jweb12

iTrader: (2)

I'll apologize in advance for the length of this post Edit - I apologize for the ridiculous length of this post. Hopefully somebody can provide some insight or others find the info here useful.

Finally got a chance to replace my AEM V1 with the V2. The only real reason I decided to do this was because I had a significant squeal/screech from my intake and there were mixed reports about whether this was an issue with the V2. An expensive test yes, but it was something I was willing to try.

First an explaination of the noise. There are plenty of threads about intake whistle/hiss and I've read them all. I'm still not sure people are talking about the same thing. In my case, I am not talking about the sound the air makes going through the intake tube. For me, there is a clearly audible squeal that I can recreate without fail in every gear (6MT). If I hold the accelerator at a light throttle position in the 2200-2800 range I can get the intake to "squeal" pretty constantly. Slightly more or less throttle and it will go away. If the windows are up you won't hear it. I really can't figure out why some people have it and others don't. I wonder how/if things like 3.2 vs. 3.5 or AT vs. MT play into this.

Anyway, I got a chance to install the V2 while I was doing my front A-spec lip. Since I already had to V1 in there, the install was pretty straight forward. Just replace the tube, reused the coolant and breather hoses from the V1, and relocate the ground wires in the fender for the V2 vibra mount. The following are my comments on the install/fit/function (this is on an 07 Type-S 6MT):

These are only comments with respect to my car, not claiming any of this is universal. Some things could very well be poor installation.

1. There is a slight clearance issue with the bottom section of the battery box. If I pulled the tube toward the fender to gain clearance, I couldn't get the tube mounted to the vibra mount. To give it just a little gap between the tube and the box I slid the entire battery box a little toward the engine bay. Because of this, the battery engine cover no longer fits. I think I am going to add some washers between the vibra mount and the body panel to get a little extra length and see if that helps enough to be able to use the battery engine cover. I also may just trim the corner of the box.

2. As others have mentioned, the filter is pressing against the plug for the fog light. When I first installed everything it was really tight. I adjusted the position of the tube at the throttle body to rotate the filter end away from the fog but not much room. I also repositioned the filter end of the tube slightly away from the fog by attaching just the end of the bracket to the vibra mount. Basically have just the tip of the bracket attached to the mount, but plenty to be secure. Even doing this, the filter still sits against the fog. I'm not sure yet if there's anything I can do about this but I'm not real comfortable with something constantly rubbing an electrical connection. Guys without lower fogs luckily don't have to worry about this.

3. It's a tight fit. This isn't news and I knew this would be the case. I noticed when I removed my V1 there were a few rub marks on it from some of the wire looms. So I took some leftover moleskin I had and covered areas that would/could come in contact with the tube. Not sure how well this will hold up but it's worth a try. The main issue with the tight fit is there there is less room to adjust the position for things like the fog light conflict.

4. This is the big one - I still have the squeal. Same conditions as with the V1 when driving. It seems very slightly less obnoxious but that may be in my head. I knew it was going to do it as soon as I fired the engine and revved a few times. Maybe it's just me, but you know when you (in neutral) give the engine a few quick revs you get a screech at the beginning of the rev? Not when you gradually give it gas, but if you blip the throttle. Think of the squeal I'm talking about as that screech noise but not as harsh and constant. Does everybody else get this quick screech sound when they do a quick rev in neutral? If not, any idea why I do because I have no idea......

Had the old man do a couple revs so I could get an idea exactly where it was coming from, even though I figured it was the throttle body. At first glance/listen it seems like it's coming from the filter end, but if you take a closer listen you'll find that it's coming from the throttle body. Just sounds like it's coming from the filter because the tube is acting like a megaphone, no surprise here. Is this noise coming from the intake air moving over the butterfly, basically acting like a whistle?

5. On the post-install drive I tried to get a feel for any differences between the V1 and V2. I admit, I was mostly focused on the squeal. But, I honestly don't think there is a "justifiable" difference between the two in the sense of it being worth swapping a V1 for a V2. There may be a slight gain there but again, it may be my head wanting something to be there.

