Hey guys i am in the process of ordering an AEM CAI for my 05 TL and one of the concerns the tech at Acura had was that he worked on 3 engines last summer of guys sucking up water into their CAI's because of where the intake gets mounted and apparently after a heavy rainfall we do have some standing water on the streets for a half day. I expressed my concerns of this with the company i was ordering this through(Gas Performance, i dont expect any of you to know them, they are from winnipeg) and they suggested a bi-pass valve. I was wondering if anyone has heard or is using this. From what i understand its a valve higher up the intake and when the primary intake does become submerged and tries to suck up water, because the water is heavier the bipass valve will engage(which is almost always passive) and suck air from higher up the tube. Now by no means do i consider this a snorkel for the car nor is it ever to good to drive your car through standing water like a mootard but as a backup i was wondering if anyone has heard of this used before, or if they've heard of or can forsee any loss in performance because of this. When i talked to him about other stuff i've been reading up on i get the impression he isnt the freshest cookie in the jar when it comes to tl's so i can only take his opinion with a grain of salt. Lol, he told me it would be a massive job like 6or 7 hours to install a thermoblock spacer and after i talked to acura they were like no 1.5 or 2 hours, haha. He just doesnt seem to have knowledge about the Tl. Anyways any help or input would be greaty appreciated.

 

you would have to go through deep standing water and gas it to suck up the water. if you're that concerned get the bypass valve... or you can cut the intake and raise the filter up a bit,

 

Well i wasnt that concerned with it til the service guy mentioned it, and then talking to the other guy he mentioned the bypass but i have never heard of it so i was more or less just looking for background on it or feedback if anyone had tried it out.

 

it dosn't hurt to have one....it may affect the sound slightly....but not so much....go for it if ur that worried

 

It also hurts performance because unfortunately it allows hot air to be sucked into it from the engine bay regardless if the filter is submerged or not.

 

I didnt think AEM had one for our intake model

not saying Id put it on, I just never saw it for our model..

 

You know that for a fact? The guy(idiot) i talked to said when it was passive it was sealed, is this not true? He also didnt 100% confirm that he could get one, he said it SHOULDNT be a problem and we'll look into when the intake is delivered(i get the feeling this is turning into another bush league operation i always run into where guys think they know what they are talking about but dont ie. ordering rims i was assured fit that didntt fit )

 

Hey man I live in Flordia where it rains all the time.I have had three tls all six speeds with cai and com tech exhaust.My first one was a 2005 blacked out windows front windshield tinted .It was raining hard were you could hardly see I pulled into a parking that was flooded and sucked water in the motor.The car was about a week old when the car stalled I open the sun roof jumped out and pushed the car backwards out of the knee deep water.I let the car sit for a few mintues took the intake loose I let the car idle for about five minites and gradualy raced it up until it ran the water out.It did not run any different than either 06.The reason I have had three new tls if your wondering,I have been hit twice in three months and they do not make a sub frame for the six speed they totaled both of them

 

Wow~! Thats friggin crazy. How's your new 06, perfect? 3's a charm- right

 

The water would have to be about 12" deep in order to be sucked into the AEM CAI. And if the road is that flooded, why would you drive thru it?

 

yea man the new ones great,intake with or without by-pass valve you will love it

 

Yeah, I have an 05 6-sp with an aem on it. I think I would take my car out of any car in your typical parking lot. I love my car every time I get in. But damn, I cant imagine hydro-locking, and wrecking 2 times, and still buying the same car again. You've got true dedication.