ok so im planing a trip (700 miles) and its been raining alot here recently, i do recall that when it rains, my (all stock cai v6) filter box always has water in it... i dont see how... mabey water comming down the vent, then on the stud, and trickling into the housing via stud?? anyway ive also noticed that in heavey downpores it seems like the fiero takes on water. it just runs like one would with a soaked air filter, but i could just be me too... anyway i yanked my wheel off today and pulled back the well gaurs to see if i do even have a water shield, yes i do, i studided it for a second.... my oh my is that think restrictive.... talk about a wall in air flow.... wow... so my question here... does it serve well as a water seperator and will i be safe at 80mph in a downpore with the fiero store side scoop? and does that restrtive shield rob power?.... it has to.... i think with it gone and a fiero store side scoop.... i believe that mpg would go up by 2 or 3 points above 70mph.

Basically, the scoop makes nearly no difference, nor does the water seperator. Dyno tests on a blue-printed stock 2.8 have shown practically no difference between having the stock system, and full open air flow.

I know some people remove it, it makes the intake sound louder.

If you're getting a lot of water in the filter, you may want to get new gaskets for the housing. Rodney Dickman sells them.

Edit:
And no, you will probably not be safe doing 80mph in a downpour, regardless of what you have on the car. I doubt your intake would be the problem though.

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[This message has been edited by Xanth (edited 11-15-2007).]

quote Originally posted by Xanth: Basically, the scoop makes nearly no difference, nor does the water seperator. Dyno tests on a blue-printed stock 2.8 have shown practically no difference between having the stock system, and full open air flow. .....

full open HOT air flow - fresh off the exhaust y-pipe.....

anyways - it does sound like you have some kind of leak into your air filter can.
and, another issue with running bad wet is wet ignition.

Go to: http://www.fiero.org/text/firedup.txt

And read actual dyno results as well as the first paragraph of "What You Should Leave Alone"

If you're using a stock intake with no boost or a ported stock intake removing the water seperator wont make much difference since the stcok intake cant flow more than the stock air box can provide. We recommend that intake our customers remove the restriction. Rodney has a nice mod for that and it's price very low.

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quote Originally posted by Tinkrr: Go to: http://www.fiero.org/text/firedup.txt And read actual dyno results as well as the first paragraph of "What You Should Leave Alone"

yes - this is brought up EVERY time the stock cold air setup is mentioned. their test shows that the stock cold air intake is in fact slightly restrictive. sucking hot air reduces power. apparantly, the stock cold air intake reduces power just as much. but - fear not - we are only talking 2-5 HP's at best.

hmmm, I just read that article yet again, and no where does it mention any hp loss due to the stock cai. Judging from the detail they went to on the test I do not suspect that they were also sucking hot air off the y pipe either, I would expect they hosed it to clean cool air. anyone with the time equipment and money to do that kind of testing would not (at least I think would not) make a silly mistake like comparing a stock cai in a car to no cai and suckin hot air off the exhaust.

To try to answer one of your questions I do think it is VERY unsafe to drive 80mph in a downpour but not because water in the intake. I have driven without it and a filter low in there and up near the grill with no issues. Is it restrictive? It depends on your engine.

quote Originally posted by tjm4fun: hmmm, I just read that article yet again, and no where does it mention any hp loss due to the stock cai. Judging from the detail they went to on the test I do not suspect that they were also sucking hot air off the y pipe either, I would expect they hosed it to clean cool air. anyone with the time equipment and money to do that kind of testing would not (at least I think would not) make a silly mistake like comparing a stock cai in a car to no cai and suckin hot air off the exhaust.

yes, but, you must also look at when this was done. back then, CAI was not really up on the list of things to do. cars were just coming off of carb's. and, they did say "open" intake - which I assume means just that - take off the snorkle.

Well, I was doin cai on cars in late 70's/early 80's. it was well known then. cai most definately is not a new thing, especially among performance oriented hobbyists. And all the info and research was done by professional race builders, and trickled down.

when you all refer to driving 80mph in a downpour being unsafe, are you talking about the odvious recklass driving, or the amount of water forced into the intake...??? im not an idiot, i would odviously slow way down if this happened.. my question was refering to the water. also i have a 3.4 with stock fiero intakes, its already starved for air, but the 3.4 does force more cfm through the TB than the 2.8, so there is a higher demand for air., i had the engine running and with a guy inside jamming on the gas peddal i was looking at the water sep., every time he jumped on the throttle the entire box would flex towards the tube going to the TB, theres acually white strees marks on the sep. around the brackets from it flexing. with that said... its an odvious restriction, so again in that test.... if the stock E-mans are so restrictive.... then why did stright piping the cat and muffler provide 6hp?? seems to me that thoes 2 objects were resticting the E-mans... same way as a stock air filter, vent style air intake body cover and water sep. would restrict the stock TB......did you know that the stock vent style intake cover blocks off air flow? it reduces the air hole to 44- 46mm TB is 52 so just replacing that helps, i know im going to get killed for that comment, im going home (300miles away) like i said wed. so il grab my stock "vent" and measure it again and post up proof..

80 MPH in the rain, should I ever get a death wish I'll give it try. Oh, and to heck with whomever else I may kill going that fast in the rain. Hmm maybe I'll use bald tires too. Am I showing my age thinking such is just plain dumb?

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Ive had my kit suck in a small amount of water, enough to make the engine sputter in a very hard rain on the interstate. Theres no real problem with the intake system, just make sure you go to a K&N filter because theyre waterproof. The stock paper element will swell and clog up with any amount of water soaking. Ive seen many stock filter canisters FULL OF RUST from water filled filters.

quote Originally posted by Francis T: 80 MPH in the rain, should I ever get a death wish I'll give it try. Oh, and to heck with whomever else I may kill going that fast in the rain. Hmm maybe I'll use bald tires too. Am I showing my age thinking such is just plain dumb?

il do 200mph if i want to... thats NOT THE Fing POINT!

Probably should have mentioned the engine swap right off.

speed aside, the intake will not water clog the motor. I have the side scoop. the stock cai system. I have been at over 70 in hard rain. no sputtering no problems. I have the rubber for it. I knwo when the car will let go. the seperator does it job.
if your car is sputtering and having issues in wet conditions, it isn't the air intake system. you have other issues to address.

I know two seperate Honda Civic owners that had under the front bumper CAIs. Both bent rods due to water being sucked into the engine while driving in the rain.

Thankfully, Fiero's intake opening is in a better location.

Hmmm, a semi coming in the opposite lane in a rain storm splashes thru a large puddle on the road. Throws up a sheet of water that hits the intake opening. Could happen.