TK CAI help/questions

Hey bbsoup, I am exactly the same where I have NO experience in performance mods and installed the TK CAI myself and also had a more experienced friend help me with it. What I can tell you about it is if you have the ability to lift the car as it stated as optional, I would do it to give u more room when putting on the filter. With mine, you'll notice that there's an extra piece of metal attached to the pipe to secure it to whatever it lines up with. Mine didn't line up so I used zip ties. I actually used a few zip ties cuz my ECU in the included bracket didn't seem secure enough for me so I zip tied it so it would move less in the bay. I myself have no idea why they made a stupid pop quiz in the instructions at the end..kinda dumb. But good luck and just follow step by step and don't cut corners and it'll be just as u imagined. Good luck!

Thanks man! I'm excited to do it but I'm kind ofapprehensive about it too.

Did you notice a huge difference in sound and performance? I'm excited to see the results.

well i want to first say, you wont want to get out of your car after you drive it with the cai installed cuz the sound is orgasmic. i too have/had zero experience modifying cars til this one and i did it myself without any problems. took me about an hour. just remember to keep all the screws and parts together so you dont lose them. i would say the hardest part, and it still even is that hard, is positioning the Cai correctly. i have an auto so i had to bend the frickin dipstick down and that was a pain in the ass. but other than that, smooth sailing. you're gunna love it! you'll be driving without the radio on and with the windows down for at least a month just cuz you want to hear it growl!

Yea we felt the same about this lol I was a little scared to do it myself but seriously the instructions are fine and it's not hard to do and like I said I have NO experience also. It says in the intructions to reconnect the battery and start the car and let idle for 5 minutes..just make sure u do this!

As for sound and performance...well if you've seen any reviews for the TK cai, you'll notice no complaints and raving reviews. I happen to agree immensely! The sound (which is when U want to hear it which is the coolest part about it) is so nice to hear and I get so many looks when I pass people. As for performance, you will definitely feel more response, especially in lower gears, and a bit of added power. Good luck again man and update us when installed and you're lovin it

Here is a link to my thread showing some pictures installing the CAI on my Auto Sedan. There is also a little sound clip!

http://www.forteforums.com/forums/performance-modifications/2400-turbokits-cai-sound-clip.html

Yea aidensgrand is right on point! Keep everything organized and together becuz the last thing you want is to lose a screw or something. You will part ways with music for a while to say the least! Have fun man and welcome to the "our car sounds better then yours" club

Awesome!! Now I'm really excited to get this done. Aidensgrand, I'm glad we still have at lease 2 monthes worth of windows down weather here in Illinois! I'm looking forward to hearing it. BTW I love your car. I use to have a white car - which I use to think was the hardest car the keep clean - until I bought my black Koup lol! I might steal your idea of the LED's on the bottom grill, pretty sick!

BigE thanks for the link! I'm gonna check it out right now!

lol..."our car sounds better than yours"...I'm going to use that one.

I'm also getting a new exhaust put on so that should make it even more orgasmic! I'm upgrading to a Magnaflow 2.5" inlet/outlet, with dual chrome mirror finished tips. Thanks for the replies everyone!

I'm still curious about the "pop quiz". Big E or Aidensgrand, did you guys understand what they were talking about?

Maybe we can get the site sponsor on here to answer that question!

haha its not even 'windows down' weather down here yet and i still put em down sometimes come october, it should hopefully cool off more and windows will always be down. listening to the "pppsssshhh" sound it makes when you hit the gas is soooo much fun lol and it's gunna turn heads even more now cuz of the growl!

and the pop quiz i think is just a joke on their part.... i didnt pay any attention to it because i was finished with the install and wanted to drive it

Take the front bumper off.... its 2 metal screws and 9or10 plastic screws.... takes 4-5min and have complete access....

My thought on the pop quiz question at the end is that maybe they didn't have the ecu, cause it was out getting reprogrammed???

2-3 things that help me:
1-I put two big O-rings instead of the oem rubber bushing holding the ECU bracket. The ECU is holding quite good that way!

2-The lower tube section of the CAI is sitting realy close to a body hook. I've put a peice of rubber with tiewrap to make sure it doesn't rattle against!

3-Clean your coolant tube before putting heat wrap because that things doesn't stick well!!!

It's a bit "scarry" to play on a new car but this mod is quite easy.

GL

The TK was the first engine mod I had done and had zero help (none of my friends are into car mods / etc) so I was on my own. No real issues with the install. Just read the instructions a few times to become familiar with them. (the reason there was no picture for the ecu was it was out being flashed/tuned I believe so they didn't actually have it to photograph).

The only minor issue with mine was the edge of the filter was resting on the water shield however I just rotate the pipe a hair and it took it right off if it.

Thanks alot for the post guys! I'm home from work today waiting for the package (STUPID DIRECT SIGNATURE REQUIRED), and I had nothing to do soo I detailed my car. Kind of off topic here, but has anyone used the Meguiar's Gold Class NTX Tech Wax 2.0? Or the Gold Class Endurance tire gel? I picked up both and all I can say is WOW, WOW, WOW!!

Thanks for all the tips and tricks, I guess my biggest worry is messing with the ECU, but it sounds like the bracket is good.

Question about the O rings? Excuse my ignorance but aren't O rings used for sealing off an area from leaking of fluids and gases? Or is there some other application?

Matemorh said:

2-3 things that help me:

2-The lower tube section of the CAI is sitting realy close to a body hook. I've put a peice of rubber with tiewrap to make sure it doesn't rattle against!

GL

Click to expand...

I did the exact same thing!

I also used a big washer and flat piece of rubber to mount my ECU bracket rather than the original rubber mount from the airbox. It gave me a much more secure ECU in my opinion.

As far as the "Pop Quiz", I never even looked at the instructions so I didn't even see it.

show off

BBSoup32 said:

Thanks alot for the post guys! I'm home from work today waiting for the package (STUPID DIRECT SIGNATURE REQUIRED), and I had nothing to do soo I detailed my car. Kind of off topic here, but has anyone used the Meguiar's Gold Class NTX Tech Wax 2.0? Or the Gold Class Endurance tire gel? I picked up both and all I can say is WOW, WOW, WOW!!

Thanks for all the tips and tricks, I guess my biggest worry is messing with the ECU, but it sounds like the bracket is good.

Question about the O rings? Excuse my ignorance but aren't O rings used for sealing off an area from leaking of fluids and gases? Or is there some other application?

Click to expand...

I think he means he used a couple of spare ones to give a little more stiffness to the rubber mount used to secure the ECU bracket.

As far as any ECU issues, I never unplugged mine, there was enough play in the cables to let me reach all the mounting screws so I never unhooked it or the battery.