I installed my C&L Racer CAI back in June and haven’t touched it since. Then I noticed a few days ago that the plastic part of the intake near the MAF looked warped under the pressure of the hose clamps (pic 1 – look near the clamp bolts). After taking it apart I saw that it had a flat spot (pic 2) and didn’t line up with the aluminum part of the intake (pic 3).

I was able to fix it by using a hairdryer and heating up the warped part then pressing it back into shape while it was hot. I let it cool and now it lines up well with the aluminum part of the intake (pic 4).

It's obvious that this happened due to heat and the pressure from the hose clamp but I would think this shouldn’t happen. It was nice that I was able to fix it a little but still this seems like a bad design. While I didn’t use a torque wrench I really don’t think I over tightened the clamps.

Does anyone know if I can expect this thing to be useless in a few years? Should I return it under warranty (if I can even do that) and get the street version which is aluminum? Thoughts?

 

Wow, good to know. That sucks.

 

When my car was NA I had the C&L trueflow on , but it didn't quite line up with my Steeda CAI. So when Steeda came out with their plastic one , I put it on and had the same thing happen. I put the C&L back on ...

 

No problems here as of yet. I will keep an eye on it.

 

+1, but I'm guessing that it was from overtightening the clamp.

 

It's possible. This time I checked the fit as I tightened it and I stopped tightening just past when I couldn't slip the intake in the sleeve anymore. I'll admit that was at a lower torque point then how tight I had it before but surely I didn't crank down on it before. I just used a screw driver.

I guess the point I'm getting at is I thought the plastic would've been a little less affected by heat. I mean, I was able to mold it back into place with a hairdryer and my thumb so it wasn't hot enough to burn my thumb. The plenum is plastic and I don't think that has any warping issues.

 

I would call and complain just to see what they have to say about it.

 

I will have to keep an eye on mine now.

 

My street c&L is fine. But the heat shield cracked at 6 months old or so.

They were nice enough to charge me 30 bucks or so for a new "improved" thicker shield that they switched to shortly after I bought mine.

 

I'm glad I stuck with the stock airbox.

 

Metroplex: You say that only because you have never driven with a CAI and a good tune. Just got some great tunes from Tillman Speed. Wow.

 

I'm glad I went with this CAI. No bends, no warpage, just a straight line of air.

 

Here's my 2 cents...

I don't think it was a heat issue that caused this warpage. The pictured warpage was near the top side of the plastic tube. There is more heat closer to this particular set-up on the back side of this tube nearer to the bottem where the tube runs close to the radiator hose.

I think this was more an issue of improper torque applied to the hose clamp.

I too have the Racer CAI and have not noticed any problems like this.

 

Good advice. I did give C&L and call about two hours ago. I didn't really complain but rather just explained my situation to see what they might say. He immediately got defensive by blaming me for over tightening then asking if used a ratchet wench (this was within the first 15 seconds of the conversation). I didn't use a wrench, I used a regular screwdriver and further explained that it only took a hairdryer and my thumb to push it back into shape which made me leery about the life expectancy of this product in the engine bay if it's pliable at these relatively low temperatures.

But the conversation wasn't useless. He did have some points that are worth mentioning in this thread while we're all here:
1. Make sure the hose clamp bolts by the throttle body are on the side (short dimension) of the inlet and not on the top (long dimension) since the inlet is obviously weaker in the long dimension. (My problem was on the mass airflow housing side and I always had mine on the side by the throttle body but thought it would be worth mentioning in case someone didn't do it that way)
2. Only tighten the hose clamps just enough to where you can't twist the inlet in the rubber sleeve by hand (this isn't that tight really.. you'll barely feel any resistance in the screw driver).
3. If you do develop a flat spot and work it back to round with the hairdryer/thumb technique I used, rotate the clamps on the reinstall so the screws are 180 degrees from the original location since the flat spot will likely redevelop in that weakened area.
4. The minor deformation I have in the pics above weren't enough to break the vacuum seal at that joint so there is no performance degradation.
5. For what it's worth, he said that the plastic is designed to withstand normal under hood temperatures (but I'm guessing not a hair more due to my experience with the hairdryer trick).

So I guess the only grievance I'm left with is that the directions should've given better guidance on how tight (or loose as the case maybe) to make the hose clamps on the plastic inlet housing similar to what I have in point #2 above. I still stand by my original statement that this shouldn’t have happened and that I didn't excessively tighten the clamp with a screwdriver more so than any reasonable person.

He did say that the C&L racer and K&N inlet are made of the same exact material.

Didn't mean to scare anyone. It sounds like most people are fine. I just wanted to see if anyone else had the problem and what thought people had on it. Also to alert anyone with the C&L racer to make sure the clamps are no tighter than necessary to stop the inlet from slipping in the sleeve (which really isn't that tight).

Kinda funny the way you put that. The guy on the phone was immediately defensive of the design and immediately blamed me for over tightening and assuming I used a ratchet wench. So from that statement it was obvious that even if the damage were so much that I had performance problems, I wouldn't get satisfaction from them without a pretty good fight.

Hahaha! Even if I have to adjust this thing every month it'd still be worth it (it's fixed now so I won't have to). I still love this mod even though I had this little snag.

I've seen that one before and always thought that was an outside-the-box (literally and figuratively) unique design.
I believe it's a mixture of heat and pressure, not just pressure. Hose clamps do not apply an even pressure around the circumference of the hose. The highest pressure is at the bolts where the "squeeze" is happening. So if it heats up and weakens, the first spot to give will be at the highest pressure point. On my installation this was not on the top but rather 90 degrees from the top (it's just the top in the picture since I'm looking down on the inlet with the camera).

I'm not saying overtighrting wasn't the issue, I'm just saying I didn't apply more torque than what can reasonably be expected from a standard screw driver. I also don't think it should be this pliable at these relatively low temps.

 

Oooooooh, that's really good to know. Mine are definately over-tightened then... I tightened them until the screws were "somewhat hard to turn further," which is waaaaay tighter than "until you can't twist the inlet in the rubber sleeve by hand." Man, thanks for telling us that.

 

and you'll do this when you finally change it

 

Yeah.. it's true. I haven't read a single post of anyone who installed a CAI/tune and responded with just "Meh.. it's ok." I've only seen glowing reports...

 

how much & how do you like that set up?

 

Yep! you sure will......

 

Nah, he'll find something to b!tch about.