Last week I ordred my AEM CAI with bypass valve (from Tim of course.) As always his service in impecable, and two days later it has been shipped and I have the tracking info. It was scheduled for delivery today and I've been waiting for it to show up like a little kid waiting for christmas (ever since i took the AEM ram off my 00TL, i've been missing that growl.) So at 3:45pm I'm at work and go to UPS tracking and check the status - CRAP! delivery attempted, neighbors not home, noone to sign for the package. So like any reasonable person would do, 15 minutes later i'm in my TL-S, on the way home . I'm home at 4:45, since i manage to beat the traffic, and go through with my plan to hunt down the UPS truck with my package. I grab the UPS attempted delivery slip, and i'm off, all over the streets of brooklyn to find the UPS truck. I try, knowing its useless, to call UPS and see if they can locate the truck - but apparently the 800# is in NC, so, of course, they cant. I find a UPS truck almost right away, but the guy blows me off, saying he doesnt even know what the notice means - *******. I keep looking and find another UPS truck which I follow for a good 20 minutes waiting for him to stop. This guy is cool, but says that since i'm not in his zip code, he doesnt know which truck would have it. So i'm off again, back to my own zip code. I find a truck about six blocks from my house, and the guy says he doesnt do my block, but the guy who does should be in that neighborhood; that is unless he already went back to the base since its almost 6:00pm at this point I decide to do a couple of circles around my immdiate area, and find the right UPS truck 3 blocks from my house Success!

6:30pm - I got my trusty metal saw in hand and hacking away at a bright red aem pipe ( so sad to get something new and shiny and have to mangle it into two pieces.)

6:50pm - I'm at my car and getting ready to start disconnecting things under the hood. It quickly occurs to me I may not make it before dark, as I remember that the Short Ram took about an hour without going under the car. I quickly decide not to listen to reason.

7:10pm - after really annoying tight screwing (or unscrewing i should say) the resonator is out from under the car and i'm ready to work under the hood. I realize that i dont remember where i put the extensions that i specifically got for the ratchet for this exact purpose (to remove the air box without taking out the battery) and slap myself.

7:15pm - apparently i slapped myself silly, cuz i passed out j/k
after looking for the extensions for five minutes i decide to take out the battery.

7:30pm - the battery is out and so is the stock air box, and i'm ready to install the CAI. its also starting to get dark outside.

7:45pm - having roughly fitted the CAI into the engine bay, and after looking over all the parts that I got with the package, i realize that i got two hoses instead of one, that seems to be the norm, one thick, one thin. I quickly run upstairs to check what other people have seen, and only find Chod's instructions on the CL forum for a Type S. He does not mention the 2nd thin hose which i assume replaces the thin hose/pipe/hose going under the throttle body from the intake pipe. I decide to ignore it, and start tightening the pieces.

8:30pm - the AEM CAI is in place! and now i have to fit all the other parts back in and under. I start clipping back the underbody, but because its pretty much dark at this point, it takes me quite a while to get all the openings synchronized and get all the clips in place.

9:00pm - Everything is in except the battery. Lifting the 40lb bad boy back into place after over two hours of uncomfortable positions of removing and setting screws is not fun. Ur not supposed to drop a battery, and it really helps that its in really tight quarters making it really painful for ur hands to lower it into the bay. But its finally back and all the covers are on and in place. As always there are extra parts left over.

9:30pm - I take a deep breath and start the car... drumroll please... the car starts fine, there's no hissing noise like from the short ram, or maybe i'm too tired to hear it at this point.

9:45pm - I'm washed up, in normal clothes, and ready to give it a test drive. I'm hoping i didnt miss any little pieces of packing peanuts stuck somewhere in the pipe . But the car is running beautifully and I take it out on the highway.

The growl is back and its great! I absolutely love it. The CAI is virtually silent up until about 4k rpm. Whats even better, is that the car seems to float effortlessly. Its like all this time it was starving for air, and now that it has it, its relaxed . Just feels soft, smooth and definitely more powerful. Then u floor it, and the growl is there and it just makes u smile. Fantastic feeling. I'm going to drag strip next wed. to test out the performance, but its definitely worth getting even for the sound.

All in all a fun day of work, and then real work , but worth it. This way i don't have to waste tomorrow's beautiful weather doing the install. On the other hand my friday night is shot, and my g/f went out without me, cuz i wasnt picking up the phone while working on the car . oh well, thats why i'm here and posting this on friday night.

 

Nice story.
Did you happen to read that post about amir from the CL board doing his CAI using his turning thing that makes a clicking noise?

 

LOL yeah, thats bound to be a classic... i was hoping that my install would not turn out to be 11 hours, cuz the adapter on my clicking thingy looked like it was about to give

 

I know exactly how you feel Zodiak. My AEM CAI was recently installed and the sound is just plain sexy. And my TL does seem to pull with ease now. Let me know the outcome at the dragstrip because to me it seems like my TL is faster then it was before. But I need to see hard proof that the AEM CAI does indeed increase hp. I'm keeping my fingers cross for your results!

 

so that's why u wanted to know if i was busy .. glad to hear u finished it.. I'll be in bklyn tommorow. . and i'm sure you'll be at the airport so i'll see u there probably
looking forward to next wednesday at the track as well .. should be interesting to see numbers..
whats more impressive is taht u managed to hunt down the UPS guy. that's quite an astounding feat.

just dont forget, u still cant speed in NY ha ha

 

Hehee!! I know exactly how you feel when you are waiting for a package from UPS. I used to sneak out of work early just to go home to pickup something for my car. Different post the results have you tracked it. I am thinking of getting a short ram or a cai myself.

 

Congratulations on your install!!

Chasing the UPS truck all over Brooklyn, now that's true dedication

 

Your insane...of course you already knew taht

Nice story, may have to do that after the axle back and sways.