Cold Air Intake? do i need to worry about rain and water?

[87Turbolimited]

Hey fellas so today I had to drive my buick to work an its raining here in CA, I have the KB ram air but just a bit worry about water going "in". should i pull it out once i get off of work? this goes for my front mount inner cooler too since i really donmt drive my car but i had to today.

 

[mikestertwo]

Hey fellas so today I had to drive my buick to work an its raining here in CA, I have the KB ram air but just a bit worry about water going "in". should i pull it out once i get off of work? this goes for my front mount inner cooler too since i really donmt drive my car but i had to today.

Water will get in it. I'm up here in Oregon where it rains a lot and mine filled up the air cleaner with all kinds of crap. I know you don't get the amount of rain we do up here but it's better to be safe than sorry.

 

[jlat]

hello; I don't know about a KB set up but with my Tinman CAI I was worried about the same. TR Customs had a story how he had to drive in a **** load of rain and it had no effect in driving with his CAI. It helped me to ease my mind with what mother nature throws at us.
IBBY

 

[TurboTGuy]

this goes for my front mount inner cooler too since i really donmt drive my car but i had to today.

You HAVE to be careful in the rain with any aftermarket intake, the closer to ground it is the more careful you must be.

Besides, what are you doing driving a GN/TR in the rain?!!! A GN/TR is possibly the worst wet weather handling vehicle ever made, ever! I'm jus' sayin'.

The FMIC is sealed and shouldn't be affected except if you decide to take the car scuba diving in a big puddle. If water somehow makes it all the way into the intercooler, you will have way bigger problems to fix first.

 

[scottyb]

I've had the K&N dangling behind the bumper for over 60k miles of daily driving, and I've driven it thru plenty of frog stranglers. You would have to almost submerge the filter in water for it to suck up an amount that could cause harm. I seriously doubt that any water splashing up from the tire could do any more than get the filter wet.

 

[TR Custom Parts]

TR Customs had a story how he had to drive in a **** load of rain and it had no effect in driving with his CAI. It helped me to ease my mind with what mother nature throws at us.
IBBY

True story, was heading back from a Turbo Buick show put on by that old crew who ran "The Source" newsletter at the Phoenixville PA Pontiac dealership back about 10 years ago. Had a friend who went down the the show with me with his 86 T-type on the original tires. Left the show and drove about 5 hours in a torrential storm the whole way back to CT. Swear this black cloud followed us the entire trip back. I actually had to slow down on the Merritt Parkway in CT to let him catch up to me since he was hydroplaning anything above 35 mph. Car was a mess when I finally pulled into my garage but no water damage. Now that is with my kit where the filter is somewhat protected behind the bumper. The KB system has the scoop so you might have some issues but doubt it would hurt anything unless you submerge the scoop.

 

[novaderrik]

You HAVE to be careful in the rain with any aftermarket intake, the closer to ground it is the more careful you must be.

Besides, what are you doing driving a GN/TR in the rain?!!! A GN/TR is possibly the worst wet weather handling vehicle ever made, ever! I'm jus' sayin'.

The FMIC is sealed and shouldn't be affected except if you decide to take the car scuba diving in a big puddle. If water somehow makes it all the way into the intercooler, you will have way bigger problems to fix first.

i've driven my T Type thru a LOT of rain without a problem- they did a pretty good job of designing the windshield wipers and they put those grooves in the tires just for rain..
my car, however, is literally useless in more than about 1" of snow thanks to the posi and the Fuzion tires not really being designed for snow..

 

[Ttype6]

Hey fellas so today I had to drive my buick to work an its raining here in CA, I have the KB ram air but just a bit worry about water going "in". should i pull it out once i get off of work?

I,sometimes disconnect the hose from the air filter canister and move it to one side.This thread has caused me to realize that it's been several years since I've remembered to do this while driving in the rain. I've never had an issue.

 

[Adam Connell]

Ok guys... this is one of those myths that just flat out pisses me off.

YOU WILL NEVER SUCK WATER FROM YOUR CAI INTO YOUR ENGINE UNLESS you COMPLETELY submerge it... AKA driving through flood water.

I have several insurance adjuster friends who despise this myth, and I also was a mechanical engineering student before I decided to go work in the oil field, and there is no physical way to suck water up a 4in wide pipe unless this and ONLY this condition is present: the filter is completely submerged, this forms a vacuum, if the vacuum is broken gravity pulls the water back down into the filter... You know when you try to drink through a broken straw how much suction is lost, it's the same concept. The filter is your first line of defense... I had a roommate in college who swore he'd blown up his POS Civic by "hitting a puddle"... He later admitted the puddle was over a foot deep and 100ft long (aka flood waters).

This is the absolute stupidest myth out there... even if you suck a few good droplets up in there, it won't hurt anything. The turbo will atomize the water, and ta-da! you have instant water injection.

Try putting a pin hole in a soda straw if you dont believe me... I've got one of Mark's CAI's and I drive in every condition imaginable, if anyone were going to prove this myth right it would be me, and believe me I've tried... It's a stupid myth.