How careful do you have to be with a CAI?

[eting_pro5]

I was just curious as to how careful i had to be about water and dirt if i installed a CAI on my pro5. I thought that maybe because the intake is closer to the road, your chance of sucking in debris may increase. I know you aren't supposed to get water in the engine, what are the chances this will happen in a normal driving situation with the CAI. I live in Michigan where we deal with rain, snow, fallen leaves and tons of construction. Is it risky to install a CAI and face this water and debris?

 

[KYMP5]

get a aem water bypass valve and you can set your mind at ease. or you can pull the cold air extension off during your "wet" season and attach the filter to the end of you MAf. you definitely dont want to drive through deep water when your filter is only a few inches from the ground.

 

[changedman]

eting pro, u going to the meet? if u have a injen by then, we could install it! you'll be ok, ive had mine on since may NO probs at all.

 

[NRRfrogmanP5]

i never hgad probelms with mine just dont drive throug giant pools of water

 

[ChopstickHero]

i've had no probs whatsoever. it's quite protected in the fender well.

 

[johnjay5]

stay away from lakes..

 

[KYMP5]

i hate those damn lakes

 

[Mike R]

Not very, I had a homemade one on my crown vic and drove through 1.5-2 ft (hurricane flooding) of water with no problems-and it was in the open, not shielded like ours. Just watch out for the lakes, and ponds too

 

[Black Majik MSP]

I plan on getting the Billet Design SRI & I'm glad I made that decision. I left school today & as I was walking to my car, the water was past my ankles in the parking lot! When I get my SRI, I won't have to worry about stuff like that or about trying to put an AEM bypass valve on..

 

[eting_pro5]

maz mich meet

beside the weekly cross country meet, i have homecoming the day of the meet, so it's a no go for me.

how much more does a bypass valve set me back? will the aem bypass work with the injen cai? anyone had issues with an injen cai? any other brand suggestions?

 

[Jethro_TDot]

May I ask how yall know if the water is not goin into the Engine? I'm no expert in this but when I checked my filter the other day where it rained hard, its pretty wet and yes I have the Injen CAI. Just curious.....

 

[seakrait]

i wouldn't worry about it, even if the filter is wet. the only danger from a cai sucking up water into your engine is when there is only water going into your engine.

if the filter is wet or partially submerged, no water will rise up the intake tube because there is still a path for air to go through the filter and up the tube...

but if the opening of the tube (ie: filter) is totally submerged in water (not just wet), then you'll have issues.

so i wouldn't worry about getting a bypass valve even if it rains a lot in your city. just don't make it a habit of driving through deep puddles and you'll be fine. but even if you do drive through a deep puddle (hopefully for not too long of a time), your engine will still be fine because your filter will not be totally submerged in the water (unless you drive through a deep and long puddle slowly)....