i just had one installed, and my freind says once it rains alot or snows my intake is gona suck up the moisture and screw up my engine...true?

 

depends, a lot of rain and snow... MAYBE... very unlikely unless you go through a puddle of rain a foot high... or if your front end goes into a snow bank and then your filter is covered in snow, then possibly... if its just raining a little or snowing like 1-3 inches, don't worry about it.

 

Tell your friend to put his mouth where the filter goes and tell him to tell you that comment again.. Unless your driving that thing in the ocean, you got nothing to worry about

 

So does AEM make those bypass filters just to scare people and make money?

 

yes?

Well that bypass is designed so that if the intake is completely submerged, it will not suck up 100% water like a straw. The bypass will kick in. I do not believe they were enginered to protect against ambient humidity.

-PHiZ

 

AEM had a big recall on those bypass valves a while back - I think the foam on the inside was coming apart and wrecking engines. The last I heard is they fixed that problem, but that kind of defeats the purpose of having a safety device in there the first place. I think the reason people have a problem with CAIs is they don't properly reinstall the fender well liners, so the water has a clear shot of douching the filter. I live in the rainy northwest and haven't had any problem with my CAI.

 

yea, its actually safer w/o the bypass valve because of what used to happen with the foam, dont know if they fixed that or not.The chances of hydrolocking are slim, and especially if you have a decent splash panel protecting the filter, youd really have to try to get it hydrolocked....

 

yah some occasional moisture going thru ur filter will only help decarbonize ur engine cylinders (which is a good thing), now obviously if ur driving in water and its splashing all over the filter u may have something to worry about, but ur friend was probably just pulling ur chain, you shouldnt have nething to worry about i back up everyone elses statements

 

The bypass works very well. When your filter is completely SUBMERGED in water and you have the throttle to the floor, water will start to come up the tube (like a drinking straw.) With the bypass in, the flaps will open and allow air to get through -bypassing the water.

However, the bypass defeats the cold air in the first place because it's an obstruction to the flow of incoming air; even AEM admits to this.

I ran a CAI for years in winter/rain with no problems. I had bought a bypass, but I sold it.