When driving in rainy conditions, is it any risk thar a AEM CAI would pull in water to the engine???
(i don

 

The AEM CAI comes with an installed bypass valve. This prevents water geting into your engine and hydrolocking. This is also part of the reason you get basically minimal gains on the intake. Even with the bypass valve, if you live in an area with a lot of rain, you might want to take some other measures to prevent hydrolocking.

 

i don't have the aem bypass valve, and it's been raining here for about four days on and off.

i was washing my car earlier today (before it began to rain again), and i accidentally sprayed the aem cai filter directly for about a second or two. i did that 'cause i used to have the coastal metals side grills installed (the airflow ones), and that's how i used to clean them. well anyway, i took the grills off a couple days ago, and i forgot i did, and the filter was wet. nothing happend, 'cause i drove the car for about ten minutes twenty minutes after it happend. basically...i don't think it would be a problem.

 

The only way water is going to be sucked up the AEM is if it is competely submerged in water (like a straw). The engine will have to generate a significant amount of vacuum in the intake before it will pump the water up the ~2' vertical pipe. If the engine is idling, the engine will die before it will generate that much vacuum. If you are just cruising down the road, the air velocity in the AEM will not be high enough to carry water droplets vertically up the pipe.

 

I posated on this a couple of weeks ago. The AEM intake does NOT come with the bypass valve, it is a separate purchase. However, it's unnecessary. As gernby said, you have to generate a significant vacuum to pull a 3" diameter column of water up 2' of pipe, which means high revs. Water spray will NOT adversely affect anything, considering they mist water into engines all of the time to cool down the air charge for turbo and supercharged applications. If you see a really deep puddle (one that would completely cover the filter), push in the clutch and coast through...if the engine dies, start it back up once out of the puddle and continue on (give the filter a minute or two to drain, though).

 

water dropplets will not hurt you. ever heard of water injection? it mught actually help lower temps a little...

the only way it will hurt you is if it is fully submerged under water. kinda like a straw. next time your drinking with a straw, lift it up and hold the straw at an angle so that only half of the hole is under the liquid. now start sucking. you will need the ability to suck a golf ball through a garden hose to suck hard enough in order to get the fluid into your mouth. other than that...its just air.

same concept with the AEM.

dont worry about driving in the rain. but dont go driving through swamps and 2' deep lakes and puddles like you did before you had the CAI.

 

You read my mind.
This issue is one of those "boogyman" fears that quite a few people have and the question comes up a lot. I think it's a good candidate for the "new" FAQ's. I'll add it to that list.

 

don't worry and buy my extra brand new aem red cai skogs....i know ya want it.....it makes the car totally better...drivability is much better. After you install it you will be like....why oh why did i wait so long. Inew a guy who hyrolocked his bmw with a stock box.....just don't drive through huge puddles. You'll be fine...people are so paranoid about intakes...but they will drop the clutch without blinking an eye. It's a car you can be hit by a bus tomorrow while it's sitting there parked. Just do it. I modify the intakes in all my old cars...jeep wrangler ..cherokee, vr6 gti,
subaru 2.5 rs . subaru outback. ford tempo gls......ahhh good old tempo...lol..never a problem and the under side of jeeps are super open.

 

humid days ...the air contains water in it. you can fell it

 

ItalianBucwheat -> Don