Hey
I just bought an AEM Cold Air Intake for my 03 cavi. It is in great condition and i only paid 90 for the entire thing with a K and N air filter even. I can't wait to put it on. The only thing is that I have never installed a cold air before only short ram. I know I have to take the tire off and headlight, but it talks about taking the washer fluid thing off and the fuse box and everything. It is much more advanced than I thought, but I have changed engine internals before. Can I do this myself or should I have a profesional install?
"What we do in life, echoes in eternity"
You have changed engine internals and your worried about this? Come on now, its like 2 bolts or something. It sits right in front of the driver tire.
Unbolt the plastic, pull it back, and theres your project.
This takes 1.5hrs at the
max, and that's if you've never messed with it at all. The longest part is getting around the washer bottle. It doesn't have to be removed, but it may make things easier for you. Just get to it, this is the simplest thing you can do performance wise.
* * BIG FOR SALE POST * *
im working on it now, and i cant find where to take off the washer fluid in the front of the vehicle. its one screw. do i need to take the base plate from the battery off? the screw that is on that is sooooo tight i couldnt budge it.
"What we do in life, echoes in eternity"
just got everything off and the intake installed. i started around 2pm and finished around 630pm. it took me forever to find the screws for the washer fluid tank. the intake looks nice, sounds decent at high rpms, but low rpms you cant hear it. i could hear my last cheap intake i got off ebay for my 98 cavi, but this one not so much. oh well cold air is much better for performance it looks so nice compared to the crappy stock air box.
"What we do in life, echoes in eternity"
wow 4 1/2 hrs? did mine with the wheel on and never took my wash fluid res out. all you really needed to remove was the stock intake assembly. What i did was remove the drivers headlight for my install, to get access to mount the filter.
yeah well you live and you learn. i followed the directions word for word. it does look very nice. it looks like you have an old gen, i think it is a little different. i had a hard time finding things and forgot to take off the healight. once the headlight was off it was so much easier to find screws and stuff. i guess you live and you learn. thats what life is all about. i probably could have left teh washer tank on, but it had a screw that was attached to the lower intake assembly, and was very hard to reach without taking it out. i did cut my fender right under the intake. i didnt know if i should put the whole fender liner in, but once i did, the bottom was covering the air filter. with it all the way off, if it was raining the wheel woulda spit water on the intake for sure. i cut it in half so the liner would block the tire from spitting water at it, but now it can get cold air from the bottom of the car. hope this is right, correct me if im wrong.
"What we do in life, echoes in eternity"
tha_prowler wrote:This takes 1.5hrs at the max, and that's if you've never messed with it at all. The longest part is getting around the washer bottle. It doesn't have to be removed, but it may make things easier for you. Just get to it, this is the simplest thing you can do performance wise.
took me 2 but i didn't have ideal conditions (low light vis and out in the street lol)
azncav ( the DROPPED top) wrote:wow 4 1/2 hrs? did mine with the wheel on and never took my wash fluid res out. all you really needed to remove was the stock intake assembly. What i did was remove the drivers headlight for my install, to get access to mount the filter.
how did you get the stock intake out without removing the wash fluid bottle?
anyway, the hardest part for me was getting the solid metal piece down into the fender. you have to find a way to twist it perfect in there. don't over complicate the steps, after you do it you'll realize how easy it is/was.
http://youtu.be/RXppsUVhJJE
my car ^
getting the lower part of the stock intake is bolted to the washer fluid bottle. its not impossible to unscrew it, but it is pretty hard to get to unless you have the car jacked up well. its just much easier to take the bottle out. one thing to remember though is to reconnect everything to the washer bottle. i forgot to plug it back in and i filled some up and it leaked everywhere. there is a plug and a wire harness that needs connected as well as like 4 screws.
"What we do in life, echoes in eternity"
this is y i got a short ram, lol
Justin Smith wrote:yeah well you live and you learn. i followed the directions word for word. it does look very nice. it looks like you have an old gen, i think it is a little different. i had a hard time finding things and forgot to take off the healight. once the headlight was off it was so much easier to find screws and stuff. i guess you live and you learn. thats what life is all about. i probably could have left teh washer tank on, but it had a screw that was attached to the lower intake assembly, and was very hard to reach without taking it out. i did cut my fender right under the intake. i didnt know if i should put the whole fender liner in, but once i did, the bottom was covering the air filter. with it all the way off, if it was raining the wheel woulda spit water on the intake for sure. i cut it in half so the liner would block the tire from spitting water at it, but now it can get cold air from the bottom of the car. hope this is right, correct me if im wrong.
what you mean i got an old gen? older generation cav? 95-05 are all the same generation same body.
