GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I was reading through the death of Greenfires Matrix thread and came across this topic and was wondering about it. Of course I ask only days after ordering my CAI , but what are the chances of this happening? Someone said the filter is 18" above the ground, but if it is at the foglight level, that sure doesn't seem like 18" off the ground to me, especially with a 2" drop. Either way, what I'm wondering is how much suction does the CAI actually pull in and is it enough to pull water all the way into the engine should the filter get wet? I'll be installing it when it gets here regardlesss, but I was just wondering for my own and possibly anyone else who was wondering's information.

The kind of water that's gonna kill the CAI is this kinda water:This is a rare occurance,but when this happens, don't drive the Vibe through it. I've driven through puddles before and everything. It's all good. I mean, not purposely, but If I couldn't avoid them, try to go slower than usual. But it is quite hard to hydrolock a car our height though.Inder

TRD4Reel answered the question, but I'll reiterate. You would have to completely submerge the filter and rev the engine in order to suck up sufficient water to hydrolock. I had my CAI on through an MT winter or two and a trek across the country in all kinds of rain. The car never even stuttered.

Yeah, if you have to go through a somewhat deep puddle, just let the torque converter take you through it.

Cool, just wondering. Thanks guys!

We had lost of rain here in CA its not a lot compared to other places but we are not used to that much water so our streets flood easily when its raining for days and I like to drive trogh the water. Its not deep but enough to splash water all over the place I usually mash the gas and run over the overflooded streets and so far so good. No problems at all. Im not even careful instead I go out of the way to find water.

Quote, originally posted by TRD4reel »Yeah, if you have to go through a somewhat deep puddle, just let the torque converter take you through it.what? I don't understand?

Quote, originally posted by wicked1981 »We had lost of rain here in CA its not a lot compared to other places but we are not used to that much water so our streets flood easily when its raining for days and I like to drive trogh the water. Its not deep but enough to splash water all over the place I usually mash the gas and run over the overflooded streets and so far so good. No problems at all. Im not even careful instead I go out of the way to find water. Ha ha, I do that sometimes too, but most of the time I am trying to avoid it unless my car is already dirty, then I could care less and floor it through every puddle I can find!

One thing to remember...Even if the water in a flooded intersection is only about 3" deep, any huge waves created by other cars may be high enough to submerge your filter. Sometimes leading to hydrolock. That's how I've heard most people hydrolock...not because of standing water, but because of all the waves created by others.

Ok, so what exactly IS hydrolock and what happens because of it? I am assuming it is bad, but I'm not certain the severity of it.

hydrolock is having the air intake suck up liquid water, a lot of it, not just a couple of drops.Air compresses. Fuel/air mixture compresses. Water doesn't compress. Fill a cylinder up with water, force the piston to try to compress it, blammo.so hydrolock = blammo. I'm pretty sure greenfire's troubles were not hydrolock.

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »hydrolock is having the air intake suck up liquid water, a lot of it, not just a couple of drops.Air compresses. Fuel/air mixture compresses. Water doesn't compress. Fill a cylinder up with water, force the piston to try to compress it, blammo.so hydrolock = blammo. I'm pretty sure greenfire's troubles were not hydrolock.IOW, engine takes a $h!t and never works again?!?

There are different severities of hydrolock. Usually the engine will stall out before any MAJOR damage is done. It still requires some pretty in-depth internal cleansing though. "Lucky317", a member here, has pics of a hydrolocked Celica GTS engine and the repair process.Check them out here:http://www.everythingcelica.com/vip/album21

yeah, but it can be badfrom http://www.prepsparkplugs.com/hydrofact.htmof course that site is selling something to help prevent hydrolock damage , so they are likely to emphasize the danger.so far nobody here has ever reported that kind of trouble from a CAI and hydrolock on a Vibe.a matrix maybe, but not a vibe.

i saw this foam thingy you can put on the pipe after the air filter that keeps the water out..forgot what its called or where it is thou... :/

Yeah, the filter is directly above the fog light and is well protected from most splashing with all the splash guards and the bumper. You would have to be driving through water that is several inches above your door sill or a big wave that high in order for any water to get to the filter.

The risk of hydrolock is why I had to buy a short ram instead of a CAI.....My wife likes to go through high water ....for some reason....everytime weget a downpour and floodlike conditions....she's usually in the middle of itdriving...be it luck I don't know....

if you add a bypass valve(ie. the foam thingy that goes inline with the intake) it will save your engine, I have had experience with this and it saved my zx2's life.

good point.....

i just hit the clutch and jsut roll through it

Yeah, umm ... there is probably no way this specific damage is caused by hydrolock -- more likely its a case of prolonged pinging. Gotta love paranoia marketeers though ....

Quote, originally posted by cknight725 »Yeah, umm ... there is probably no way this specific damage is caused by hydrolock -- more likely its a case of prolonged pinging. Gotta love paranoia marketeers though .... Uh... sure. You go first.

I know other manufacturers of CAI make this. I just ordered an Injen CAI from Cosmo. Can this be adapted to it and if so where can I get it? I'm thinking of buying one of the pre-filters just for added security. My father's Hyndai Elantra pulls air right from the driver's side wheelwell, and while checking his stock paper airfilter.........the middle was warped just like a hose of water had been jetted at it. I haven't recieved my CAI yet, and haven't pulled anything apart to look at the dimensions of where the filter sits (I just got the car today, pics to follow tommorrow), I'm guessing that shortening the CAI any further would cause it to interfere with the chasis or frame. I'll be sure to avoid deep puddles, but I want to take every precaution possible.