Dwikto, I had the same concern. The heat shields on the aftermarket CAI's SUCK so I fabbed up my
own air box. The sides and bottom are completely sealed. The only way water is getting in is if it rolls up
on or near the hood.

I'm currently thinking up ideas for a completely closed setup like the Volant kit. If I ever get aroung to it I will
post a write-up. Anyway check it out and see if it could work for you.

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-write-ups-39/another-%2430-home-cai-48619/

 

that is a great idea i love the creativity there. That is 100x's better protection than the airraid cai heat sheild i have. Hek with all the holes in it i doubt it even does much to keep heat away from the engine let alone my fear of water intrusion. I think a set up like yours and a pre-filter is the best alternative to a snorkle. I love snorkles, but not really practical for me and of all the mony for mods that one is not a big bang for my buck. Unless deep water crossings are a likely event your set-up looks much more economical

 

why dont you CAI guys just run one of these

aempower.com/ViewCategory.aspx?CategoryID=20

they are specifically built to deal with what you are concerned about, hydrolock. I had one on my tuner car and it saved my ass so many times. basically if the CAI creates a suction cause it is submurged, the bypass lets air in, and it wont suck in the water. when there is no suction on the end of the CAI it seals normally.

 

But that only works if the filter becomes completely submerged. What if its not submerged enough to create a complete suction on the filter? It seems like most hydrolocks are occurings because people are driving too fast through water and have water splash up through into the intake. I havent seen very many where the water was actually deep enough to completely submerge the filter Is this valve sensitive enough to open in these situattions? or will it only save your butt if you drop into a deep hole?

 

that is very interesting,but there is no diagram showing the design. the picture on the web does not show the valve. i am curious also will this only help if you cross water deep enough to submerge the filter, or will it help a wave situation where soem water pours into that cavity?

maybe i need to ask the AEM on that one.

 

First off let me say that, speaking from experence, you don't need/ couldn't use one of these. I had a civic (i know.....let the ronda jokes fly) and i installed a CAI on it. The filter it self was about 8 inchs or so from the ground and the throtle body was way up near the windshield. the only reason these things worked on intake systems like that is because the intake piping was almost four feet long and the filter and TB were at oposite ends. I went through puddles up to my bumper and never hydrolocked once. having said that, we're talking two completely differant types of vehicles here. if your in water where there is a chance of getting that much water near your intake, you might not want to be there or go really slow and watch the wake. i think it goes with out saying "you should always look before you leap." and don't drive into the lake. anyone thought about makeing a box like the volente system out of sheet metal and using RTV to seal it up and the running a hose higher up in the engine bay? just a thought.

 

I have the same set up and went mudding the other day in some pretty deep stuff. I got quite a bit of water under the hood, but the filter seemed to only get a small amount of the crap. I believe (just believe) that unless you really go into deep water operations mode, you should be safe in everyday wheeling situations. Again, if you go deep water fording you will probably want to go with a snorkel.