problem with cold air intake

[skc]

last monday it rained all day.
i was going home from work and my car started to jerk.. at first i thought i let clutch too fast so i kept going.
moment later, i knew something is wrong so i was turn back to where i work.
i stopped to make a left turn, and my car died.
it was still raining and i had to push my car to the side. thank god our car is light and electric power steering is awesome.
i called roadside assistance and towed my car to the dealer.
i hooked scanner but no code showed up. took out MAF sensor and found some water.
my filter was soaked with water and when i took it out of my car water was dripping.
got my car started after drying air filter and MAF sensor. glad MAF sensor is ok.
i'm shocked and scared to drive in the rain.
i dunno what to do now if i should put back stock intake system or just change air filter to the one that need to put oil.
i've heard oiled filter they don't get soaked with water.

btw i didn't go over any puddles.. i think it was just soaked from leaving my car outside in the rain.

any suggestions?

[Kitt]

i'll go stock again, water in the cylinder is not good man

[PetersRedYaris]

That blows! Oiled filters do repel water and cannot be soaked (because they are already soaked with oil) but they have their disadvantages too. (ie. Oil coating the MAF sensor) Do you have the AEM?

[mojoyaris]

Yes I read in your garage you have the AEM. There should be some kinda protection against this problem. TRD has such a device for their CAI. I prefer the short RAM intake because I had fears this would happen, especially in the lower mainland. What did you dealer say about this?

[Farminator]

That seems odd.. I have the AEM and the way it's mounted it seems that there should be little chance of water soaking the unit or even the filter. Maybe you have an opening somewhere where water is being let in. My filter sits right behind the driver side fog light cover and as far as I checked i could not see any way for water to get in cause of the wheel cover and the plastic bottom thing-a-majigger cover that goes across the entire bottom of the car right underneath the bumper. .........hmmmmm...thinking it over again I just cant figure out how it would happen but please let us know cause I dont want to be caught in that situation.

[YamilR]

That seems odd.. I have the AEM and the way it's mounted it seems that there should be little chance of water soaking the unit or even the filter. Maybe you have an opening somewhere where water is being let in. My filter sits right behind the driver side fog light cover and as far as I checked i could not see any way for water to get in cause of the wheel cover and the plastic bottom thing-a-majigger cover that goes across the entire bottom of the car right underneath the bumper. .........hmmmmm...thinking it over again I just cant figure out how it would happen but please let us know cause I dont want to be caught in that situation.

Same Here

[eco]

I have the TRD,never any problem,but heres a tip,when its raining,stay a good distance behind other cars if possible,and change lanes if your behind an 18 wheeler on the highway.18 wheelers create this mist of water behind them,its really light mist and can travel straigt to your intake,because your intake is like a vacum,and even more so at high speeds.Cars create this aswell.just not as bad.Hope this helps.

[skc]

i just changed my filter to oiled one. problem solved.
i've been driving with oiled filter for month and half and it seems working fine.
i could hear air sucking louder and got little more pull with my butt dyno. lol
i think dry air filter isn't suitable with vancouver weather. rains too much..

[mojoyaris]

i just changed my filter to oiled one. problem solved.
i've been driving with oiled filter for month and half and it seems working fine.
i could hear air sucking louder and got little more pull with my butt dyno. lol
i think dry air filter isn't suitable with vancouver weather. rains too much..

Did you get your air bypass valve donut thing?.

Yes it rains pretty hard here in VAn. Not like it Cali where it's pretty dry alot of the time.

One reason why I didnt go the CAI way or go with the scooped carbon fiber hood.

Tooo much rain.

[Farminator]

Well glad the problem was solved. Here in Los Angeles I guess i'll just keep in mind the tips about driving behind cars and 18 wheelers since it doesn't rain much or very hard. Later just to have peace of mind I'll invest in a bypas...but when fall rolls around in 6 months.

[bigsky2]

Very strange...

During the day, I park outside and it's exposed to all the rain, snow, sleet, whatever Vancouver weather experiences. I've yet to experience any hydro lock with my intake (AEM without the bypass valve). I had the intake installed in July 2006, and it went through a lot of rain/snow during the latter part of 2006.

Scary experience, but great to hear you fixed the problem.

[mojoyaris]

Very strange...

During the day, I park outside and it's exposed to all the rain, snow, sleet, whatever Vancouver weather experiences. I've yet to experience any hydro lock with my intake (AEM without the bypass valve). I had the intake installed in July 2006, and it went through a lot of rain/snow during the latter part of 2006.

Scary experience, but great to hear you fixed the problem.

Did you have the oiled filter? I guess the placement is under the light? I have heard some people removed the scoop cover where the fog lights go to get more air to the filter, and here is where I can see a problem with the water getting in.

I think you have your running lights on so the air has to go around the bumper or through the radiator opening.

[bigsky2]

Did you have the oiled filter? I guess the placement is under the light? I have heard some people removed the scoop cover where the fog lights go to get more air to the filter, and here is where I can see a problem with the water getting in.

I think you have your running lights on so the air has to go around the bumper or through the radiator opening.

