[travicon]

ok, so any of you familiar with the weather in houston knows that we have been pounded here the last week and for the first time since owning my f2 i received a weather induced scare. i was parked for the night at my hotel in galveston for the night when the rain started, it rained until morning, and i knew i would have to be careful of puddles and such, but i never knew leaving my car in the rain over night could come to be a problem. well, to my surprise, as i am leaving the hotel, and merging on to 45, i hit the gas, the car jolts, and the infamous CEL comes on; oh shit! so i get back to the hotel as soon as possible to stop driving my car, and i pop the hood and my filter(yes i have a pre-filter) is completely soaked. so, i dont drive for the whole next day and a half, in which it rains the rest of the day, and is sunny the next. i also put towels over the filter to slow down the water, and when i took them out, 2 out of 3 of the towels were completely drenched. i decide to test the car again this morning; no cel, so i am excited, hit the gas a little bit to stay with traffic, and my cel comes on again. i go to the hardware store and disconnect the battery, MAF, and hose clamps on site, and to my dismay, there is a puddle in the U-shape of the intake tubing. so i stick my hand down in there with a towel and begin to sop up the water that is in there. i get it all out, put everything back together, and my cel and problems have since disappeared. i now have many worries, and would like to know if anyone out there has any answers.

1. could my car ultimately hydrolock?
2. are there remedies to stopping the water that drips on the filter(seems to be a sedan-only problem)?
3. what preventative maintenance steps should i take in the next couple of days or weeks to avoid blowing the engine?

 

[budgy]

im thinking if a dangerous amount of water got in the motor it wouldnt have lasted long before you had some kind of catastrophic failure, I don't think you hyrdolocked...but maybe put the stock intake back on and take it to the dealership

 

[biped]

i'm no mechanical engineer, but i'll give you my honest opinions.

1. i know of at least one case where water injestion has caused the destruction of an engine over time. i think it was j-so's car. so whether it is a concern or not, it could happen, for sure.

2. the mazdaspeed's splash guard seems to be the only remedy i know of, short of maybe another intake. the intakes with a U seem to like water... maybe fashion yourself some crude shielding? hatch ftw...

3. obviously one would want to let it dry out, but i'm not really sure how long or if injested water can dry out. the more mechanically inclined can answer that one...

 

[nebular]

as i've read it, the intakes are not affecting the emissions, right?

 

[travicon]

[quote author=nebular link=topic=72197.msg1272175#msg1272175 date=1174088737]
as i've read it, the intakes are not affecting the emissions, right?
[/quote]

no

 

[gundal]

damn, this is reason why I am afraid to get the CAI.

Any idea on how exactly water got into the intake tubing? It's a scary thought if it just happened overnight while the car was parked.

 

[Mazz]

[quote author=gundal link=topic=72197.msg1272212#msg1272212 date=1174090103]
Any idea on how exactly water got into the intake tubing? It's a scary thought if it just happened overnight while the car was parked.
[/quote]

You don't know houston rains... rain isn't really the right word.

trbab, i feel for you. Same reason I'm been very leary of getting on the F2 group buy list going on . But I'm with Budgy, return it to stock & take to the dealership, see what they have to say. If nothing else, peace of mind.

 

[travicon]

i shit you not...the car was parked all night while we were getting drunk. took it out the next day, and had the issues. my girlfriend even asked me why it was doing that if i didnt drive through any high water(she was in the car when it happened). i have no idea how water got in the intake tubing from a steady drip for about 10hrs, as i have a pre-filter. but this seems to be a problem associated with sedans for whatever reason. as i said, while it rained the following day, i put towels down on top of the filter to curb the water and 2 of 3 of the towels were completely drenched.

 

[AuxOne]

what filter are u useing?

 

[travicon]

[quote author=AuxOne link=topic=72197.msg1272239#msg1272239 date=1174090984]
what filter are u useing?
[/quote]

k&n

 

[gundal]

Ah... it's the sedan problem, I was thinking whether you (trbab32886) had sedan or hatch.

People who had Injen had same issue... I think... maybe someone can confirm.

 

[travicon]

yep it is a sedan problem. but moreover, how is it possible for that much water to get in when the hood is closed? thats kinda rediculous.

 

[gundal]

Not sure exactly how, but F2 and Injen have similar bends, although Injen is bent more upwards. Water must be dripping near there somehow...

 

[travicon]

so i dunno anymore. just have my fingers crossed. when i disassembled it, the MAF was noticably wet, but the throttle body was completely dry.

 

[isjoining]

sedan problem? i have driven through downpours here in florida, and drove through shallow puddles at 50mph (when it rains, the water doesn't run off as quick as the rain pours) and never had a problem with my fujita F5. I also used a pre-filter, it was wet but the air filter was dry when I checked.

 

[budgy]

actually yes it is a sedan problem...certain CAI are positioned so that water drains directly onto the filter, injen is one of them for sure, its the only reason I bought an AEM for my sedan...I cant say anything about the Fujita intakes, but still that may not have been the problem...with a prefilter on, merely being wet will not suck any water in, your intake has to practically be submerged to suck in any water at all. But then again these guys are saying the rains in Houston are more like monsoons, so its hard to say...I don't think this happened literally overnight, as he said he pulled the car out of the parking lot before the CEL came on or noticed anything funny. It could very well have been wet before he started driving, but may have bit a big puddle or just that the rain was so severe that the intake pulled some water in while driving.

 

[The Spaz]

I ahve had a few CEL's with my Injen, I also have a sedan. I don't worry about it though, it goes away sometimes right away or when the next dry day is.

 

[travicon]

im being lazy and dont feel like searching for a pic of either of the aforementioned intakes, but i have the SCI F2 intake, plus the prefilter. after seing what happened to j-so's car a few months back, i have been extremely careful when it comes to driving in rain; i coast through high water, rather than throttle through it, i avoid high water at all costs. contrary to what i believe many out there are thinking, i did not drive through a huge puddle. as soon as i get home monday im gonna experiment a little with what could have happened with the water dripping, but i can tell you with 100% confidence that the 2 towels that were placed in the engine bay directly on top of the filter were soaking wet; with the 3rd towel placed closer to the MAF hardly wet at all. please keep in mind that the car was not driven at all while the towels were in there.

 

[isjoining]

[quote author=budgy link=topic=72197.msg1272402#msg1272402 date=1174095128]
actually yes it is a sedan problem...certain CAI are positioned so that water drains directly onto the filter, injen is one of them for sure, its the only reason I bought an AEM for my sedan...I cant say anything about the Fujita intakes, but still that may not have been the problem...with a prefilter on, merely being wet will not suck any water in, your intake has to practically be submerged to suck in any water at all. But then again these guys are saying the rains in Houston are more like monsoons, so its hard to say...I don't think this happened literally overnight, as he said he pulled the car out of the parking lot before the CEL came on or noticed anything funny. It could very well have been wet before he started driving, but may have bit a big puddle or just that the rain was so severe that the intake pulled some water in while driving.
[/quote]

as far as i can tell the air filter on the F2 intake is positioned the same way the Fujita is. I know the filter has to be submerged in order for it suck water through the pre-filter, but if I recall trbab also has a pre-filter. monsoon like rains are a norm here in florida.

 

[biped]

short ram intakes for the win. never had a cel, issues with weather, loss of power...