Stupid Injen CAI question ..

Rush · Nov 29, 2003

.. And finally, three months after purchase, I got around to installing my Injen CAI! What a b**** that was. Wound up taking me and a friend of mine about two and a half hours. The directions that were included in the kit were horrendous. Things started going smoothly AFTER we threw out the directions and just started piecing things together ourselves.

Anyway, installed it and took it for a test drive. The gobble is insanely loud. I was cracking up for a solid five minutes when I first started driving the car. Sounds like I have a flock of dyin' turkeys in my engine compartment. I love it.

And this is where I beg everyone's forgiveness for being completely inexperienced when it comes to turbo cars and CAI's and blahblah. I haven't read about this for awhile, as the subject of CAI's seems to have dwindled in favor of other topics -- but I think I have whatever that 'knock' thing is. I think. If I'm remembering correctly.

I hear a .. well, a knocking noise now and then from the area of the CAI. Is this the 'knock' that I'm thinking of, or is it something else, or is it just normal CAI noise? And if it IS the 'knock' .. how in the hell do I get rid of it?

Again, excuse my stupidity, and any help would be appreciated!

vodapas77 · Nov 29, 2003

After instaling mine, I found two new noises. One is from the CAI banging around inside of the fender hole. That was fixed by running some rubber fender trim along the rim of the hole for shock absorbtion. The other is a tap that comes from the valve train. I am under the impression the tap was always there, but when you install the CAI it allows the sound to travel out of the intake because there is less to muffle it. That's my take on it anyhow.

jonnydoe48 · Nov 29, 2003

how did you get the filter on? i am still having trouble with that.

Rush · Nov 29, 2003

The filter was the absolute piece from hell. It was definitely the most time-consuming of the whole frickin' installation.

I refused to take out the whole wheel well. No way I was gonna rip off the front fascia and all that. So I pulled down that .. I don't even know what to call it .. that flap that's right behind the fender, in front of the wheel well, on the underside of the engine compartment. The end of the intake is right there, where you have to attach the filter.

I had to wiggle the piping around to get it just right .. and this is the weird part. I had to take a piece of wood and jam it BEHIND the Mass Air Flow Sensor -- to push it away from the fuse box. Shoving that in there gave just enough of an angle to the piping to be able to squash my hand up around the filter and tighten the filter clamp on.

There's one good thing about bein' a female, I guess -- small hands can fit into tight places.

jonnydoe48 · Nov 29, 2003

heh. how many screws did you take from that plastic part before it would pry open enough to have enough space to put the filter on? i currently have 3 off, but thats not enough room to put the filter on haha

Rush · Nov 29, 2003

Uhh ..

s***, I can't even remember how many I took out. Four? Five? I'm pretty sure it was at least four. But I didn't have that whole panel out -- just the front part, so that it would swing down, and then I jammed my hand and half my arm up there.

Total pain in my ass. And arm.

Bremmer · Nov 29, 2003

Could be your injen hitting your fan housing, I know mine is fully touching the platic houseing the fan is in, but I have not heard a knocking noise on mine. But it could be, cause doens't our engines move around a lot?

Rush · Nov 29, 2003

.. I think I'm gonna start out tryin' vodapas77's suggestion, to put on something around that hole through the metal. Hopefully it's just the piping knocking up against that.

The last thing I need is more trouble, considerin' I just had my car into the dealership to work on a three page list of problems.

I'll letcha' guys know how that turns out.

MSP Pro · Nov 30, 2003

Jonnydoe48: You have to take off the screws underneath in front of the wheel well, too. Then the whole front plastic sheet can be bent down and away from the fender. Makes it easy to get both hands in to put the filter on the pipe.

GaBerry67MS035: Try adjusting the slot on the intake pipe where it mounts to the rubber isolator so the pipe is in the middle of the hole into the wheel well area. You know that U shaped slot on the tab welded to the pipe? Loosen the nut and adjust the pipe position. You'll probably have to remove the pipe from the silicone connector to the MAF first. Anyway, give it a try. And kudos to you for working on your own car, even if you are female.

JDM Sam · Nov 30, 2003

did u drill a new hole in the coolant bracket?

122 Vega · Dec 1, 2003

Wood behind the MAF? Are you sure you got the right Injen? the MAF is relocated on the RD6066 for the MSP about a foot from the fuse box.

This whole install should have taken less than 45 minutes for a first timer, and you only have to take out two screws on the bottom splash gaurd to fit the filter in.

You don't need to drill the coolant bracket either, Mazda supplied enough holes to make it work.

Sounds like you tightened everything down then tried to put the filter on. Loosen everything, put the filter on and then tighten everything back up.

Britt

SoniCraze · Dec 1, 2003

vega...you have heard my tick, and said your sounded the same. What do you think it is? Think it has to do with the injen?

Rush · Dec 1, 2003

.. And it seems that the noise has gone away on it's own. Maybe the intake was just 'settling in' or something similarly retarded.

JDM Sam: I started to drill a new hole in the coolant bracket .. but then I realized it wasn't really needed. I just used the holes that were already in the bracket instead of the one the so-called directions said I had to make.

