My CAI is in and working well... Now I have a question about the noise. Seems that when I have the gas down about half way there's a very loud irritating whistling noise. There's another better noise, and that's the loud growl of the intake. Is this whistle totally normal? I'm wondering if something is not sealed. I figured I'd ask before pulling out my splashguards, as that's a bit of a pain.

 

well i've determined that the high pitch whistle is indeed normal. It sounds to me like the air is moving throught the filter at just the right speed around 2500-3000 rpm to bring out this noise. What I'm wondering is if different filters would have an effect on this noise level. Paper, cloth, polymer, I imagine they'd sound a bit different. Now I'm using the filter that came with my AEM kit. Does anyone use a different type on their CAI? I think a lot of us love the grunt but don't like the whistle too much. I'd like to find a way to eliminate or minimize it. What do you folks think??

 

I know we have different cars, but I have the same noise coming from my weapon r intake (foam filter) on my 88 legend coupe.
It only sounds around 3000 rpm.
I had it since it's been installed 1 year ago.

It really doesn't bother me.

 

the noise that you hear is normal. I think the whistle is actually coming from the intake manifold, I think mine did whistled when there was no intake on there at all.

 

The whistle sound is normal. I get that even with my generic short ram intake. It's just the sound the filter makes when it's sucking up air. I haven't tried a different filter though - it might work.

 

yeah its normal, you just got to get used to it I guess.

 

Yes the whistle is totally normal. I've had both a short ram intake and a CAI and the noise does change a bit between the two. The CAI is seems louder than the ram intake. I've also had different filters on my inatkes and the whistle still remains but the pitch of the whistle does seem to change between filters.

 

everyonce in a while i hear a really soft whistle with just my K&N drop-in...then again maybe I just want to hear it...hmm:P

 

i think the whistle is from the manifold.. the sound is directly related to your throttle position... when the manifold is just slightly open.. the air coming from the intake flows through the slight openings of the manifold to the engine and make that whistle sound... same idea when you whsitle with ur mouth...

the humming sound is there when the car is idle with no or very little opening of the manifold... the air bounces inside of the intake and it resonates inside the intake tube to make the humm... sort of like a saxephone.. the sound will vary on the shape and length of tube... and different filters with different/length will affect the way air flows inside of the tube.. therefore making the tone of the humm different...

my k&n makes a lower humm than the generic one that came with the intake..

hg