CAI Installation

[JRH1]

In the next 24 hours, I'll be installing a CAI in my Mazda3. Is there anything I should be on the lookout for while I'm doing this? Any words of wisdom from those who've had some experience with this procedure?

 

[Protephile]

Yes, disconnect the battery before starting. The 3's MAF is stubborn when it comes to intakes. This will help.
Which one did you buy?

 

[JRH1]

A E M

And what do you mean, "stubborn?" Does it resist removal and reinstallation or does it throw a code?

 

[Protephile]

Yes and yes. Although the Simotas that I sell don't seem to have nearly as many problems. Why, I can only speculate, but it's true.
To my thinking, the piping can't make that much difference, so that only leaves the filter. Simota's filter has a higher cfm than K&N or AEM.
The 1.6L Proteges share your MAF and the problems associated and again, the Simotas I've sold seem to work fine.

Good luck with the install.

 

[NOmz3]

when installing my Injen CAI I had a hell of a time figuring out how exactly the airbox came out, give it a good hard yank and it'll come right out. . .other than the best of luck to ya'.

 

[RHAGEL]

when installing my Injen CAI I had a hell of a time figuring out how exactly the airbox came out, give it a good hard yank and it'll come right out. . .other than the best of luck to ya'.

I agree, the resonator is a b****. It took me 2 hours for the whole installation. Half of it because of the bolt locations on the resinator.

 

[WetsuitxNinja]

Yup, lots of touching\feeling going on under the hood to get the resonator out. I dont bother resetting the ECU, in a few days it will adjust for the intake, plus you dont have to change your clock, audio settings etc.

When I had the Carbon fiber simota I always had this annoying lag like 2500-3200 rpms, Id reset the ECU and it would be good a few days, then come back. Maf was clean etc. Dunno if that was just my car or not. Either way I traded that for an AEM and no lag at all. So IMO go cold air.

 

[thebeansoldier]

In the next 24 hours, I'll be installing a CAI in my Mazda3. Is there anything I should be on the lookout for while I'm doing this? Any words of wisdom from those who've had some experience with this procedure?

MAKE SURE TO REMOVE THE 2 WHITE CLIPS TO THE MAIN HARNESS OFF THE BATTERY BOX. Remove a 3rd clip if you want even more slack.

Can't stress that enough, as there are a lot of people messing up their maf wires recently. It's a $300+ dealer job if you sever one of the wires.

 

[JRH1]

Well, it took a little while working by myself, but the new intake is installed!

The resonator WAS a pain to remove, especially when I had to hold the fender cover open AND hold the drop light AND find the bolts.

It also took some effort to remove the rubber intake hose because the throttle body had warmed it up to the point that it had, over time, stuck a little bit. It came off pretty easily once it cooled down.

All of the splash guards were hard to work around, too.

At any rate, the removal of the O E M system was much harder than the installation of the new A E M kit. I hooked up the sensors and started the car. At first, the car idled much faster than normal, around 1200, but it settled down even before the car fully warmed up. And there wasn't a trace of the check engine light, either.

I took it for a test drive and not only does it sound REALLY GOOD, but the power improvement is easily apparant and much more than I expected. I had to be careful to remember to lighten up my foot. I'm used to a brief delay and then a mild acceleration, but with the new intake alone, the delay is almost nonexistant and I'm going 40, 50 mph on a city street before I even notice. The car even pulls in 4th and 5th gear now.

Did I mention how rich and aggressive it sounds, too? Wow.

Anyway, thanks for all of the advice. It definately helped throughout the process!

 

[NOmz3]

Congrats man, you should have just removed the bumper, it made removal of the resonator so much easier, probably should have told you that earlier. lol my bad. good luck with, i know i love the sound and performance of my injen cai, hope you do too. show us some pics man, kinda' want to see what an aem cai looks like compared to the injen cai.

 

[WetsuitxNinja]

Pulling the resonator out w\out removing the bumper should be a right of passage for all 3 owners...

My worst enemy is the bolt\screw on the top of the 3 bolt flange on the vibrant exhaust that sits in the exhaust tunnel. Not enough room to get ANY tool in there to tighten it, without pulling the front part off, and all the hangers off as well. F-N nightmare. Not even my uncles snap-on ratcheting box wrenches would do it. arg.