Celica Forums General Discussion Exterior CAI , and Zipties , why do I need them?

I just installed a AEM CAI, and I have to use Zip ties to hold my ECU Cooler in place, if I don't use zip ties, the Cooler will become loose, and disconnect its self from the ECU box. I was wondering if this has every happened to anyone , or is it something I did wrong ? Also is there a way to correct this problem ?

i have a AEM CAI as well..everything should fit back like stock..i didnt have to use any zip ties..have you tried pulling the cooler tube out then pushing it back in..mine was a lil hard to get back but once i did its on there good

Yes I have , It will stay connected for a few hours. for example. I drove to Austin *3hours* and I made sure everything was connected, then when I came back home, it was disconnected.

thats odd! but the intake and all fit in place fine?

you need to disconnect it, then push it back in till it "pops"

mine came loose, I thought it was in, I had to really push on it, then it popped and stayed in

yes , its very intrestings, here are a few more pictures

it pops in , but then in a few hours it will come out.

looks like mine just make sure nothing is rubbing or near the tubing for the CAI it could cause the tube to wear and u'll get a hole in it

man i would complain to the dealer about that..it shouldnt come back out.. we both have a 2003 celica gts it shouldnt do that

you can't complain to the dealer, since you installed the CAI.

I'd suggest making sure the end isn't damaged. Other than that, I can't explain it, it's just a plastic piece that interlocks. it should be a little "wobbley" put it shouldn't come loose

I didn't cut the plastics, I was able to slide it down into position with out cutting them. Could this cause the CAI to move? there is only a small amount of plastic touching the CAI tubeing. but it shouldn't cause it to shift that much , because of the mounting bolt that was included with the CAI.

u can put the stock box back on and complain but that a pain in the a$$..

if you were supposed to cut the plastics, and didn't, that would be your answer.

i cut my plastics cause it was putting pressure on the cai..u need to get that plastic out of the way it will wear a hole into the tubing

in the first picture , you will notice that the tube is not centered , if I push the CAI further into the rubber connector would that cause me to beable to line it up ? I don't know if it can be done , because of the mounting bolt. which holds the CAI in place.

your just going to have to cut it. if the install manual tells you to do it, do it. or else you will have problems

Going to go cut it now.

best bet would be to go ahead and cut the plastics to give it more room it could be shifting the tubing causing the ecu tube to pull out...that would be easier than taking it off and trying to push the intake pipe farther into the connector

the zip ties are to hold together/back the tubing

...I didnt cut my plastics, but I havent had any hoses coming off

Larry_GTS - I had the same problem with my Injen setup... the plastic tube kept popping out... I did some research and found that it was only a $14 part - so I could experiment

I went to home depot, took the current one from my car out and into home depot - and looked for a way to cut it at the top and extend it by about 2 inch... by the time I was done, it cost me about $10 and now I don't have the problem anymore

the solution came directly from seeing how INJEN solved this issue on their other intakes

Outstanding, I will have to give it a try, what pieces did you use to extend the pipe?

I cut the factory black hose at the top... then placed waterheater hose around both ends and used the the metal clamps to keep everything in place

Actually, I just had an awesome idea... What if you just pull the whole stock cooling tube and replace it with a steel braided hose, same diameter of stock tube, but you could easily route it around the intake and down under the car like in the factory setup, it'd probably look cooler too.

unless the steel hose is getting a strong flow of cool air, it will heat up quickly and actually blow warmer air at the box, than what its initially taking in...thus you would have new 'heat-soak' issues.

I may be completely wrong, but this all sounds correct in theory

isaac is right.

also, you'd need to have a steel braided hose the same diameter as the stock tubing, and I've never seen something that big...

No, not like, all steel braided, use tubing with a rubber core, and braided covering. Use a braided radiator hose, or a larger heater core hose.



If you want to be cheap, just get a braiding kit (like the spectre hose cover kit) and cover the factory ECU breather tube.

You can get braided hoses pretty fat (some are bigger than our radiator hoses) and the rubber core would eliminate heat soak issues which isn't much of an issue, since the line is braided, and not solid. Braided brake lines manage to keep the brake fluid cool enough, so I doubt that it'd be an issue with the ecu's airflow. Honestly, if heat were a major issue with the ECU, they wouldn't have put it under the hood in the first place, they would've put it behind the glove box or behind the center console like on other cars. the tube's just there so it can "breathe" in that weatherproof sealed box (which keeps the water out). It's not like an overclocked PC, it's solid-state engine management.