Air Conditioner out due to RM Racing cold air intake
05-30-2002, 02:34 PM
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Yes, I started another thread about if I should take my RM racing cold air intake out when I take my car into get the broke AC fixed. Most people said it shouldn't matter because the air intake has nothing to do with the A/C. I ended up putting the stock airbox back in and I'm glad that I did.
I took my car in to get the A/C looked at today. They called me after a couple hours and told me the car had no freon in it at all. They said they found an aluminum hose that runs from the radiator to the A/C unit had been worn down and apparently gotten punctured by something rubbing it. The service writer then asked me if I had a cold air intake on it or anything that went accross that hose area. I played dumb over the phone because I wasn't even sure what he was talking about because I didn't think the intake touched any other hoses or working parts.
When I went to pick the car up he showed the hose to me and sure enough it is right where the flexible coil hose part of the intake jams in between the frame of the body and the radiator. It looked as if someone had worn the aluminum down with a sander. I didn't really see a hole, but it obviously takes a microscopic puncture for the freon to escape from the hose.
So I'll post pics when I get a chance but I wanted RM racing intake users to know that apparently there the expanding and contracting of the metal coil in the flexible hose creates rubbing on the A/C hose and could lead to your freon leaking out and loss in A/C.
The dealership said they'd still fix it under warranty and I admitted the intake after the fact so it's all cool. It's probably not an expensive fix anyway.
Ok, I got this pic off the RM website. I've painted in an arrow showing the aluminum hose that the intake rubs against. You see, my intake doesn't fit as well as the one RM has in the picture. My stainless steel tubing seems a lot bigger and takes up more room.
But regardless, you can see that the aluminum hose runs right under the intake. I think that the intake apparently expands and contracts at speeds because of the air filling inside it and it also moves back and forth as it does this. So over the 9 months I had it installedm it eventuall wore the aluminum down and caused a leak of freon that I need to get fixed. Hope this helps.
I took my car in to get the A/C looked at today. They called me after a couple hours and told me the car had no freon in it at all. They said they found an aluminum hose that runs from the radiator to the A/C unit had been worn down and apparently gotten punctured by something rubbing it. The service writer then asked me if I had a cold air intake on it or anything that went accross that hose area. I played dumb over the phone because I wasn't even sure what he was talking about because I didn't think the intake touched any other hoses or working parts.
When I went to pick the car up he showed the hose to me and sure enough it is right where the flexible coil hose part of the intake jams in between the frame of the body and the radiator. It looked as if someone had worn the aluminum down with a sander. I didn't really see a hole, but it obviously takes a microscopic puncture for the freon to escape from the hose.
So I'll post pics when I get a chance but I wanted RM racing intake users to know that apparently there the expanding and contracting of the metal coil in the flexible hose creates rubbing on the A/C hose and could lead to your freon leaking out and loss in A/C.
The dealership said they'd still fix it under warranty and I admitted the intake after the fact so it's all cool. It's probably not an expensive fix anyway.
Ok, I got this pic off the RM website. I've painted in an arrow showing the aluminum hose that the intake rubs against. You see, my intake doesn't fit as well as the one RM has in the picture. My stainless steel tubing seems a lot bigger and takes up more room.
But regardless, you can see that the aluminum hose runs right under the intake. I think that the intake apparently expands and contracts at speeds because of the air filling inside it and it also moves back and forth as it does this. So over the 9 months I had it installedm it eventuall wore the aluminum down and caused a leak of freon that I need to get fixed. Hope this helps.
05-31-2002, 08:36 AM
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I would like pictures with the unit in as well. That's the CAI I was looking at purchasing. What benefits have you found and problems- other than this one obviously.
05-31-2002, 09:53 AM
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My digital cam is kind of not working properly but I'll see what I can do this weekend with it.
I suppose if you slid something in between the intake tube and the aluminum A/C hose then the rubbing wouldn't cause the damage it did on mine.
As far as performance gains, I don't really know. I've never dyno'd my car. I would say that the intake is very mean sounding. It makes the engine bay howl very loudly. And the intake looks quite cool with the stainless steel piping. This was the main thing I was going for. It's probably all in my head, but VTEC seemed to be a lot more pronounced with the RM intake on. It was obviously louder sounding, so that probably gives me the sensation of more power.
I did notice that when I dismantled the intake, the portion of the filter that the CAI tube connected to was so packed with dirt and dead bugs and other gunk that I don't think much forced air flow was getting in through that part anyway. So yes, I was probably just sucking hot engine bay air 95% of the time from the exposed portion of the filter. I suppose if you cleaned that part of the filter out every month or so then you might retain any benefits you might have gotten.
The intake was also a pain in the ass because I had to cover up the cold air inlet in the front whenever rain was in the forcast. I think the carbon fiber intakes that attach to the factory airbox would be better for keeping and water out.
I suppose if you slid something in between the intake tube and the aluminum A/C hose then the rubbing wouldn't cause the damage it did on mine.
As far as performance gains, I don't really know. I've never dyno'd my car. I would say that the intake is very mean sounding. It makes the engine bay howl very loudly. And the intake looks quite cool with the stainless steel piping. This was the main thing I was going for. It's probably all in my head, but VTEC seemed to be a lot more pronounced with the RM intake on. It was obviously louder sounding, so that probably gives me the sensation of more power.
I did notice that when I dismantled the intake, the portion of the filter that the CAI tube connected to was so packed with dirt and dead bugs and other gunk that I don't think much forced air flow was getting in through that part anyway. So yes, I was probably just sucking hot engine bay air 95% of the time from the exposed portion of the filter. I suppose if you cleaned that part of the filter out every month or so then you might retain any benefits you might have gotten.
The intake was also a pain in the ass because I had to cover up the cold air inlet in the front whenever rain was in the forcast. I think the carbon fiber intakes that attach to the factory airbox would be better for keeping and water out.
05-31-2002, 09:59 AM
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Put it this way, I think $475 could be spent a lot wiser than on this intake. I think this one is worth about $250 at the most in my opinion. The flex tubing that connects the stainless steel pipe to the front mounted air dam inlet is cheap. It was a pain in the a$$ to get it by the radiator and it just looks kind of junky. Rm should really probably shape some kind of carbon fiber or fiberglass tube and spout. The rest of the intake is top notch, but that flexible hose with the wire skeleton is junk.
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