DIY: AEM CAI intake

AEM

Cold Air Intake

Tools: Phillips

Screwdriver, Screwdriver, 10mm Wrench (socket), 13mm Wrench (socket), Patience.

<img src="/images/projt/aem/AEM1.gif" width="225" height="150">

You want to see the

installation of an AEM CAI on the 2002 Civic Si? You got it.

Above is the image

of my box, pretty exciting eh? Time to rip it open!

<img src="/images/projt/aem/AEM2.gif" width="225" height="150">

There it is, thats

the basic shape of the tube and the K&N filter is in the bag along with

instructions, exciting...now lets tear apart the stock intake.

<img src="/images/projt/aem/AEM3.gif" width="225" height="150">

Take off these parts

first, this would be the engine cover with i-VTEC on it. As well as the lid

to the intake box. The lid is held on by 5 Phillips head screws, the silencer

for the intake is integrated into the lid of the intake box.The bottom part

of the intake box is held on by 4 10mm bolts, remove these. De-tach all your

tubes and also the IAC sensor from the intake.

<img src="/images/projt/aem/AEM4.gif" width="225" height="150">

...And this is the

removed arterie, just a few more steps before we transplant the AEM.

Now you will need

to jack up the car a bit (be sure to support it with jackstands) get underneath

your car and pry open the plastic cover under neath the front bumper, you will

only need to pull down and access the left side of the bumper (the side under

the battery). You can do this by shoving a flat head screwdriver into the clip

and then twisting it to pop the head up, do this for all of the clips on that

side and pull down the plastic guard, you should see a small compartment, this

is where your air filter will go. I neglected to take pictures of this step,

I apoligize.

<img src="/images/projt/aem/AEM5.gif" width="225" height="150">

Your engine bay will

look like this once you've removed the intake. Guess what? You're ready to install

the tube! Oh wait, thats right theres a small little bracket to remove...shucks

I guess we better go over that...

<img src="/images/projt/aem/AEM6.gif" width="225" height="150">

There it is, this

little golden bracket holds your engine block's ground wire. At this point you

have two options, in the AEM instructions it tells you to simply bend this tab

towards the left to make room for the tube. What I did was remove the whole

thing all together, to do this, first remove the ground wire and move it up

to another bolt on the block (see picture). Now get under the car with a 13mm

socket wrench and remove the two bolts holding the bracket on, then replace

the bolts and torque them down tightly. You can save this bracket or toss it,

it's of no use now.

<img src="/images/projt/aem/AEM7.gif" width="225" height="150">

This is where I relocated

the ground wire for reference.

<img src="/images/projt/aem/AEM8.gif" width="225" height="150">

Now you weasel the

AEM pipe down into the bumper compartment. After you're struggled and finally

gotten it in there, you should put on your fittings and attach your filter.

The bracket for the lower end of the pipe is a rubber cylinder with two threaded

bolts on the end, this piece simply screws in to the threaded hole in the bumper

compartment indicated on your AEM instruction manual. Now attach your filter

and tighten the clamp. Run your two hoses from your valve cover down to the

side of the AEM tube and clamp these. One of the breather tubes for the valve

cover has a coolant U-shaped fitting it passes through, keep this inline with

the tube. What I did was keep the short stub running to the valve cover and

the U-shaped coolant tube, all I did was take off the right side of the tube

and attach the one provided in the AEM kit. Voilla!

<img src="/images/projt/aem/AEM9.gif" width="225" height="150">

The final step is

to insert the IAC sensor, included in your kit is a rubber grommet, insert this,

then insert the sensor, it will fit loosly, but will not pull out easily. Make

sure all your connections are tight.

<img src="/images/projt/aem/AEM10.gif" width="225" height="150">

Start her up! Give

her a few revs. Now take her out for a spin and try out 5k, its nice. Be careful

if you live in a rainy area, never run your throttle while crossing puddles,

simply left off the accelerator and put the transmission in neutral to avoid

sucking up water.

<img src="/images/projt/aem/AEM11.gif" width="225" height="150">

Now you can throw

on a fancy schmancy engine cover like mine (factory option) and you're ready

for Hot Import Nights! HAHA, boy that was a pretty good one. Okay folks, until

my next write up, bye!

Thanks!

Thanks! I ordered a cheapo CAI. So you didn't need to remove the front bumper????

uninstalling my fujita cai was a bitch!

Quote:

Originally Posted by japanda

uninstalling my fujita cai was a bitch!

you sure? i did mine in like 10-15 minutes...

well, my cai came with the car and it was my first time trying to take it out.

hmmm never took off my front bumper, guess thats why it took about 3 hours! ha move an inch,slide it down, move an inch, etc...

Quote:

Originally Posted by bphom

uninstalling my fujita cai was a bitch!

Do you have the DC5-S one. Mine was a pain to install also, sounds awesome though.

i tried to do this. im having trouble removing the sensor from the stock intake. i dont want to pull it out to hard cause i dont want to mess it up. got any ideas??? thansk in advance :)

just ordered an injen cai from ebay
260 shipped, hope its the same procedure

Quote:

Originally Posted by EP3_Kolendo

i tried to do this. im having trouble removing the sensor from the stock intake. i dont want to pull it out to hard cause i dont want to mess it up. got any ideas??? thansk in advance :)

yank it it will come off. thats what I did.

Disclosure im not responsible