Basic CAI install w\ pics!

By a beginner (when it comes to cars) for beginners! =)
This is a step-by-step, very specific how to... I am assuming people reading this are where I started 3 months ago, and know NOTHING about cars... I am going to try and answer all the questions I had along the way! :) BIG THANKS to the regulars and administrators of this site, especially petrified.rabbit for taking time to answer all those! ;)
I hope this helps some people! :)

For starters, this is a CHROME INTAKES brand intake, bought off ebay for $60 (including shipping) and a AEM 3" water bypass valve-a good investment to prevent your intake from sucking water, "hydro-locking" and ruining your engine!
The model is a 2008 Aveo LS Sedan 5 speed.

First, I tapped in the wheel chocks into place under the back driver-side tire, opposite the air intake system. Loosen the lugnuts on the front passenger side wheel before you jack up the car, but don't remove...
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I used a jackstand... (I didn't know what one was :p ) My neighbor suggested using it and loned me a couple. I only used one. It's good to have later on... Ok, so lower the car onto the jackstand, and take the tire/wheel the rest of the way off
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Then, start finding all the screws, bolts and things holding the plastic wheel liner in place... there are some obvious ones, some on mine were just plastic plugs... there were quite a few. One or two in the front bottom-side (just follow the liner!) And there's one spot-3rd picture here-you kind of have to "untuck" one part of the liner, out from behind another plastic liner you won't take off. Put the other liner back on the bolts; make sure you don't push them out! The liner you take out (fourth pic) seems to go fine over the one it was under... it's just a corner! You'll know when the wheel liner is free. Take in on out, and then you can see the "reverberater-box"... or something. ;)

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Yup. There it is. :p Now would be a good time to take off the negative battery connection! Don't worry, it won't shock you, as long as you're just touching the negative. I don't know when you get shocked, but I did ask about this at the place I bought the bypass. Hey, I had a LOT of questions, being a total-car-newbie. ;) That box in pic 1 is coming out entirely, but I did the one above, the filter box, first... Unscrew the lid, then unscrew the base from the rest of the car... loosen the clamps on the hoses-I started with the section with all the sensors.) I just kinda set that part aside, all connected... (pic 4) Oh, and I put a clean rag over the throttle body, or the part that goes into the engine... to keep the wind from blowing crap in there.
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First pic here shows a different angle; just the factory hose taken off the airbox and set aside... Then take the airbox out, and set aside. Down in the hole under the factory airbox, and peaking outta the wheel-well, pull out that reverberater or resonator box, or whatever it is. It's screwed in in several places, and instead of unscrewing these screws, me and my LOVELY girlfriend (who also took most of these pics! ; ) just broke and cut all the plastic pieces on the box that held it on... we tugged on it a lot, so this is where I was really glad to have a jack-stand!
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I already had the AEM bypass valve attached to the 1st piece... 2nd piece goes through the hole that was under the old air filter...

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Ok, now it's time to CUT the sensor off the hose. :p I was pretty nervous about this, but it's not bad... One hose just comes off with a sqeeze-clamp thingie, and goes over the raised valve on the intake... the other wires go into the sensor (I REALLY meant to get a pic while it was out...) you can see it when you take the factory hose off... there is a metal clamp around the plug part, and it unplugs from the sensor-which is still glued to the hose. Once you unplug it, take the hose and cut off the plastic sensor-looks like the nozzle of a soda fountain. Trim it up best you can, and stick it in the intake, holes in the sensor facing where air will flow-the length of the pipe. Plug it in, tighten all the screws on the intake, put on the wheel cover-that's kinda tricky. It didn't fit perfectly, but with some force, it fit alright! Nice and tight! ;) I didn't use all the hardware to re-attach the wheel cover... it's gonna have to come off to clean or change the filter. Re-attach the battery cable, the wheel... And um... it's done! :D

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Well, I hope some people will find this useful... I may have used incorrect terms, and stuff like that... but you get the idea! Thanks again to all who helped answer my questions... I hope this how-to helps save the same questions being asked again. At least a few times. ;) Party on, people! :D

Hmm... dunno why some pictures show up, others show up when you click, and others say "invalid link or attachment" I uploaded all the same way. :/

i know my server limits the number of pictures it will upload i one message, not sure about these..

you should host them on photobucket or imageshack.. and then post them in here.


i hope you pushed that sensor in all the way, but looks good. How did the driving improve?