That's basically it, thanks to anybody still reading all of this. I think I can work on the battery clearance but I can't think of a good way to relieve the pressue of the filter on the fog light. The squeal may be something I either have to live with or go back to the stock intake.

Any comments or recommendations on this would be great. Take care.

dwb993

iTrader: (13)

Great post. I too installed my AEM V2 today. I posted earlier here:
https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-performance-parts-modifications-112/my-aem-v2-install-732288/

I would like to respond to some of your items (in red below):

jweb12

iTrader: (2)

I saw your thread dwb993, also good info there. I agree with the recommendations you had in your post. On the throttle body, the coupler is seated against the little "stop", not over it. As for the plug in the tube, in addition to not cranking down on the bolt, I also added a little teflon tape to the top half of the threads (near the bolt head) to ensure a good seal. This was exactly how I had the V1 installed also.

The battery box clearance I know I can work around since, worst case, I can trim the corner of the box. The battery itself wouldn't be in the way.

The fog light is the main clearance issue. With so little room for adjustment, especially while maintaining contact with the vibra mount, I'm not sure there is a fix for this without modifying the mount bracket somehow.

Assuming I'm correct in saying the squeal is coming from the throttle body itself (or air moving past the butterfly/plate) I don't know how everybody wouldn't have this issue. It may be that with the 6MT it's easier to hold the certain throttle and rpm positions that make the noise most noticeable.

odehboy

So overall do you personally think the intake is worth it?

golfjwr

Lots of really good information in both threads guys. I will say that I too have that very annoying squel from my AEM V1 and was gonna get the V2 just to see if it went away. Glad to see someone else did it and threw up a nice write up for us all...you just save me some $$

jweb12

iTrader: (2)

I actually wondered if you had it since we have/had the same intake/exhaust mods. It was worth it to me to try it out just because the squeal is so obnoxious on mine, again, if I hold the engine in a certain range.

I will say that I just ran some errands and of course was paying close attention to all aspects of the intake. Mix of highway and local roads with the windows down and radio off. Again, maybe it's in my head but the squeal seems a little less obnoxious but it's still a problem. The car does seem to run and accelerate smoother with a little more responsiveness but I have to think that's in my head too. May just be having a clean filter in there even though the V1 filter was only on for 7,733 miles (yeah, I keep records )

Probably going to take care of the battery box clearance issue this afternoon so I can get the cover back on. Still not sure what can be done about the fog light though.

jweb12

iTrader: (2)

Depends really. If, like in my case, you already have a CAI then I don't think it's worth it imo. As I detailed, there are some fitment issues that you won't have with the other CAI's available. Also depends on what model TL you have. If you don't have lower fogs, that clearance issue is moot.

Like in dwb993's case, he was upgrading his stock intake and doesn't have lower fogs, so no reason not to get the V2 unless you want to save a few bucks and go with one of the others. If the V2 has a performance advantage over the others, it's minor. I don't think anybody has done an apples to apples dyno comparison between the two to show the V2 "greatly" outperforms the V1. Regardless, is a 1-2 whp more (if that's the case) worth dealing with fitment issues? Just depends on what's more important to you.

jweb12

iTrader: (2)

Something else I forgot to mention about the V2 that I was unaware of from previous posts/reviews (might have missed it). We all knew that the piping size opens up at the filter end of the tube. What I didn't know was that the smaller (3" dia.) section actually extends down into the larger (4" dia.) section, kind of like a sleeve. I wonder if this would help at all in reducing the chances of water reaching the throttle body. As in, if water were to get into the tube and actually be moved toward the engine by suction, wouldn't it flow along the tube itself? If so, it wouldn't get to the engine since the smaller tube that feeds the throttle body is actually centered in the larger tube. Just a theory. The V2 filter sits lower than the V1 so it may be helpfull.

jweb12

iTrader: (2)

The battery box clearance is no longer a problem. Did a little trimming. Mostly to the upper section of the box and just a little on the bottom section. Now I have about 1/8" minimum clearance from the box to the intake tube, even with moving the entire box toward the fender.......and my cover fits again! The parts I trimmed don't effect the function of the battery box (not that there is any reallly) and the top section still sits in the channel/lip of the bottom section all the way around. You can't really see that anything was done unless you know what to look for.