122 Vega: Positive I got the right Injen. The whole thing just seems to sit at a moderately bizarre angle. The piping from the filter up through that 'hole' isn't straight up and down -- it's on an angle. And so, with that angle, my MAF sensor is pretty close to the fuse box. Not touching -- but a few inches away. I just jammed that wood in there to help get the filter away from the paneling so I could clamp the filter on. Maybe each intake is manufactured slightly differently, as it's pretty clear I'm not the only one that's had problems getting it installed. But who frickin' knows?

But everything seems to be workin' as it should, now. Thanks t'everyone for the help.

Notorious · Dec 1, 2003

Can we see some pics that might help us with your problem. Something doesnt sound right.

Striker187 · Dec 1, 2003

^^^^
yeah. why is your maf so close to your fuse box? i have plenty of room with mine. mine was also banging against the hole going down into the fender well. a friend and i cut up some rubber hose and ziptied it to the pipe.

if you want to compare, you can see pics of mine here:
http://www.msprotege.com/vbb230/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27336&highlight=injen

Rush · Dec 2, 2003

And, as requested, I went and took some pics!

.. My apologies for the poor-ish quality of the images. It's about 20 degrees out here -- WITHOUT the wind chill factor, and I was shaking because I was so cold while takin' the pictures.

http://www.mazdamp3.com/members/GaBerry67MS035/injen1.jpg
http://www.mazdamp3.com/members/GaBerry67MS035/injen2.jpg
http://www.mazdamp3.com/members/GaBerry67MS035/injen3.jpg
http://www.mazdamp3.com/members/GaBerry67MS035/injen4.jpg

Also, I was plannin' on doing all the suggestions today -- cushioning that 'hole' so that the pipe isn't right up against metal, and moving the U-clamp over so that it'll hopefully position the pipe more towards the center. But of course, it's been snowing most of the day and I don't have a garage -- which means I'd have to try to work outside. And it's just too damn cold.

Striker187 -- I noticed that you managed to get that .. I don't even know what it is, I didn't really look .. but that one tube that I have running UNDER my U-clamp, you managed to get OVER it. How in the hell did you do that? I tried, and couldn't get mine to budge. Did I miss something somewhere?

Ceej · Dec 2, 2003

GaBerry67MS035 said:
The filter was the absolute piece from hell. It was definitely the most time-consuming of the whole frickin' installation.

I refused to take out the whole wheel well. No way I was gonna rip off the front fascia and all that. So I pulled down that .. I don't even know what to call it .. that flap that's right behind the fender, in front of the wheel well, on the underside of the engine compartment. The end of the intake is right there, where you have to attach the filter.

I had to wiggle the piping around to get it just right .. and this is the weird part. I had to take a piece of wood and jam it BEHIND the Mass Air Flow Sensor -- to push it away from the fuse box. Shoving that in there gave just enough of an angle to the piping to be able to squash my hand up around the filter and tighten the filter clamp on.

There's one good thing about bein' a female, I guess -- small hands can fit into tight places.

You did that yourself? And you are a GIRL???????????

s***...........where were you BEFORE I met my wife????????

Rush · Dec 2, 2003

Ceej said:
You did that yourself? And you are a GIRL???????????

s***...........where were you BEFORE I met my wife????????

(rofl)

Yeah, well. The amusing thing is, you'd never think that I know anything about cars just by lookin' at me -- unless you see me drivin', that is. Just standing there, I look like I'm about 16 .. 5'1" and 102 pounds? Yeah. I have to drive with my seat jacked most of the way up just so I can see over the frickin' steering wheel.

But .. I can hold my own with the rest of the boys. Which either gets me a lot of love or a lot of hate -- depends on how badly I embarrass whoever.

Striker187 · Dec 2, 2003

GaBerry67MS035 said:
Striker187 -- I noticed that you managed to get that .. I don't even know what it is, I didn't really look .. but that one tube that I have running UNDER my U-clamp, you managed to get OVER it. How in the hell did you do that? I tried, and couldn't get mine to budge. Did I miss something somewhere?

ya know, i don't really remember

. it just seemed to fit that way. i believe it's an a/c line so it's a good thing you didn't force it too much. but what was all this about a piece of wood to keep the maf from rubbing against the fuse box? your install looks good and you have plenty of room. but your banging sound is most definitely coming from where the pipe goes down into the fender well. a little cushioning and you're good to go

Rush · Dec 2, 2003

Striker187 said:
but what was all this about a piece of wood to keep the maf from rubbing against the fuse box?

Okay, I'm gonna blame this one on myself, for poor phrasing and a bad description.

When I was struggling to get the filter clamped on, because I was being stubborn about not wanting to remove the entire frickin' wheel well .. THAT is when I stuck in the piece of wood. Trying to put the filter on as it was sitting, the filter was up against the paneling -- I couldn't get my hand and/or arm around it to actually tighten the clamp. And yeah, that's where taking off the wheel well would've helped -- a LOT more room that way. But I didn't want to screw with removing the front end. So I improvized. To get the filter to not sit up against the paneling as it was .. I shoved a piece of wood between the fuse box and the MAF -- enough to angle the piping so that the filter WOULD NOT be pressed up against the paneling. And tada! I got my little hand and arm around the stupid filter and clamped the bastard on. Removed the piece of wood, wiped a dirty hand across my forehead in relief, and officially declared the installation complete.

Hope this clears up my weirdo way of installing my filter!

Stupid Injen CAI question ..

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