AEM CAI for a 99 Si

Alright folks, I'm looking to buy a AEM CAI and am planning on getting a bypass valve just to play it safe because here in Michigan we get some interesting weather. :rolleyes: Anyway, I was looking at pictures of cars that have the bypass valve and that don't and for the life of me can't figure out how it would be applied. Do you need to cut the CAI??? Help me out! And in any of your experiences would you actually recomend getting a bypass valve. (please just reply to the last one as a side note, I'm more concerned about how it would work right now) Thanks for any and all help.

i belive you have to cut the pipe and put the bypass valve in between..
as for the fuctionality of the valve some people will tell you it's a power robber and if ur gonna use 1 you should just leave your stock intake in..
but i cain't verify that because i don't have a bypass valve..

The people that say it's a powerloss are people that don't actually know how they work. It doesn't restrict any air flow or anything, it just is made so that the water will drop out. But it still has the same air flow.

i thought you would put the bypass valve inbetween where the 2 pipes connected.....that would be the smart thing i dont think you have to cut it......

it doesn't block air flow. it does cause disturbence in the air though, which means your gonna lose some power because it no longer smoothly goes into the engine, it's disturbed. as for functionality, it's a joke. it only opens when totally submerged. meaning, if you go through a puddle and splash on there and your flooring it it will take the water in anyway. it only opens when completly submerged. So unless u plan on driving into a lake or pool it's not worth the money.

Originally posted by pushVTEC
it doesn't block air flow. it does cause disturbence in the air though, which means your gonna lose some power because it no longer smoothly goes into the engine, it's disturbed. as for functionality, it's a joke. it only opens when totally submerged. meaning, if you go through a puddle and splash on there and your flooring it it will take the water in anyway. it only opens when completly submerged. So unless u plan on driving into a lake or pool it's not worth the money.

Agreed. A smoother intake tract will have better hp/torque numbers than a turbulent one. The bypass valve will create turbulence and in effect maybe take away 1-2hp the most.

But when you are talking about power gained by an intake, that's just about all the power gains you see to start out with, so you just killed any gains you got. You just paid $200 for noise. Agreed that really when you go to get an intake your not expecting massive power, but I know there will be some sort of gains to justify my buying it. And to pay $30 or however much the bypass valve is just to kill those gains seems funny to me. If your that worried about sucking up water just use your stock intake with a K&N and no resonator. You'll get better gains than a CAI with the bypass valve in.

i'll admit it..i bought my intake strictly for sound $20 P.O.S,
but i do have $20 worth of grins...and now when i hear that throaty sound i can dream that i'm not really driving a civic hx, but someting more powerful..:D

In the 7 years I have been in the import scene, I have never had any trouble with my CAI. I even drove to Atlanta, GA (800 miles one way) through Hurricane Floyd back in 1999. No problems. Then on the way home I ran through another monsoon for about 10 hours.

Just be a cautious driver.

Nor have I had any problems with rain. I've done just about everything with the CAI. Gone through car washes with underbody rinses, through some pretty big puddles (there was no way of avoiding them), driven through a lot of storms. Haven't had any issues. Like CivicSiRacer said, just be cautious and take your foot off the gas if there's a puddle you know you can't avoid just to be cautious.

seem's like aem found a way to fund it's R&D dept.. :)

Originally posted by shepworldwide
seem's like aem found a way to fund it's R&D dept.. :)


EXACTLY!!!

Originally posted by pushVTEC
Nor have I had any problems with rain. I've done just about everything with the CAI. Gone through car washes with underbody rinses, through some pretty big puddles (there was no way of avoiding them), driven through a lot of storms. Haven't had any issues. Like CivicSiRacer said, just be cautious and take your foot off the gas if there's a puddle you know you can't avoid just to be cautious.

I haven't gone as far as you have. Since automatic car washes are BAD for your paint.

The only time I remember I had problems is when I washed my filter and didn't let it dry over night like i usually do. Started up the car and it paused/hesitated alittle. Must have sucked up some of the filter oil.

Yeah I don't use auto carwashes any more. This was back before I knew how bad they were on the paint. Just saying it can be done, and the bypass valve really isn't needed.

thanks guys, I have my polished AEM CAI and can't wait to install it this weekend (without bypass valve):) . Thanks for all of the input and help.

I made the mistake of buying a bypass valve. It took away the hissing noise the intake made and that angered me. But after some experience. I'm not driving through a lake and why should I worry. So I took it off and found it cracked in half so I was like uh..ok. Took it off and sounds much nicer.