In my opinion, this write looks like it would be very useful to any novice that comes accros this thread. good job

Thank you VERY much!!! :) As far as the pics, it does seem most can be viewed by clicking on them... If anybody wants any that didn't make the cut, just ask here, and I'll post them individually for the parts needed! The sensor... yeah! ;) After removing the rubber/glue part, I trimmed it down to where the HARD plastic ring was completely showing, and pushed it in real good. I went back, after driving it and the rubber gasket (or whatever) on the intake was warm and softer, and wiggled it in a lil' bit more! It's nice and tight, now, and at some point I may put some sealer on it... my neighbor & new pal mentioned this.
As for the performance, whoah! :D Big difference... I took it out on the high-speed highways today; before the intake, I'd hit 4,000 rpms at about 75-80 mph. With the intake, I almost hit 90 (89 ; ) and the rpms were only about 3500. I do try to keep it under 4,000 since this is my only car. So, with that in mind, I'd say it increased my car's "comfortable" top speed by at least 15 mph. Not to mention more than 1/2 a second better 0-60 times, on average. And, the sound is a lot beefier! Sporty, & stuff; you can tell the car has a mod when it takes off! The higher top speed at lower rpms... I am guessing that is the result of more horsepower... am I right? :) Yeah, I LOVE it! It was SUPER FUN installing it! Thanks again for all the tips along the way, and the nice comments! :)

actually rpms and speed are directly related. so you "can't" go faster with less rpm.. engine speed goes through the transmission and becomes wheel speed. But 3500 rpm at 90, and while not under acceleration is about right.. you probably just needed to work the engine more to get there before the intake so to maintain 90 you need to give it more gas. which is hp related.

if that makes sense.

Well, yeah! In theory and concept, that TOTALLY makes sense... but it really seems as though I am able to reach a higher speed in each gear before hitting 4,000 rpms... I'm talking about accelerating through all the gears, and not coasting... what you said, rabbit, about the engine having to work more before the intake to get there (90 mph) explains it... I think that's what I am noticing, and I like it a lot! :)

Any updates, I hope you did something by now to ensure that sensor does not even think about coming loose. Stop being a pansy and take your car to redline a few times. :)

Well, as for updates, the sensor has remained snugly in place! I will still seal it off soon, just for peace of mind. I have checked under the hood on a fairly regular basis; making sure the sub zero weather we've since hasn't cracked any of the silicone gaskets, or anything! The whole Chrome Intakes setup seems to be holding up quite nicely! :D And for the redlining, I have heard it can be good for your car, and have brought it close a few times... never (intentionally ; ) exceeding 6,500rpms though... I may be a pansy now. I used to be a homeless IV drug addict, and took lots of risks. I'll be the first to admit, I like to play it safe these days. ;) Plus, I like flowers. :D

Good to hear that the sensor is still holding up. I'm thinking of doing some kind of custom intake from the same shop that did my exhaust. I would like one where I can have the piping for both a SRI and CAI that way I can change it out depending on the weather. I do like your setup though and might just go that route. I'm only kidding about you being a pansy. It's your car, drive it however you wanna. Keep up the good work on your car!

Thanks! This Chrome Intakes does seem like it could be swapped out, SRI, to CAI and back, fairly easily! I've heard of other members doing so. In fact, I plan to do so... just temporarily, to see how the performance changes! Experimenting for fun... I heard from some that the 0-40mph area is improved more by a SRI setup, so I wanna see for myself! ;) I'll post results, opinions and whatnot! :) And you may've been kidding, but I wasn't. I really do like flowers! :p ;) :D

So, here's an update, as well as an experiment! :) First off, I got the sensor sealed with sensor-safe silicone... there's a pic here...
Attachment 4235Also, the pipe sold with the intake going into the filter was a lil' too long, and after some research, I realized it shouldn't be. :p I'd read some stuff about SRI's that made me want to try it... I guess it's better for some cars than others. Anyway, I took the 2nd piece of pipe out, did the idle relearn procedure, and drove it through several engine cycles, and enough testing to know this, for certain:
The CAI performed better with the extra pipe obstructing the flow. It was NOT a hot day, but I assume it's the "heat soak" from the engine that robbed it of virtually all power. After getting the pipe cut and sanded at a hardware store, I disconnected the battery, did the relearn again, and it was noticably BETTER THAN EVER!!! This was a fun test, and the CAI with the pipe cut works the best! :)

Ok back with a little more info... done some more playing around. ;) Actually, it was an effort to clear an engine code that drove me to redline the car, but in doing so, I realized that there was a LOT more power to be had, especially in the 4k-6k range! :p I think the intake I have on probably contributes the most to this extra power in that rpm range. (Couldn't tell you how it performed in that range before the intake. :p ) Also, I got a hose clamp-one that tightens with a screw-to tighten the vacuum hose... the code reader I bought mentioned a vacuum leak causing sensors to throw codes that were not really faulty. I think between redlining it, and tightening the hose, it cleared the codes (which showed up after adding a muffler; more airflow?) and I've been having even more fun with the car now! You were right, RoRo! ;)