Question about converting AEM CAI back to stock intake - Honda Prelude Forum

ed-camden · 11-08-2001, 05:09 AM

Many of you have probably read my post about a tinny type sound coming from my CAI at high rpms. Try as I might, I could never get it to go away. I dremeled the hole bigger. Wrapped the lower part of the tube in a towel, etc. and it still persisted. I'm going to try to reinstall my stock intake w/o the resonator. I looked through the old parts and there are alot of hoses and parts. Do I just reinstall the part fromt he throttle body to the bottom of the filter where there is a hole and leave out everything below that. I assume the sound will be very similar to the CAI w/ a mild loss in high end hp and mild gain in low end. Any advice is appreciated.

97_Super_Sport · 11-08-2001, 09:05 AM

I would think you could use just the tube and filter box.cause all those hose and the little black box (butterfly valve)did was open up the secondary on the resonator-wich will be absent on your car still.

I'm by no means an expert

but you should have no probs

BJJ_brawler · 11-08-2001, 10:35 AM

I posted this before somewhere else, saw it on some website can't remember which? Put your airbox back in and leave everything below it out. Buy some 4" flextubing from the hardware store. Pop out the black peice of plastic on your bumper below the little light. Route the 4" hose from the bottom of the box to the hole in your bumper. I did this before and it made a big difference on the highway. True ram air effect. Costs less than $10 so if you are going back to stock and are planning on leaving out the resonator it's worth looking into. You'll see what I mean when you punch it doing 60 mph. Oh yeah, buy a drop in K$N filter if you don't already have one, part No 33-2090.

Kool-Lude · 11-08-2001, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BJJ_brawler
I posted this before somewhere else, saw it on some website can't remember which? Put your airbox back in and leave everything below it out. Buy some 4" flextubing from the hardware store. Pop out the black peice of plastic on your bumper below the little light. Route the 4" hose from the bottom of the box to the hole in your bumper. I did this before and it made a big difference on the highway. True ram air effect. Costs less than $10 so if you are going back to stock and are planning on leaving out the resonator it's worth looking into. You'll see what I mean when you punch it doing 60 mph. Oh yeah, buy a drop in K$N filter if you don't already have one, part No 33-2090.

I removed everything below the stock intake filter and have been running with the top portion only, with k&n drop-in ziptied to it. Recently, i added the 4" flex tubing u mentioned, and attached it to the bottom of the intake box that i reinstalled. There was no ram air affect and i lost torque low and high. I dont think this set-up works because the air, although cooler, has to travel so much farther thru a 4" tube then into a smaller 3" oval hole before it even gets to the filter..which is a flat 4"x8" surface. Doesn't sound right to me as far as easy flow and my butt dyno agrees. So, better to just use the 4" tube as a source to pipe the cold air into the engine bay right next to the filter(on my homemade stock HAI), like i have it now. I need to remove it or poke holes for the rain season though. Just my experience.....

Jacques · 11-09-2001, 04:55 PM

I agree with Kool-Lude and BJJ_brawler on this one. There's also the advantage that having the resonator off is some weight savings...remember how heavy that thing was when you took it off?

EviLPenEviL · 11-09-2001, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BJJ_brawler
I posted this before somewhere else, saw it on some website can't remember which? Put your airbox back in and leave everything below it out. Buy some 4" flextubing from the hardware store. Pop out the black peice of plastic on your bumper below the little light. Route the 4" hose from the bottom of the box to the hole in your bumper. I did this before and it made a big difference on the highway. True ram air effect. Costs less than $10 so if you are going back to stock and are planning on leaving out the resonator it's worth looking into. You'll see what I mean when you punch it doing 60 mph. Oh yeah, buy a drop in K$N filter if you don't already have one, part No 33-2090.

Hey I was thinking of doing the exact same thing when I removed my resonator (I mentioned it in one of my posts a while back while showing pics of my resonator removed)

But I never carried out the task to actually do this mod, but I'm very curious as to what would really happen.........

Then again, Kool_Lude says there's no positive effect, but instead lost torque, which is something I do NOT want to lose...........

Neways, I'm gonna try that this weekend and report back.........

latez.......

Kool-Lude · 11-10-2001, 12:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by EviLPenEviL
Neways, I'm gonna try that this weekend and report back.........
latez.......

Try it..i'm currious to see if you have different results than me. I only left the tube attached to the bottom stock box for one day.

Since that trial, i've been running with nothing below the filter except the attached 4" tube to the fender hole. Cooler air definetly makes its way up there..i tested it with a fan and could feel air being pushed thru the hole..but i really don't know how effective it is performance wise. The filter and box remain cold even after long drives, but the stock rubber intake piping still gets hot as hell, possibly defeating any gains from the cooler air piped.

One other interesting fact..today i checked my recently cleaned filter(1 month ago) and it was very dirty, even caked on. I brushed it off for now. My only explanation is that the direct source of air from the front bumper must be picking up all the sh!t on the fwys and stuff from POS cars. Don't know if its worth the extra hassle to clean the filter so often.

EviLPenEviL · 11-10-2001, 12:39 AM

Kool_lude..........

That flexible tube that ur talking about, it's that silvery colored, wire bending thingy that is used for our laundry dryers rite?? Or is that somethin else??

Neways, u say 4" diameter? U think there would be a dramatic difference if I used something bigger or smaller?

And about ur filter getting more dirtier than usual, I had thought about covering up the opening of the piping with some kind of grill/mesh thingy to keep out everything but flowing air....... Maybe u could try that.......

One last thing, where is the cheapest place to get the K&N filter??

Thanx.....

latez.............

Kool-Lude · 11-10-2001, 01:17 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by EviLPenEviL
Kool_lude..........
That flexible tube that ur talking about, it's that silvery colored, wire bending thingy that is used for our laundry dryers rite?? Or is that somethin else??

Sort of..the one i got was from Home Depot and it is a flexable all aluminum metal tube - a bit rigid compared to a typical dryer tube that is made of a soft foily material with wire spirals in it.

Quote:

Originally posted by EviLPenEviL
Neways, u say 4" diameter? U think there would be a dramatic difference if I used something bigger or smaller?

Bigger wont fit, smaller will be less effective..just blow into the 3" tube vs. 4" and you will see what i mean. Using a 3" tube would be much easier though, the 4" required alot of manipulation to get to fit in properly.

Quote:

Originally posted by EviLPenEviL
And about ur filter getting more dirtier than usual, I had thought about covering up the opening of the piping with some kind of grill/mesh thingy to keep out everything but flowing air....... Maybe u could try that.......

The filter was covered in a very fine black sooty dirt. I doubt any type of mesh would help. Maybe some panyhose, but that would restrict the air flowing in..remember, my setup is designed for air to be pushed up the tube, not sucked in by the intake.

Quote:

Originally posted by EviLPenEviL
One last thing, where is the cheapest place to get the K&N filter??

http://www.performanceproducts.com/p...dorid=&search= $40 plus shipping..this is where i bought mine from. I actually stopped by the store in Van Nuys, CA..very well run place.