The bypass valve works on the principle that it takes more vacum to suck water up the CAI. When a certian vacum is reaced in the CAI piping a valve will open and let the engine suck air out of the engine bay. This prevents the engine from sucking water up the pipe. It goes on near the intake manifold.

 

unless you plan on going through a puddle that is over shin-deep you won't need one

it also kills the idea of a true CAI since it is pulled open during normal use anyway

 

but if u want to get one...do not put it by the intake manifold....the best spot is on the lower half....just cut it with a dremel

 

the more stuff I read about the CAI, the more I find myself not looking into getting one.. sure a CAI will not suck up water unless the filter is fully submerged in water, but you can't tell how deep some puddles are before it's too late.. bypass valves robbing horsepower, I've even heard of some of the early ones breaking up and getting sucked up themselves .. looks like a short ram is in short order for me, I mean how many more horses do you get out of a CAI compared to a short ram? not meant to hijack the thread, just some thoughts I've been having lately... any clarity would be helpful..

 

inside the engine bay, especially ours since they are pretty packed, its hot - really hot. hot air is thinner in oxygen - the aspect of air, when there is more of it, causes higher temp combustions in your engine. enter the CAI. pulling much cooler air from *outside* the engine bay means that the air will be quite a few degree's cooler (i don't know exactly how much - and it depends on your area too) which means much more oxygen to the engine at once resulting in extra HP. i was genuinally suprised when i put my new intake in (without the bypass valve) in how much of difference it made. i mean, don't get me wrong, its helping more power out of the NT but its not 'bragging rights' power or even close to it.

how often do you find yourself in shin-deep puddles? because thats pretty much what it will take for you to *need* a bypass valve. dunno bout you but i live in south florida where it rains quite a bit - not as much as some other places - but i can tell you that i don't need the valve at all and am taking it off soon as i get my lazy carcas to race-home-depot to get a section of tubing to replace it with. oh yea - it does rob power - mine is obviously open *all* the time because now when you look at it with the car off the flaps are pulled back so i basically have a short-ram right now.

 

I understand how it works, but how much hp to the wheels does it really bring over a short ram? I'm honestly guessing 1-2, if that.. also, when it rains around here a street leading to my house floods badly I live in California and all, but the draining system sucks around here, so when it rains you've gotta go thorugh a monster puddle.. basically, I'm trying to figure out if the upsides of the CAI outweigh the downsides

 

msot CAI has 2 sections to them, and upper and lower section. so if oyu wanted you can put the CAI on and if its goign to rain and you are afriad of the filter going into water then remove the lower section and attach the filter to the upper section, problem solved.... i doubt oyu would wnt to do this a lot but hey, it works

 

I've even heard of some of the early ones breaking up and getting sucked up themselves ..

My thoughts exactly...

 

just dont try and drive across rivers and streams

 

msot CAI has 2 sections to them, and upper and lower section. so if oyu wanted you can put the CAI on and if its goign to rain and you are afriad of the filter going into water then remove the lower section and attach the filter to the upper section, problem solved.... i doubt oyu would wnt to do this a lot but hey, it works

yea, but being the type of person that I am(lazy), I don't think I'm gonna want to pop open the hood of my car and remove part of my intake in the rain

just dont try and drive across rivers and streams

thanks for the info

 

I've even heard of some of the early ones breaking up and getting sucked up themselves ..

Most of the time the bypass valve breaks up and gets sucked in, it was installed on an application isn't wasn't supposed to (IE: AEM bypass valve on Ractive intake.)

 

Most of the time the bypass valve breaks up and gets sucked in, it was installed on an application isn't wasn't supposed to (IE: AEM bypass valve on Ractive intake.)

i really see no reason why a different model of intake would be cause for the 'filter' of the BPV to be more likely to be sucked into the engine as long as its installed properly...

 

i really see no reason why a different model of intake would be cause for the 'filter' of the BPV to be more likely to be sucked into the engine as long as its installed properly...

Then go for it and hope it doesn't break on you.

 

I've personally seen this happen on my friends car at the track. The bypass valve exploded, butthankfully nothing got sucked into the engine. It has nothing to do with what type on intake, the bypass valve is just another way for them to make more $$.

 

I've personally seen this happen on my friends car at the track. The bypass valve exploded, butthankfully nothing got sucked into the engine. It has nothing to do with what type on intake, the bypass valve is just another way for them to make more $$.

AMEN BRUTHA! hahaha 'see kids? the truth is much easier to see when you follow the $$' -wiley miller

 

A cold air intake will definetly give a lot more of a gain than a regular intake. AEM CAI's kick ass. I had a warm air injen intake on my first DSM, a non turbo laser, and i dont think it added any HP. Maybe 2 or 3. But it sure did sound cool!!!