'08 3: CAI causing hydrolock, confirmed!

[Al's Chop Shop]

with just a small google search anyone can see there has been quite a bit of debate on weather CAI's can cause hydrolock. most claim that just slowing down through puddles will prevent this. while this is good advice to any vehicle with a CAI or even stock intake, my cousin has an '08 3 that is currently hydrolocked. he has a CAI he purchased from ebay, i'm not sure of the brand at this time. the cone filter points upwards in the drivers side inner fender and when it rains (quite often here in oregon) water runs down the hood line and right onto the filter. we pulled the intake tubing to find it completely FULL of water, and he's already drained the pipe twice since his vehicle has been inoperable. that's right, it fills with water while its parked! i finally took a look at the car for him this weekend, pulled the plugs and found two of them wet. the oil was contaminated with water as well, bringing the oil level to damaging levels. when we pulled the oil plug a great deal of water poured out before the oil. all together there was about 6 quarts of oil/water in the crankcase. unfortunately the battery was drained from sitting so long and we weren't able to clear the water out of the cylinders with the plugs removed just yet. hopefully tonight it will crank over after the battery has been on a charger overnight and we can get this car back on the road... with the stock intake going back on of course! i think he's learned his lesson about cosmetic aftermarket parts.


stay tuned, i'll get you pictures of the whole mess for any nay-sayers....


Al

 

[justanothermp5]

lol who says you cant hydrolock? if u got a filter where water can get, there is always a chance
and if u had that much water in there, i doubt the engine is un harmed...i would say that there is a good chance u bent a rod

 

[Al's Chop Shop]

i'm not sure what you mean because i never said it wasn't possible. i'm a 4wd guy and i've seen plenty of hydrolocking on the trails, that's why i use waterproof elements on my trail rigs. my thread title was only meant to debunk the previous threads were people defended CAI's do not pose a threat to hydrolocking, shown here: http://tinyurl.com/2vbg3kz

obviously you don't agree with the average threads on the subject, which is good. what i am saying is that it has a much higher probability than saying 'there is always a chance'. i'm just letting everyone know how high of a risk it is with real world results.

Al

 

[justanothermp5]

ahhh ok, i was a bit confused as to the reason of this thread, makes sense now
be sure to post up the results once u can turn the engine over

 

[halo0]

If there was water pouring on the filter when the car is parked then there is a problem the seals and/or panel gaps on the car. That does not happen normally. Many people have driven around with CAI's for years through heavy rain with no issues.

 

[Al's Chop Shop]

the car was bought new, never been in a wreck, panel fit is normal, though i will try to find exactly how the water is getting to it. i'm assuming its between the hood and fender or the hood and headlight.

i know many people have had no problems, there are lots of variables to account for, probably the biggest one is the brand/style of CAI, though they look the same as others i've seen on this site. i'll post up more info as i get it. in the mean time, cross your fingers for us that it cranks over tonight.

Al

 

[mysleeper6]

Change the thread title to: "Jacked-up ebay CAIs may cause hydrolock, still no evidence of reputable, vehicle-specific designed CAIs causing hydrolock unless you drive through calf-high puddles like a moron".



Or just that first part about jacked-up ebay CAIs.

 

[halo0]

(lol)

 

[Al's Chop Shop]

unless you drive through calf-high puddles like a moron

again, you are missing the fact here... he wasn't driving through puddles! this CAI is so bad that it picked up water while it was parked. no matter what manufacture, this CAI was designed for the 3. other CAI's i've looked at all have the same basic design pointing up at the bottom of the inner fender behind the bumper.

lets not fill this thread with "i've never heard of a problem" "you'll probably be fine" "my friend's cousin's dog's aunt's CAI is great". the argument of weather you can hydrolock a 3 with a CAI is not being debated, i'm only showing fact that this engine was in fact hydrolocked by a CAI. it will not change this fact no matter what you argue. take from this thread what you will, and hopefully you will decide against pointless CAI's (that are really warm air intakes anyway, hurting performance) just because they are the "in" thing. if not, don't bother trolling my thread. thanks.


back to your originally scheduled thread.....

a fresh charge on the battery didn't help, it still won't crank. tomorrow i'll try to crank it over by hand, hopefully its just a little rust on the cylinder walls keeping a low torque starter from moving, or bad luck that the starter went bad at the same time (i can hope, right?). but i'm not too optimistic at this point. he said when it did start last it stalled before he could put it in gear, and that's where its been ever since.

who makes a piston kit for the 2.0?


