who painted the covers properly prepped them. The first time I had my side covers painted, they looked great then started peeling up after 2 months. So what I did was fine sand them, used plastic promoter for paint, then painted with high temp paint, fine sanded them again, then took them to a quality paint shop who reshot them and now ZERO signs of peeling...

 

what about an air bypass valve?