Cold Air Intake

[Crusher_13]

Guys, I Don't have a BMW, I have a Mazda3 MPS or Mazdaspeed3.

I want to get a CAI for it, but I have been hearing a lot about hydro-lock, is this something that is common, or even something that I should at all be worried about? I am guessing that this is an issue for all cars be it a turbo or NA.

The Mazda forum I am also a member off has done this topic to death and I am on the non-issue side of things. Would be very unlucky to get enough water into the CAI to hydro-lock the engine.

So, does a CAI increase the chances of hydro-locking an engine? And what if anything can be done to help prevent this happening with a CAI?

[polizei144]

we got my friends jeep hydra locked off road one time from driving through alot of water. ive never seen it otherwise. ive got a ram intake from simota on my car. never had a problem with it.

[CraigMakDaddy]

Yes, it does. An actual story: My brother put an intake on a Talon that he never had any problems with. A month after putting the intake on it rained pretty hard and he went through a medium sized puddle. Apparently he hit the puddle just right and water went straight into his intake. As a result a perfectly good engine got hydro-locked and the car became a giant useless piece of metal. I would say that the odds of this happening are extremely small but I know for a fact that it can occur. It probably has alot to do with the intake placement and the kind of water you plan to be driving in.

[Crusher_13]

Was there any splash guard under the Talon? My can seems to have a splash guard where the CAI would go.

[fairweatherpunk]

Yes this can definitely happen. It really depends on how low the car is to the ground and how far the intake goes down. But bottom line if you see any small body of water on the surface of the road you probably should avoid it anyway. Especially in the rain when you can't tell how deep it is.

[gnastydent]

it does if you drive in the rain i know cause iv done it 2 times.

[bmw528i]

Well it is possible to hydro lock an engine with a CAI assuming the intake cone is in a position where it can easily be done. A friend of a friend of mine had an R32. he ran the piping of his CAI into his front tire well and when the next rain storm came he hydro locked his brand new R32. If you buy a cheap intake for your car you will certainly increase your chance of hydro locking your engine. One of the nice things about a lot of good intake systems is they come with heat shields which can also act as a splash shield. The Conforti intake system i plan on buying for my car actually has a shield made of a heat resistant plastic which helps keep the intake air cool and because it is form fitted to seal off the intake cold from the engine bay it also is designed to fit flush with the hood when you are not showing off your engine bay.
This is a link from Turner Motorsport showing the Conforti CAI

Turner Motorsport - Item# JCINTAKE39 - E39 525i/528i/530i Conforti Cold Air Intake Kit - E39

[moonpie_murders]

also, invest in a bypass valve. i ran a CAI on my rx-7 for the past couple of years and hadn't had any problem (aside from dust and construction zone debris). they're like $40 and will save an engine. installation isn't hard either.

[StarkeyT22489]

yea the bypass valves work pretty well i have a full cai on E30 with a bypass valve and well i have gone though some deep buddles and never had a promblem.