Al

 

[mike son]

Take all the plugs out, crank it over a few times til all the water shoots out. Then change the oil and hope nothing is damaged. Thats what you can do without ripping the block apart.

 

[Maxx Mazda]

Hmmmmmm... An eBAY CAI hydrolocked the car, and you're supprised??? Heh... Must have come with some free blue LED's or something...

 

[halo0]

i'm only showing fact that this engine was in fact hydrolocked by a CAI. it will not change this fact no matter what you argue.

Nobody is arguing that point. Another FACT that will not change no matter what you argue, is that people who have installed real brand-name CAI's from established after market parts makers do not have this problem.

So if you want to clean the sand out of your vagina and stop attacking people here, you might get some help. If not, good luck.

 

[Al's Chop Shop]

Take all the plugs out, crank it over a few times til all the water shoots out. Then change the oil and hope nothing is damaged. Thats what you can do without ripping the block apart.

as i mentioned above..... (rolleyes)

i took the plugs out, changed the oil (it was overfull from water) and it will not crank. i will put a big breaker bar on the crank to know for sure if the engine is seized tomorrow evening. if it is seized i will have to pull the motor and take everything apart. sad for a motor that doesn't even have 20k on it.

Al

 

[Al's Chop Shop]

Nobody is arguing that point. Another FACT that will not change no matter what you argue, is that people who have installed real brand-name CAI's from established after market parts makers do not have this problem.

So if you want to clean the sand out of your vagina and stop attacking people here, you might get some help. If not, good luck.

are you serious? i'm not looking for a debate, or even asking for advice. i'm sharing first had experience so someone else doesn't make a costly mistake.

seriously, go troll someplace else.

Al

 

[superdoughboy4]

I agree with halo. I bought my CAI off of eBay. BUT, it wasn't a no name intake.
AEM, with a proper K&N filter. A little over a week after I put it in, there were some massive storms that hit Atlanta.
I didn't even think about hydrolocking until after I got home, car still running perfectly fine.
Can't trust eBay no-name brands when it comes to things like intakes or such.

The main point of this thread should just be about eBay no names.

 

[halo0]

are you serious? i'm not looking for a debate, or even asking for advice. i'm sharing first had experience so someone else doesn't make a costly mistake.

seriously, go troll someplace else.

Al

Yes I am serious. You're erroneously stating that this problem afflicts all CAI's when it doesn't. Please stop spreading misinformation.

 

[mysleeper6]

again, you are missing the fact here... he wasn't driving through puddles! this CAI is so bad that it picked up water while it was parked.

To the contrary, I think it is you who are missing the point. Your thread title makes it appear as if you actually have something to contribute to the on-going debate about whether a properly designed and installed CAI can contribute to hydrolock, a debate which you reference in your post. However, the rest of your post is about a completely different, completely jacked-up issue than what has been debated. That is why I suggested changing your thread title.

As for the rest of your post, my CAI (yes, "cold" is a relative term) is not pointless. It delivers more and cooler air than the stock air box, a fact I can document with an AP. What was trendy had nothing to do with my installation (almost 3 years ago, in a rainy part of the country, with no issues.)

 

[Al's Chop Shop]

this is pointless. i will say it one final time. i'm not debating weather CAI's cause or do not cause hydrolocking on a regular basis

i am stating a fact that THIS CAI DID CAUSE HYDROLOCK. i could care less if you want to defend every CAI. let everyone make their own call about them.



can we get a moderator to clean up all the pointless replys to this thread? thanks.

Al

 

[mysleeper6]

can we get a moderator to clean up the misleading title of this thread? thanks.

Al

Fixed.

 

[Al's Chop Shop]

To the contrary, I think it is you who are missing the point. Your thread title makes it appear as if you actually have something to contribute to the on-going debate about whether a properly designed and installed CAI can contribute to hydrolock, a debate which you reference in your post. However, the rest of your post is about a completely different, completely jacked-up issue than what has been debated.

yes, it is a contribution to the on-going debate with some actual fact. i have read many threads and it is all full of "you should be fine" "i've been fine" attitude. nobody had any verifiable facts otherwise that i've found, so i find it extremely relevant that i post up about it. i said before, there are a lot of variables to causing water to enter the intake through a CAI, so if you've assumed i was saying that all CAIs will hydrolock your motor you are mistaken. if i'm 1 in a billion to have this happen so be it, but it does not make the fact that it did happen, any less valid, and don't deserve to be berated about it.

Al