Celica Forums General Discussion Exterior Interesting way to avoid CAI hydrolock

K & N DryCharger
There is a lot of paranoia related to cold air intakes. The thought of destroying one's engine, sends chills up most car people's spines. In my constant browsing of the message forums over at Clubrsx, I saw a post about some kind of cover for keeping the mud out of air filters on dirt bikes. So I started researching air filter covers and discovered K&N (the air filter on the DC CAI is K&N) makes a whole bunch of different filter covers. After looking though what they had available, I determined that the "DryCharger" would protect against water the best. Here is some information from K&N's site on the DryCharger:

The Drycharger is a silicone treated, polyester wrap that is made to cover your K&N Personal Watercraft Flame Arrestor. These DryChargers, which are similar to the K&N Prechargers, contain uniform micron sized openings that allow optimum air flow. Yet, due to the DryChargers silicone treated polyester wrap, the amount of water that reaches the flame arrestor is limited. The Drycharger uses a sewn in elastic opening to securely fasten it to the flame arrestor. Now you won't be hung out to dry after submerging your PWC.

I found out that the K&N Typhoon Intake for the RSX uses a RX-4870 filter. Assuming the DC CAI uses a similarly sized filter, I could use this filter's dimensions to figure out which DryCharger to buy. The RX-4870 filter has the following dimensions:
Inside Diameter: 2 3/4 inches
Filter Base Diameter: 6 inches
Filter Top Diameter: 5 inches
Filter Length: 6 1/2 inches

Using this information, I determined I should use a Round Tapered shaped DryCharger, K&N item number RF-1037DK (black). This cover officially fits the RF-1037 and 57-9012 filters, but also has the following dimensions:
Base Diameter: 6 1/2 inches
Top Diameter: 5 inches
Length: 6 1/2 inches

I've cut the driver's side brake duct to accommodate the intake filter. I doubt it will create much of a "ram air" effect, but every little bit helps right? I also removed the DryCharger since winter is over and the spring showers seem to be passing. There was a fair amount of dirt and water stains on the outside of the DryCharger, but the filter on the inside looked brand new. After removing the DryCharger I noticed there was more power starting at about 4000 rpms. How much power is debatable, but enough to "feel" which leads me to believe the DryCharger is more restrictive then I first thought. I am planning on re-installing it in the fall again, since I think the extra protection it provides in the winter is worth a couple ponies.