Don't buy the eBay intakes.

jrim · 01-06-2009, 10:43 PM

So. I bought the near most top-end CAI for my 02 alero and a $20 bypass valve. Mind you, this is 'top end' on eBay, not a Weapon R kit. The CAI was about $71 after shipping. A hefty investment chunk for a frickin tube :P

(this is a chromeintakes / chrome intakes product. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...3AIT&viewitem= )

Anyway, I figured I'd buy the best of the worst, ya know? Maybe spending that extra $20-$30 for the K&N filter would be worth it...

No.

This was an install from hell.

The intake was 2 parts; a longer tube to stretch from the throttle body/MAF part to the fenderwell, and a short elbow with a cone on the end to fit at the end of the tube.

I had to BEND METAL behind my washer fluid tank just to get the pipe to properly stretch and fit. It was a good 45 mins tweaking the shit just to get the pipe to correctly fit. After that, I realized it was IMPOSSIBLE to even get the elbow and k&n filter to attach to the end of the pipe in my fenderwell. But I had gotten a little frustrated when taking off the stock airbox - there was no going back. 5 hours went into this and I ended up pitching the long tube and just fastening the elbow directly to the MAF - yes folks, a WAI. I ordered a bypass valve and a 2-part kit for NOTHING because it was clearly not designed with compatibility in mind for my car.

Also, not that this can be blamed on the eBay merchant, but getting the stock intake out was a royal pain in the behind. It was fastened behind the headlight and there was no way I was removing the entire headlight assembly just to properly remove this stupid part. With a great deal of effort, I managed to snap it off... my stock intake is laying in a pile of rubbish in my garage lol.

Final product: A K&N filter with a 3 inch diameter, maybe 3 inch long, chrome elbow fastened to it, that sits in the place where the stock airbox previously was. At least the stock intake frickin ran up to my headlight - this one seems like a waste compared to the stock intake, I'm wondering if I'll notice a performance decrease

Pictures to follow tomorrow of this failure.

Bad99Olds · 01-06-2009, 10:49 PM

i bought the same intake, and everything worked fine. u fail.

jrim · 01-06-2009, 10:50 PM

No way man, this bitch was just not fittin lol. I tried everything. Did yours have blue couplers with it

[ion] C2 · 01-06-2009, 10:51 PM

I'm in MI. Where you at? I can help you out with it.

You know "removing the headlight assembly" is as simple as lifting two sliders and unscrewing two bulb wires right? I didn't remove my headlight when I removed the stock intake crap though, I just accessed it from the fender and used a lot of cuss words.

Shouldn't be that difficult to install an intake... I hacksawed two eBay WAIs to make my CAI (for a different engine though).

Edit: Shit, post 6,666.

Bad99Olds · 01-06-2009, 10:54 PM

yep, blue couplers. i ended up rerouting it to sit behind my foglight, but the install was a breeze.

AlbinoMonkeyRat · 01-06-2009, 10:59 PM

intakes are probably the easiest upgrade to install. whatever you did...you made it harder on yourself than it needed to be.

Midgear · 01-06-2009, 11:00 PM

I have a "chrome intakes" CAI .. I chucked the filter long ago, and now have a K&N filter I bought myself here at the local parts store- took me about 15 minutes to pluck the old shit out and pop the new shit in-

and LOL @ "im not taking the entire headlight assembly out" .. two little pop up clips, a plug, and two turn-lock bulbs.. entire assembly comes out in 10 seconds from start to complete removal.

jrim · 01-06-2009, 11:00 PM

ion: I'm near Detroit, bout 5-10 mins away. I dunno, this was a royal pain in the ass. This was my first attempt at any kind of aftermarket mod so that might explain some of my difficulties.

On the headlight assembly - shit... really? I'm bad with this stuff :P Next time I know now. I saw bolts and after I had removed about 10 of those to get the fenderwell off, I wasn't in the mood to take any more off.

Did I mention I lost a couple screws that belong to the fenderwell? :O

Bad99Olds: I dunno then, I had my next door neighbor give me a hand (he's ex-GM employee and he used to work on a project race car till the wife made him sell it lol), and we could simply not get it to fit. I think I got a bad part. Pics tmrw will tell us.

jrim · 01-06-2009, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlbinoMonkeyRat

intakes are probably the easiest upgrade to install. whatever you did...you made it harder on yourself than it needed to be.

Meh. Don't make me feel worse than I already do

Edit:

Bad99Olds: You had it sitting behind the fog? The longer pipe I had barely made it past the engine bay into the fenderwell, how i nthe hell did yours reach so far. Does the 2nd part with the cone filter have an elbow pipe on it?

Bad99Olds · 01-06-2009, 11:29 PM

i modified it. new pieces of pipe and connections.

[ion] C2 · 01-06-2009, 11:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrim

ion: I'm near Detroit, bout 5-10 mins away.

me too, I-94 and telegraph

Gr1m · 01-06-2009, 11:42 PM

u probably put the wrong end of the tube on the MAF and u need to switch the tube around, epic fail.

jrim · 01-07-2009, 12:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gr1m

u probably put the wrong end of the tube on the MAF and u need to switch the tube around, epic fail.

Nope. I tried it as it came assembled and the other way, both were a no-go. Believe me folks, when I say I tried, I mean I tried. :P

Quote:

Originally Posted by [ion] C2

me too, I-94 and telegraph

Yeah? If the WAI doesn't deliver like I want it to, I might have to give you a call heh.

chevymuscle218 · 01-07-2009, 02:54 AM

so my big question is...are these intakes worth it cuz I thought about getting one. Also, where can I get a bypass valve for $20 and how do they work? Would they be a ristriction in the intake?

Redog · 01-07-2009, 03:42 AM

Bypass valves are to suck in the air if the filter gets submerged in water On a CAI, it lets in more warm air than it should, that is $20 you can save

jrim · 01-07-2009, 06:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chevymuscle218

so my big question is...are these intakes worth it cuz I thought about getting one. Also, where can I get a bypass valve for $20 and how do they work? Would they be a ristriction in the intake?

Up to you, these seem to be kind of a 'hit or miss', people either get nice cheap intakes that bolt on, or they have to add their own parts and whatnot because it doesn't work properly (usually the issue is fitting properly) as it came shipped.

The bypass valve does reduce the performance of the CAI a bit but it's your insurance policy in the event that the filter is submerged in water, preventing your engine from sucking up the water and hydrolocking. I'd have to imagine it's only a 1-2 HP loss at most.

[ion] C2 · 01-07-2009, 09:47 AM

If you get the AEM bypass "VALVE" it doesn't suck in air through the valve until there's a restriction at the primary filter. The one you got was the cheap imitation.

Alerosaint · 01-07-2009, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by [ion] C2

I just accessed it from the fender and used a lot of cuss words.

oh yeah

GoldStar611 · 01-07-2009, 12:20 PM

I don't remember having to remove the headlight assembly to get the stock air box out on my 02 olds. I bought a cheap short ram intake on ebay and never had any problems. I did buy a complete cai for a 06 civic and it I missed a few details and it seemed like it just wouldn't fit until I finally figured out I had to reroute some metal coolant hoses with flexable hoses. To be honest my first CAI intake expierence was a 3 hour back breaking experience, but it went smoothly for a most part

worknprog.99 · 01-07-2009, 01:41 PM

I agree totally i bought it an had to alter it completely!!!! its shitty for "custom" application