Now just need to figure out the fog light issue.....oh, and the squeal

dwb993

iTrader: (13)

Whoa, dude. I just noticed you're in Owings Mills. I'm in B'more everyday for work. We could meet up and compare---I'd really like to hear this squeal firsthand.

jweb12

iTrader: (2)

^ I actually know and work with a few people that live in Shrewsbury. I'll shoot you a PM later about meeting up sometime.

I have been thinking about the fog light problem a little more. I don't think there's a simple fix unfortunately. I think the easiest solution would be raising the filter by cutting the filter end of the tube down, but like I think somebody else mentioned in another thread, there isn't much room between the filter and the tube bracket so you may not gain enough to clear the light.

The only other option I can think of is rotating the tube to move the filter off the fog. The problems here are (1) that the tube is already pretty tight against that little ledge (bottom side of the tube) where the tube exits the engine bay and (2) the filter is already pretty close to bottoming out on the plastic "floor", for lack of a better term, and rotating it down away from the fog may cause another clearance problem.

There are a lot of people with the V2, has anybody else come up with a way to clear the fog light? I guess this would only apply to the 07-08 models though. I'm not sure yet if I'm willing to leave it as is. My main concern is the filter being wet/moist with it resting against the fog connection.

andyc123

I don't hear much of a squeal or whistle at all. I hear the little "cough" of the butterfly valve closing when I turn off the ignition, but that's about it.

I have thought about opening it back up and trimming 2 inches from the bottom of the tube to lift the filter higher, clearing the fog light. That's the only part that bugs me.

jweb12

iTrader: (2)

The "cough" noise is fine but I have a very audible squeal that I can hold for awhile. That's something that may end up making my decision whether I go back to the stock intake.

Anyway, you won't be able to trim that much from the filter end of the tube. The top of the filter sits pretty close to the mount bracket (or the weld for the bracket - can't remember). I can't remember how much room there is, I need to pull the bumper off again and take care of this when I get some time. I am hoping it won't take trimming of the tube to get the filter off the fog light.

jweb12

iTrader: (2)

My cai issues are now over.......put the stock intake back in awhile back and I'm back to being squeal-free . I have noticed a slight drop in performance but it's worth it (for me) not to have the squeal anymore. Getting the stock piping back in wasn't much easier than it was getting it out in the first place.

Anyway, I noticed a couple things once the stock intake was back in that I wasn't really expecting. Many people including myself have talked about the screech sound when you give the engine a quick rev being a cai characteristic. Well, the stock intake does it also but you just don't notice it as much. Mainly because of all the piping and probably more so, the stock silencer. Also, the infamous puff/fart air release that everybody notices once they install a cai also happens with the stock intake. Again, you just hear it more distinctly with a cai since it's one tube exiting near the exterior of the car. Now, you won't notice either of these during normal use, really only with the hood open.

What's it mean? Well, nothing really. Just figured I'd share the info and close out my cai experimenting.

Oh, and before anybody asks, I already sold the V2.

1fsthatch

bringin back an old thread i currently have the AEM V1 installed on my tl type s, Now that i have some funds i was wondering should i even waste my money on the AEM V2. And what might be some better mods to do instead of this since i already have an intake

flubyux2

iTrader: (1)

Just wanted to confirm: I have a blitz sus on my car and have a screech when I crack the throttle. It's more pronounced with light throttle changes like slowly going thru the gears. It is the throttle plate cutting the air going thru the throttle body. It must be such a perfect fit in the bore that the slightest opening will create the squeal. The hiss comes later or as a result of the idle air valve sucking air through a s
small hole.