air hissing noise

i hear what you describe from the excess material from the mirror. did you have your window down mainly drivers side?

put windows up - see if you hear the sound still.

if you dont it is most likely the side mirror whistle sound - plenty of threads about it.


if you still hear it then it could be a hose or the air intake itself, i used to have a corolla that had a slight hissing sound with an air intake installed - didn't bother me (this sound was going on when I wasn't on the throttle, kinda at idle and normal driving) sound did dissapear after the car warmed up a bit.


pop hood - spend 5-10 mins checking everything making sure nothing is rubbing against the intake. then take it to dealer.

Ahhh ok thanks guys. I didn't even think it could be the sidemirror. I only hear it when the window is down but I figured it was because the noise was fairly low in volume. Does the sidemirror noise stop if you fold them in? I think its probably something else, because I only hear the noise when I slowly accelerate, I hear it as soon as I start to give it a little gas and stops(or is drowned out) what's the cai starts making its beautiful music.

I just installed the tk cai and I also now have the same whistle. I was wondering if anyone has the same experience after installing the cai. If not, did I do something wrong? How do you fix it?

I installed my TK CAI in December and rode with my windows down for the first time yesterday, I noticed the same sound, I assumed it was normal

I did the cheap SRI mod (cone filter over the stock intake tube) and I get the same whistle. It happens during a slight acceleration like you guys explain but I just figured because it's probably not fully sealed. I'm positive it's not the mirror because I can hear it at different speeds with the window up or down and can kind of control it with how I press on the pedal. If it's not a proper seal like I suspect this definitely should not be happening with a $200+ CAI.

After rechecking my work and retightening the clamps it has stopped. Just make sure everything is seated and the clamps are tight. It should go away!

KNCVILLA said:

After rechecking my work and retightening the clamps it has stopped. Just make sure everything is seated and the clamps are tight. It should go away!

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Yeah thanks for the update, I'm gonna give it a check once it's a little warmer out.

I have the TK CAI and I have it as well....didn't re-tighten the connections yet but they were "snug" when I installed it and it whistled since the day I did the install.

ya its just the intake i have a cai/sri and drove around one day with the front bumper off and clearly heard the intake sucking in air, i think the people on the sidewalk did to hahaha

Good to know nothings broken, I guess I just noticed it because the other day was the first day in a longggg time it's been nice enough to drive with the windows down. I still think I'll check it once it's nice again (since it's back to the 30's outside) but it sounds pretty normal now

kjinxx2 said:

I installed my TK CAI in December and rode with my windows down for the first time yesterday, I noticed the same sound, I assumed it was normal

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This is normal, thats how its sounds sucking air through the filter

yes i hear that too, why complain? it sounds awsome i love it

I think we are talking about two different sounds....the whistling I hear is NOT on idle and NOT under heavy or normal acceleration (I understand what a CAI sounds like)....it is when you are barley touching the throttle...very very light acceleration.

I can deal with it...its not a big deal.

Mine was making a very high pitched howl (very loud). After making sure everything was snug it now sounds the way its supposed to.

landiscarrier said:

I think we are talking about two different sounds....the whistling I hear is NOT on idle and NOT under heavy or normal acceleration (I understand what a CAI sounds like)....it is when you are barley touching the throttle...very very light acceleration.

I can deal with it...its not a big deal.

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Yeah this is the same thing I have. Before the CAI really starts kicking in you can hear it. I can hear it as soon as I ease on the gas until about the 2-2.5k RPM range and the CAI starts to roar.

I hear the CAI intake hiss when I touch the throttle lightly off and on but after I stomp the trottle I can not hear it due to the low growl of the CAI drowning it out. I can hear it at any speed if I am lightly touching the throttle without stomping it. If this is the sound you are talking about then it is normal for a SRI and CAI. I have had the same sound on my previous car that had an SRI. I tend to play with that sound while driving in the city since it makes it sound like you have a turbo under the hood.

MFury said:

I hear the CAI intake hiss when I touch the throttle lightly off and on but after I stomp the trottle I can not hear it due to the low growl of the CAI drowning it out. I can hear it at any speed if I am lightly touching the throttle without stomping it. If this is the sound you are talking about then it is normal for a SRI and CAI. I have had the same sound on my previous car that had an SRI. I tend to play with that sound while driving in the city since it makes it sound like you have a turbo under the hood.

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Yeah that's exactly it, thanks for clearing that up for me