[klash2000]

We had torrential rain today here in Austin, so driving to work on the highway seems to have soaked the airfilter portion of the CAI. Is this bad? I know (assume) it's designed to take it as there are holes/vents all over the wheelwell where the intake sitcks down, so pretty much anytime it rains or there is water on the road, it's going to get wet.

I ask as it's producing a much different intake sound than it was before with the filter got wet, still seems to have good power, just wondering if I should be letting it dry all the way before really getting on the throttle. That filter seems like it could tear/rip with the suction of the intake when wet!

What's the scoop?

Thanks

PS, would it make sense to dry it out with a fan or something?

 

[ATE BALLER]

If it's getting wet, I would put a rain gaurd behind the openings. Dry it out with a fan if you can.

 

[ryceboi]

http://forum.mazda6club.com/index.php?show...4440&hl=aem

and they laughed at me.

 

[klash2000]

If it's getting wet, I would put a rain gaurd behind the openings. Dry it out with a fan if you can.
[/b]

Okay, is it bad that it got wet? Those vents on the wheelwell don't exactly shelter the intake from water, I'd imagine that it gets soaked in there at highway speeds when it's raining.

And is there a commercial rain guard I should buy? Seems stupid for them to design an intake for an application they know will get wet then not offer something to protect it if water is indeed bad for it! Or would the advice be, don't drive it when wet?

Thanks!

http://forum.mazda6club.com/index.php?show...4440&hl=aem

and they laughed at me.
[/b]

Thanks Ryce, I'm going to order that commercial heat shield and fashion myself something. Last thing I need is a locked motor!

I'm curious, does anyone think it would be bad to just cover up the wheel well vents with a rubber mat or something? Obviously I'd cut to fit and use either zipties or some good adhesive to get it to stay in place. Looking the the design, those vents seem to be the biggest culprit in as far as letting water in, though some does get in from the nose of the car, too...

 

[awh]

best price for the hydroshield

http://www.autoanything.com/air-filters/65A2582A0A0.aspx

 

[Slapstick]

I hear hydroshields like that are a waste of money...better off just getting the heat shield/splash shield which would hopefully block the direct spray of water, although having both like ryceboi is probably peace of mind. I have one of them from injen on mine as well.

 

[atc5]

you're fine w/out a shield...the filters will filter out the water molecules, that is their job and another reason why they are oiled.

Look at the thousands of honda drivers that drive w/ CAI's and no splash shields...their motors are fine.

Submersion is what you need to stay away from, otherwise an exposed filter element should not allow particles and water into the intake tract.

 

[dsulli37]

I thought the MS CAI was not oiled?

 

[ATE BALLER]

I wouldn't use a hydrosheild, but instead fab up a peice of sheet metal to place over the slots in the wheel well. Shape it to just direct the water down and screw itr to the plastic.

 

[klash2000]

I thought the MS CAI was not oiled?
[/b]

You beat me to it It's not, I've just been reading the instructions and it says "Do not apply any oil to this dry filter"

And the only warning about it getting wet says "if you are going to traverse deep water, remove this intake and replace with the stock intake" .

The question is, what is their definition of "deep water"???? I was forced to drive through about 4" of water today as I was trapped in traffic in a line of cars. Is that "deep" under their vague language???

Thanks

I wouldn't use a hydrosheild, but instead fab up a peice of sheet metal to place over the slots in the wheel well. Shape it to just direct the water down and screw itr to the plastic.
[/b]

I think that matches well with my plan to just cover the vents with some rubber matting. I'm going to look and see what I can fab up this weekend, be it sheetmetal or rubber. My fear with the sheet metal is that it might come loose, fall under the car and cut/slash a tire. I sure don't want that to happen when I'm at texas world speedway at 120 this December

Thanks for the input!

 

[ChicagoKid]

I hear hydroshields like that are a waste of money...better off just getting the heat shield/splash shield which would hopefully block the direct spray of water, although having both like ryceboi is probably peace of mind. I have one of them from injen on mine as well.


[/b]

I actually had this, but my car seem lagging specially when accelerating. Seem like it was not getting enough air and when I took it off car ran much better. It didn't have the slow lag anymore. I have not tried hydro shield yet. The pic above... Injen calls it a heat shield.

 

[klash2000]

I actually had this, but my car seem lagging specially when accelerating. Seem like it was not getting enough air and when I took it off car ran much better. It didn't have the slow lag anymore. I have not tried hydro shield yet. The pic above... Injen calls it a heat shield.
[/b]

Yeah, that shield looks like it'd block airflow to like 50% of the filter, if not block, definitely restrict the flow.


As and update, I'm running a small fan into the wheelwell now, hopefully that'll dry it out faster and get the sound back to where it was previously; sorta muffled now.

I'm betting (hoping anyway) that if any water was getting past the filter into the intake, it'd trip a CEL from the MAF, so I think I'm okay.

I'll post pics of the mod I end up doing for the louvers/vents once it's done, hopefully this weekend!


Thanks for everyone's input! This is how the forum should work

 

[bfischer]

And the only warning about it getting wet says "if you are going to traverse deep water, remove this intake and replace with the stock intake" .

The question is, what is their definition of "deep water"???? I was forced to drive through about 4" of water today as I was trapped in traffic in a line of cars. Is that "deep" under their vague language???
[/b]

4 inches of water is not enough to submerge the filter unless you were going fast through that much water - that is a bad idea CAI or not.

 

[klash2000]

4 inches of water is not enough to submerge the filter unless you were going fast through that much water - that is a bad idea CAI or not.
[/b]

nah, we were going maybe 15mph....in 65mph zone

 

[robv]

I'll post pics of the mod I end up doing for the louvers/vents once it's done, hopefully this weekend![/b]

Any updates?

 

[yomama69]

You should be fine. The filter sits more than 4 inches off the ground. Those heat shields are really for short ram intakes to try and keep some of the direct heat from the top half of the engine bay off of the filter.

As long as it isn't submerged, water that gets on the filter will evaporate before it gets to the engine. Your filter will dry out. If you got hydrolock, you would definitely know it.