MyBad

I got my new battery installed but my baby won't start. I feared that leaving her out in the rain would not be good for her and I was right. The Injen CAI filled with water.

So tonight I rolled her into the garage and began dissecting her. First I removed the CAI from the throttle body to see if there was water there. Yep, puddles in the throttle body and I could hear the water in the CAI. Then I removed the spark plugs and turned over the engine to clear the cylinders of any water. The spark plugs were possibly wet. It was either that or oil. The number one plug was somewhat fouled so I'll replace all of them tomorrow.

I'll have to take off the CAI and dry it out. Then Ill have to drain my brand new oil and replace it.

What a PITA but it could've been a LOT worse. This type of thing can totally destroy an engine.

There is now a piece of duct tape over the drain hole above the CAI filter. Such a simple cure that I KNEW I should do.


I'm kicking myself.

Any helpful hints?

(About cleaning out my engine, not kicking myself )

SlvrBlet

Lucky you caught it before too much damage was done! With all this rain lately, my CAI has been causing my car to sputter some as well. I'll have to check on that drain hole above the CAI filter. Good call, and good luck restoring your baby to like-new!

airgate

One of the reasons I took mine out and sold it. I miss the sound of the CAI, but I feel sooooooo much better not worrying over it. I hope you are able to get your baby fixed.

And why in the HELL did you keep her in the rain!?!?!?! She should have been safely nestled in the BadCave.

MyBad

Spank me.

HARDER!

I've plugged the drain hole that caused the problem so I won't have to worry about that any more.

Today I bought new platinum spark plugs but I won't be able to install them tonight. I'll come home early tomorrow and see if she'll go back together without any leftover parts.

Will she start?

Everything I have is crossed.

MyBad

For anyone who's interested, I thought I'd post this sage advice from MyMan Xviper.

"Phil,
I'm sorry to hear of your woes. If it's any consulation, you have not been the first or the only person who has PMd me lately with the same problem. I try to answer as best I can.
1. Do a routine cleaning and re-oiling of the filter if you haven't done it already. Follow the instructions as per any K&N filter cleaning kit. I'm not sure how thorough your cylinder drying was, but if you suspect there is anymore moisture in them, get some gasline antifreeze and put in about an ounce or two down each spark plug hole, crank the engine for a few seconds, put an aluminum pan over the holes and let them sit for a few hours to really dry out. Crank the engine again before putting the plugs back in.
2. Go with the revised Honda spec for plugs - 18 ft/lbs.
3. ALWAYS check the gap on store bought plugs before installing. They may not be correct and they could also have been changed in shipping. OEM gap for NA engines is 0.040 - 0.044".
4. Yes, use anti-seize. I've always used it. Just don't go nuts with it. A thin layer around about the first 1/4" of thread near the tip will suffice.

Did you know that Injen has become aware of this water situation while parked? They have introduced an "umbrella" as an option to safeguard against this very thing. Go to there website and you should be able to see it. I think it is outrageously priced for something that you'll never see, so you can fabricate a similar device from a plastic gallon milk jug or plant pot. Plugging that one hole will minimize the amount of water that "rains" down onto the filter, but water can still get in from the other openings above the filter.
Good luck with getting your car back up and running.
-Dave."

Xviper

tenblade2001

this really needs to be brought up when newbies say "It's impossible to hydrolock" the car...
Sorry to hear about your trouble phil.....try thr comptech

MyBad

Thanks Doc. I knew from the time I bought the CAI that this could happen but never thought that it would.

MyBad

I finally got my baby put back together and she runs like a top! New plugs, clean air filter, fresh oil and a brand new plastic milk jug rain bonnet duct taped to the air filter.

Btw, I've started looking for an alternative air intake system. I just hate to give up the GROWL of the Ingine.

Golden Eagle

Phil, Glad you got your baby back on the road!

xviper

This is great news. I'm happy that things are now on the up & up.

ps. If I thought you were going to print my advice, I would have done a spell check and watched my grammer a bit better.