I know there has been a few people who in the past were concered about driving through water with an intake on....this product is awesome!! I just installed one on my buddies truck this morning and it's prett cool. check it out!

http://www.prostreetonline.com/buy/aem_bypass_valves/

 

Did I miss read it? It sounded to me if resistance at the filter gets to great from sucking water the thing opens a port to allow unfilterd air into the engine to keep it running. if this is the case, what happens when the filter gets a little dirty and you stomp on the go pedal? Will it open then too allowing dirty air in?

 

I think I'd rather deal with a hydro lock than risk sucking in contaminants in to the engine ... At least that can be addressed without involving an engine hoist ......

 

look at the picture guys!!! If the filter gets cloged with water the valve shuts closing offf the intake tube and sucking water through the valve's body itself...the valves body has a filtering foam on it so the air is not unfiltered. May not be as good as your regular filter is when dry...but the point is that it will get you home in a pinch.

 

Or you could just spend that $50 bucks on a spare intake filter and replace the dirty/wet one at the first sign of trouble That and the fact that out of the 2 years I had the K&N FIPK on my Avalanche I NEVER had any issues with filter getting wet or resulting performance loss. Considering the location of the stock airbox and where the after market intakes are located I'd say you'd be hard pressed to get enough moisture up in there without having to worry about other things such as getting someone out to pull your truck out of the lake

 

I saw that in the picture, but I couldn't tell if that was foam or if it was a compression joint. I'm sure once the water drains away the thing will start sucking air back through the primary filter. Jeep once used the idea of having a float ball inside their air filter box. If the box filled with water, the ball would float up and cut off the air flow to the engine. It worked great for saving the engine, but left you with a dead engine and having to swim for the tow line.

 

First off, I wouldn't trust it to keep water out.

That would have to be one hell of a dirty filter. Not too likely to happen .. and if it did, the owner wouldn't care anyway, about some dirty air, since they don't bother to clean/change thier filter.

Uh.. I don't even know where to start with that comment. You'de rather suck potentially dirty, muddy water into your intake, and risk bending rods etc, than to suck in some possibly minute dust particles? Water HAS to be removed before, if it has not already, caused damage.. the dust particles will likely never leave a noticable mark. I'm not sure about your line of thinking there, but good luck with it.

Anyone who's had there H3 in any soupy water/mud hole has seen how much mud finds it's way onto the stock air box location. I can take my truck through the same hole with little to no mud in the engine compartment, but the H3's design seems to let an amazing amount in. It's almost like it gets in up front, and the fan just slings it everywhere under there.

 

thanks fireman...you bout cleared it up for me. Personally I would rather suck some small dirt particles than have to get out and swap filters everytime I hit a water hole. I went through about 2 foot of water last night as my town was majorly flooded with this damn storm and today I had 6 leaves a few acorns and mud lines all in the compartment that the K&N is supposed to seal off.

 

I would agree about the water..I went through a muddy puddle that was up to the depth that the h3 is rated for and the bottom of my hood and engine compartment was splattered with mud spots just as bad as the outside. I thought the same thing, the fan hits the water and sprays it all over the inside of the compartment. Having an open filter would definately have been very wet and muddy.
Drive through a deep muddy pool and open up your hood and you'll see why having an optional air inlet a few inches higher would make a difference even if it does let a few of the smaller particles into the engine.

 

I guess I should've used that term differently or rather, appropriately ... I should have checked the filter vs. foam and how big of a particle size either would allow through wet or dry .. I'd be real curious about that one.