Hi

I fitted my CAI about 4 or 5 months ago and its been fine, and still is. I have drilled some holes in the right grill in the front bumper to let me air in.

However ive just got in from a 50 mile drive in the pouring rain on the A12, loads of spray coming up from the other cars.

So i took the right hand grill off from my bumber to have a look at the filter, cos i thought it might be wet behind there, and it was dripping:eek: I couldnt get my hand fully round the filter to check, but it was very wet!!

How bad is this for the car? Should i put the standard one back on?

The car still drives as normal, i havent noticed any difference, im just concerned about how wet it is.

Thanks

G

Is the filter down in that part of the bumper?!

Probably not doing your fitler much good but, the main concern is how much water is getting into the engine as this is what'll do damage.

As it's spray probably not enough but don't go wading through any puddles that reach up over the heigth of the filter.

yeah the filter is that low, if you take the cover off, there is the horn there, well i think its the horn , behind that is the filter. It is wet there and thats what i am worried about, getting water in the engine.....

There are no puddles deep enough around here to go through, so thats not a problem. Im just concerned about the spray making the filter wet, surely the oil on the filter cannot keep all the water out?

Id get the filter further up into the bay then and perhaps get a cold air feed there instead of a soggy filter which isnt doing much good at all.

I would be wary of running a CAI with a behind the bumper filter at this time of year - just in case you get hydro lock - better to keep these for the summer and run a standard setup when it gets wet.

cool, thanks for the advise guys, i will take it off and save it for the summer, thats if its a dry one!!! i dont want to risk the engine :(

Just plug the "silly holes" you've drilled up!

Why ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, you drilled the holes, I dunno. Advise from a know-it-all?

Always ask here first

the only way you would wreck an engine with water is if the air intake became FULLY submerged in water..

youll be fine... if anything the water should make it faster

Yep, I thought the problem with water would be that the extreme temperature difference between cold water and hot engine components that could cause terminal damage... I wouldnt lose too much sleep about it

yep, i was advised to drill the holes as it would get enough air otherwise, i didnt know either way so i drilled the holes!! oh well.

Ahem.... whats a CAI

I'm not totally dence, I gather its some kind of after market air filter, but pretty please, just for me, what is it?

Cold Air Induction, basically its a cone filter on the end of a long metal pipe, on mine, this places the filter behind the front bumper to get more cold air.

Yep, I thought the problem with water would be that the extreme temperature difference between cold water and hot engine components that could cause terminal damage... I wouldnt lose too much sleep about it

I thought it was hydrolock....basically trying to compress something which can only be compressed by so much...or something like that.

...and that's as I said before...the fitler would have to be submerged in water.

I had a cold air fed for the lower grill to the CAI...which was situated in place of the standard airbox using the standard ai intake path.

Ahh yes, with you now. It that a K&N jobby? do you find yuo get any sort of performace upgrade with tah, or is it purely a noise thing?

I thought it was hydrolock....basically trying to compress something which can only be compressed by so much...or something like that.

...and that's as I said before...the fitler would have to be submerged in water.

.

Spot on. Just think the engine has a capacity of 1.8 litres. One cylinder is therfore is 450cc. Thats less than half a litre which aint alot of water. The air intake from an engine is basically a big vacuum cleaner, it takes a suprising little amount of water to actually knacker an engine.

Hit a fair sized puddle and what happens? You get a bow wave infront of the car, this level raises up higher than the level of the water, and on a car with low air intakes its bad news.

Changed god knows how many engines due to hydrolock, usually the water cant be compressed it bust a con rod or at the very least twists the crankshaft.

so i the majority vote to take the filter off and wait for dryer weather?

Id find a better position for it, it neednt be on the floor and still give good performance.