I'm using the "dry" non-oil filter that was provided with the AEM intake.

The under body splash guards around the wheel well and directly underneath the fog light is the only barrier between the car's surface and the intake filter. I can imagine that once it's removed, a lot moisture can get inside and the filter would absorb a most of it.

The AEM intake draws the air from the area below the engine bay, but I have no idea what the direction of the airflow is. It definitely draws cool(er) air as the intake is generally cool/tepid to the touch. It only warms up significantly when the outside temperature is high.

[d4w1]

Should have purchased a TRD Cold air intake for your yaris. (PN: PTR03-52070) TRD cold air intake comes with a bypass valve in the upper pipe to prevent water from entering and reaching the MAF sensor.

[OxyG3nE]

i have the aem with no bypass and there is no problem.. and anyway you can buy the bypass valve for 40 $.. you just cut the pipe and install it ;p

[mojoyaris]

last monday it rained all day.
i was going home from work and my car started to jerk.. at first i thought i let clutch too fast so i kept going.
moment later, i knew something is wrong so i was turn back to where i work.
i stopped to make a left turn, and my car died.
it was still raining and i had to push my car to the side. thank god our car is light and electric power steering is awesome.
i called roadside assistance and towed my car to the dealer.
i hooked scanner but no code showed up. took out MAF sensor and found some water.
my filter was soaked with water and when i took it out of my car water was dripping.
got my car started after drying air filter and MAF sensor. glad MAF sensor is ok.
i'm shocked and scared to drive in the rain.
i dunno what to do now if i should put back stock intake system or just change air filter to the one that need to put oil.
i've heard oiled filter they don't get soaked with water.

btw i didn't go over any puddles.. i think it was just soaked from leaving my car outside in the rain.

any suggestions?

Hey SKC Did it rain all day and you took your car in a car wash? This could be the problem. My brother talked to a guy with a Mazda 3 that had this problem............hmmmmmmmm could it be??????

[marcus]

did you have to adj your idle response as well i heard some that need to be done

i just changed my filter to oiled one. problem solved.
i've been driving with oiled filter for month and half and it seems working fine.
i could hear air sucking louder and got little more pull with my butt dyno. lol
i think dry air filter isn't suitable with vancouver weather. rains too much..

[marcus]

just found out that our yaris didnt have rubber blocking the water from comin in on the filter bay area its actually coming from the top of the headlight unit.. washed my car last week and open the hood after and found out my air filter boxed was soaked water all around it..hope it didnt go in the filter..although there is space there for it to come in..got to get rubber around it!!!! check it out people.. water getting thru!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


last monday it rained all day.
i was going home from work and my car started to jerk.. at first i thought i let clutch too fast so i kept going.
moment later, i knew something is wrong so i was turn back to where i work.
i stopped to make a left turn, and my car died.
it was still raining and i had to push my car to the side. thank god our car is light and electric power steering is awesome.
i called roadside assistance and towed my car to the dealer.
i hooked scanner but no code showed up. took out MAF sensor and found some water.
my filter was soaked with water and when i took it out of my car water was dripping.
got my car started after drying air filter and MAF sensor. glad MAF sensor is ok.
i'm shocked and scared to drive in the rain.
i dunno what to do now if i should put back stock intake system or just change air filter to the one that need to put oil.
i've heard oiled filter they don't get soaked with water.

btw i didn't go over any puddles.. i think it was just soaked from leaving my car outside in the rain.

any suggestions?

[Vanderkitten]

paper filters and non-oilder filters suck and should never be used. OIled filters flow better, trap more crap and flow better. =) Just ask any sportbike owner.

[Bis]

just got my lb a couple weeks ago. havent really looked at the engine bay, but if you have the aem cai the a bypass valve will prevent sucking up water. how hard was it raining anyways?

[marcus]

it rained yesterday...i checked again and again air filter area is wet water around the filter box..., although the filter is dry but if i had a cone filter it would have soak water big time... gotta get them rubber lining..dollar store..let people know coz they may not be aware that their filter getting soaked....

[skc]

i did not wash my car that day and it was just raining really hard.
one of the storm days.. i think we had almost 20 storms in 2 month. i'm not sure.
i think the aem filter sits on the water passage from headlamp unit..
i was thinking of making a shield but i'm too lazy now. plus i dont think bypass valve is required since the filter sits high from ground.
i'm just glad i don't have problem anymore after changed to oiled filter.
if that happens again, i'm going back to stock intake system.

[mojoyaris]

I don't have the CAI, just the Blitz intake, but I'm thinking about removing the plastic blocker to open the left side opening of the bumper and putting a flex tube from there to the engine bay to bring cooler air into the engine bay. Much like how I used to do this with my brakes on my 510. i used to run cold air from the airdam to the brakes. For the Yaris i plan to bring in cooler air to the engine bay near the intake.
For the winters, I can remove this.

[dngz]

aiya! and i sold u that intake ><!!

[RS07]

The best thing, i think, would be to add a "shield" around your filter. I know a guy at work who have an Infinity G35X and that's what he need to have, because if he don't, the air intake will suck the water from the road... So maybe you can do the same...