This is the reason I don't do CAI... I developed a custom CAI for my Taurus - it used 3" pvc pipe in the same path as the Maxima CAI - the pipe went through into the fender and then turned down so that the 9 K&N code filter coulds suck cold air from the inner fender in front of the wheel.

Everything was fine until the day it rained a lot, and I drove through a very deep puddle...

BOOM!!!

 

PVC piping? if the puddle didn't get you the piping would've anyway....sorry to hear

 

Sorry about that man!

You can get AEM thingy to prevent water.

 

by pass valve.

 

its called bypass valve!

 

Yup - I figured the redesign would include a door inside the enginer bay that would be spring-loaded and open if there was enough vacuum (ie if the filter was dipped in water)

Still - which commercial CAIs have this kind of hydrolock protection?

 

none for the max...you can purchase a bypass valve from AEM that attaches to the pipe before the MAF

 

No one has had a issue with our CAI sucking up water and locking there engine yet after 3 yrs of the CAI being out. Our compartments are sealed in front of the tire, so very little water gets in there except through the fog light area which is little at that. That is just where all the cold air comes in.

Don in texas has nothing protecting his filter and he drove in the rain with the filter 3 inches away from his tire with no wheel well to cover it.

I somehow locked my engine up with stock intake. lol

 

You won't have any problems as long as you are smart and don't plow through high water. I've been running CAIs for years with it enclosed or with the plastic shielding taken out, never had a problem.

 

Are you saying I'm not smart? j/k

Seriously, though - the puddle I drove through was in an apartment complex that I had never been to before. It had been raining for a few days and it was really wet with tons of deep puddles around. I was picking up a friend to show off my car... As I went to the exit I saw the puddle and actually drove as close to the side of the road as possible because all the water was in the middle. The water must have reached above my from axle on the driver side to totally submerge the filter.

First thing I noticed was the engine stopped. I figured that I must have shorted out the spark plug wires, so I tried to start the engine again. It took a few seconds to start, and then wen it ran it was obviously missing a cylinder and there was a nastly clanking sound (the bottom of the rod hitting the inside of the oil pan. I popped the hood to try and figure out out and I saw the classic 'rainbow' puddles, and my heart sank. I saw engine oil sprayed everywhere and then looked at the oil pan - huge hole.

Got towed home. Started using my Bronco as my daily driver and spent the next two days pulling the rear head. I figured out the one piston wasn't moving by pulling all the plugs and sticking a plastic hose in through the plug hole and turning the engine by hand - one piston was not moving. ARGH!!!

Well, to cut a long story short I got a 40k junkyard motor (busted motor had 80k) and installed it in my apartment parking lot... After the new engine was installed my 2 friends and I had a bit of a refreshment session... (I'm in the middle, with my old David Hasslehoff hairstyle. This was 2 years ago)

http://home.columbus.rr.com/tree/grae/gtr2.jpg


Car ran fine for another 10k and I finally traded it for the Max 'cos the Taurus was just an inherently unreliable car.

 

EAGLES YEAHHHHHHHHH



Too bad about Greenbay thou