WTH? AEM V1 CAI does fit in my 97 EX

[chimchim]

WTH? AEM V1 CAI does not fit in my 97 EX

I finally got around to installing the AEM V1 CAI I got. Or tried to that is.

I got the whole thing ready (took off the bumper, pulled the resonaor and air box, bought the replacement breather tubes). I stuck the coupler on the intake manifold, stuch the CAI into it, and discovered... the *%&$ thing does fit right!!! I mean, it sorta fits like it was intended to fit my car... but it doesn't.

The bracket doesn't fit any bolt hole and is angled the wron way, the pipe seriously rubs against the metal, and rests on a coolant tubing. The coupler is almost too short with the CAI pipe having to angle slightly off coupler to fit it in the hole. WTH? I ended up having to put my stock box back on!

Anybody have this problem? Am more importantly, anyone figure out how to fix this?

BTW, I bought this CAI used from a guy who had it on a 98 EX. I don't really have contact info for this guy.

 

[b16asi226]

20 bucks says you were sent the wrong year. was it new or used? he may have had the same problem and sold it to you to get it off his hands. sucks, but you could get it to work. couldnt hurt...unless you broke it some how in the process.

 

[defvayne]

the best thing to do is sale it or trade it with someone. i am making my own intake so it will only cost 50 to make.

 

[anekin007]

what is the aem part #

 

[2kstreetcivic]

Originally posted by b16asi226
20 bucks says you were sent the wrong year. was it new or used? he may have had the same problem and sold it to you to get it off his hands. sucks, but you could get it to work. couldnt hurt...unless you broke it some how in the process.

I agree....Ill second the 20 bucks..I have heard of this a bunch of times

 

[chimchim]

Man this sucks.

I can't find any model number on the CAI. It's only got the AEM sticker and the AEM CARB EO number sticker.

Anybody happen to know whats "close" to a 6th gen ex CAI?

I think I can make it work by bending the coupler and mount some bracing. It's gonna look ghetto, but I don't care about that.

Now I hope the K&N I bought for it fits in the bumper cover.

 

[Zak8022]

97 and 98 ex engine bay is exactly the same. unless that guy f**ked you over (which is completely possible) it should fit. my other thought is that he got the wrong one and sold it privately since it didnt work for him either.

i would check that CARB OE number against what AEM part number its for. im not 100% of this , but each individual OE # should be for a specific AEM part number. its worth a try

 

[DirtyD]

I had the same problem the metal bracket didnt fit right, all you have to do is bent it around so that it will fit to a hole. It's made to bend really easily.

 

[chimchim]

F^%K!!!!

So I called AEM and they were actually tried to be more helpful than I thought they would. Anyways, looks like the CAI is older so the Carb OE only showed application numbers... and thus isn't identifiable with them.

Either I'm out the money or I hack it into my car. This sucks!!

 

[Bangin' HB]

can you take some pics. im just curious as to how bad it is. maybe we can think of a solution if we can see it

 

[anfrey]

yeah take pics

 

[chimchim]

Crud... where's a good place to host the pics?

 

[anfrey]

www.uploadit.org

there's a sticky regarding this in the lounge

 

[chimchim]

So I installed it anyway, and here's what happened:

This is the CAI installed to my all stock car (please don't bash my car, I know it looks like crap with a crap stock engine)

Here's a closer look at the coupling at the intake manifold. The red arrow shows where I pulled the coupling out a bit to make the whole thing fit better. Also notice how the CAI bends the coupling up a bit.

Now here's where the big problem is. Contact points are at all the red X's. You hear a *clonk* when you start the engine and when the idle is rough. The left most X is already starting to scratch. The hack it ghetto bracket is trying to attach the CAI bracket to the chassis since it won't reach the chassis and definitely won't reach any bolt hole.

Any suggestions how to do this better?

 

[chimchim]

Last try...

Any suggestions?

 

[Bangin' HB]

my only thoughts are: 1) maybe from a 5th gen, im not sure how close they are, but the design is similar. 2) i know with 5th gens, there is a dif b/t auto and manual, maybe its the same with 6th gens and that intake is for the opposite of your drivetrain. 3)again, not sure of the size dif, but maybe its for an si with a b-series.

i may be completly off, just throwing out ideas to get others thinking. but you could always put some rubber or something around the contact points to stop the noise and rubbing.