Hey guys...sorry I am posting this because im sure there have been many postings on this topic before, but my internet is slow right now and im really busy. Anyhow I installed my aem cai about a month and a half ago and the damn part that holds the cai onto the car at the bend of the tube broke and left a hole in it. At the moment im going to put tape over the hole so no more crap gets into the engine, but I just wanted to know how i should go about getting this problem fixed. I am kind of disapointed with the build quality of aem if this happens often. Should I go with another brand?? Will aem replace it?

I dont have the receipt because a friend of mine did a group buy and mailed it to me.

 

get the receipt and contact aem, you have 1 year warranty
aem will mail you an intake tube and may or may not ask you to mail back the broken one

here is my thread regarding this matter
https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-performance-parts-modifications-112/b-034-sigh-aem-cai-%5Bexplitive-deleted%5D-kennedy-right-sigh-644889/

 

yeah, the build quality is shit. I bought intake red tape in Autzone, added some padding...

So far it holds, but I need to weld it.... I think their original welds are shits, and thus I'm not gonna bother with contacting AEM.

 

I think it's the location of the mount. The V2 and the other intakes that mount inside the wheel well at the bottom of the intake has the right idea.

 

get a v2 thats all i have to say yeah baby

 

Ya i need a new vibramount. Is there a part number?

 

yeah but didnt still already do a right up that the v2 doesnt fit perfectly? im sure that aem will come out with one that will fit the 3rd gen tls right? anyhow i dont have the receipt so should i just contact aem anyway? also is aem the right way to go or should i get fujita or

 

aem will never come out with a v2 for the tl... and I moved on from this fact...

and in my thread I didnt say it didnt fit, I said it was a direct fit...

t0talacuratl nailed it... the location of the bracket is the problem, higher up on the ram = more engine movement... lower on the ram engine movement is less severe

 

Been HOLY latetly!!!

Welcome to the club.

 

Perhaps a refund for the CAI and buy a different brand, I.E. Injen or Fujita. I have a friend that has the Injen in his TL-s and loves it. I had an Injen in my 04 TSX and had no issues. Good luck.

 

Normally, one would say "you get what you paid for". But in this instance, AEM is the most expensive of the group. This seems to be happening to people with TB spacers. That extra 1/2 to 3/4 inch is causing a lot of stress the tube wasn't designed for.

 

Exactly. It's and inch with the 2 seperators. Thats why when I received my replacement, i hack off 1" of the new tubing.

 

I forget who but someone posted how to fix the issue with the AEM with having the P2R. If my memory serves me correctly its a cheap and easy fix.

 

Get the INJEN!!! I originally wanted to get the AEM but so many people made threads about this happening to them, I said screww datt. Im very Happy with my Injen man. Quality is good and plus I got the hydroshield with it. Its been raining this past week and I feel alot better having that on there.

 

well im actually thinking of getting the v2...however I want my money back or something from aem...but like i said i dont have my receipt. anyone think that aem will give me my money back or replacement without the receipt?

 

i dint have my receipt, but i contact the online store i bough it from and they were able to email it to me. AEM will request a receipt and pictures. Also you have to now return the old one. They will give you a story about how this has been happending often and their engineers want to look at it to correct the problem

 

The Ebay CAI I bought is made like this. Feels very solid when on.

 

Isnt the issue with AEM units basically confined to people with P2R spacers installed? I had mine installed with ThermoBlok gaskets instead of P2R and NEVER had an issue whatsoever. Do you think it might just be the issue with the P2R/AEM combo?

 

i dont think so because i dont have any spacers and mine just broke off

 

Same problem happend to me AEM wanted a reciept, misplaced mine. Not happy with the quality from this intake. I think I'm going to purchase a K&N intake system.

 

no TB spacer

 

Hmmm....I must have had a freak intake or something then! Mine never broke. Anybody that has a broken one and just wants to replace the tube PM me....I have one. Ah....I will stick it in the black market soon anyway. Been compiling a lot of parts to sell.

 

Mine broke too! about 8 months ago, same exact thing... mine was installed for 6 months, no problems.... i put in the P2R spacer, and it broke 4 weeks later....

AEM did send me a replacement pretty effortlessly, but they wanted the broken one first... so i had to buy a spare to use until i got my replacement

The cause is

1) P2R TB spacer, adding 1" adds pressure to the vibra-mount
2) People are tightening that vibra-mount tooooo much. There is a reason its rubber in the middle, and that is to provide play when the engine is under a heavy load (WOT) or switching gears abruptly


FYI, if you are gonna install the AEM with a P2R TB spacer, it REALLY helps to remove the whole throttle body while doing the install.... you can actually "cup" the intake over the entire TB, if you have it off the car.... mine is installed SO perfect now, and i didnt have to cut 1" off the intake pipe... 8 months, no problems so far

 

Crap this thread is getting me paranoid. I feel like runnin down and lookin under the hood. I thought this only happened like a freak incident once or twice, now I see it could happen to any of us........I did kinda tighten that vibramount quite a bit..........!

I hope AEM is not lookin at this thread because once they site the P2R as a probable cause they ain't gonna cover us no more!

 

They have no way to prove if you are using the spacer or not.

I think the reason for them breaking is like what t0talacuratl said, the postion of the mouting bracket.

 

+1. I have the thermoblock spacers installed as well and never had a similar problem.
Seems it is indeed due to (1) stress of the over-sized P2R spacers and (2) stress from over-tightening of the vibramount bolt, as blackura had mentioned above. I've been frequently checking my mine ever since all these threads started popping up ... hope it lasts longer than what some of you guys are stating

 

Here was my thread regarding this

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...065&highlight=