Hi all...I ran a search for this, but it came up empty. I have an AEM CAI kit on my box that is the long version, i.e. goes past the battery & the filter mounts inside the fender well. I just put it on last weekend & realized how low to the ground it actually is. My question is...I have heard horror stories of vapor locking the engine if the filter gets significantly wet & am looking for prevention measures for this issue. Not sure if it came from the factory like this, but it is wide open underneath/behind the front bumper & I would think is definitely susceptible to water, especially during the Monsoon season out here. At a meet over the weekend, someone had mentioned a sort of "flutter valve" set up, that would allow air, but not water, but I haven't been able to find anything like that. Is there a fix for this, or should I scrap this thing & go with a different set-up? Thanks for any (positive) input, & sorry if this is a re-post. I really did try to search for this first...//TJ

 

the term for this is usually called hydro lock. and i am not too familiar with the xb, but there should be a spash shield under the engine and along the fender to prevent too much water from getting into the engine.

anyway, there are various methods to prevent hydro lock with a cai. one is a bypass valve, which aem makes, you can get one from www.trdsparks.com the other in the injen spash or hydro sheild or whatever they call it which actually covers up the filter, also avaliable at trd sparks.

 

you are thinking of something other than VAPOR LOCK.
Vapor lock occurs when you get a bubble in your fuel line , hard when we have between 44 and 50 psi in the fuel line ,so no vapor lock.

Your thinking of HYDRO LOCK , sucking enough water into your engine to lock it up.

I have a K&N Typhoon intake , filter sits real low to the ground and my son, and myself, love to "puddle jump", never had a problem.

There is , if you really feel it nessary, a bypass valve you can install. Some intakes came with them.

 

Ahhh, yeah...Hydro lock, not Vapor lock...my bad! Thanks for the suggestions. I'm probably just being paranoid, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. I don't think AZ Civil Engineers ever heard of drainage systems, so our roads flood pretty bad out here during Monsoon season. At any rate, thanks again...I'll look into the bypass valve/shield options...//TJ

 

You can get a bypass valve. It installs between the two pieces and will open in the event of a hydro issue.

Drax, the xB doesn't have a full splash shield. My Fujita filter got hit by undercarriage spray at a carwash. Wasn't catastrophic, but I had to wait two hours before the filter dried out before the car would run.

 

I've got the Injen CAI and no splashshields left under the front, but have never had problems, regardless of how hard it was raining. You usually have to just about submerge the filter in order for it to suck up enough water at once. If you're not sure how deep the puddle is, don't go into it. You should also be able to remove the long extension pipe and run the CAI in a short ram fashion during the monsoon season.

 

you want one of these...
if you want to buy on line, just search for aem hydro lock bypass, and you'll find tons of them, probly on ebay too. completely elliminates the chance of hydro lock should you submerge your cold air filter in water..
My aem came with this preinstalled, yours may have it too, and you just night not know what it is, but you should be able to see it clearly when you open the engine bay and look at the intake piping section twords the firewall..

 

A wet filter shouldn't keep the car from running. Something else must have gotten wet.

I can't find the really cool video that went along with this article, but it does give a good explanation of the AEM bypass valve:

http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/te...lve/index.html

 

Mine was soaked to the point where I don't think it was able to draw enough air. Dunno... it dried out and was fine.

 

If the filter pores were so small that they could clog with just water, then hydro-locking wouldn't be an issue. You'd also have trouble starting it after driving in the rain if a wet filter would stop you. The engine should just suck the water through, if its just on the filter and there won't be enough at once to cause hydrolock. probably got something electronic wet.

 

Eh, either way, I have an HKS one now, so the filter is in the engine bay.