Problems after AEM CAI
 

So i installed my AEM CAI a few days ago. First day was fine... took her out for a test drive and loved the sound. Perfect !!!

The next day.. i go for a drive i really beat on her to 9000 rpm and i got a CEL (first time ever since i got the car). Shut off the car and when i start her again its still there. I cleaned my MAF sensor and unplugged battery to reset ECU, now the CEL is gone. Yessss!!!

But now my idle is soooo messed up. Ill start her up... and it feels and sounds like the car is gasping for air. THe rpm needle goes up and down and sometimes stalls.

This is frustrating the hell out of me right now and pretty much bummed me out. Searched for this and i found a few threads about it but didnt want to bump a 3 year old thread.

Please help !!! I need the 8 to go to work tomorrow. And it stalls when im at a stop now :( !!1

After resetting the ECU the car needs to re-learn fuel trims. This is perfectly normal. Give it a few drive cycles before it starts operating normally. The reason you got the CEL is because the MAF is sensing different IAT and flow than before. The ECU reset should resolve that issue, but like I said, give it a few cycles.

I did !! Like i just went out for 2 drives. Shut her off waited 5 minutes then another drive. The idle is soo messed up :( !!!! Like i start the car up... and it sounds like its gasping for airrr and the rpm drops lower and lower till it stalls :(

Fuckk my life :(

Lol no i mean like few days if anything, it really takes a while, not just a few cycles in a day

Oh okay !! Thanks. Its weird cause the first 2 days were fine. Idle was normal about 800 ish. And the needle didnt go up and down.

I jsut went out for another drive and i noticed when i put the car in neutral as the rpms drop it does the fucked up idle :(

Hopefully everything works out. My 8 is my life and it worries the shit out of me when something like this happens to her lmao

I would check the screens and make sure they didn't get dislodged.

ill try taking it apart and seeing if anything got dislodged.

Also make sure the VFAD nipple is still capped.
If the cap is still there, make sure its not cracked.

Yup the VFAD is capped off. The black "cap" the AEM came with was too loose so i took a bit of the rubber piping... cut a piece .. put it in the cap .. then capped off the nipple.


This is pissing me off. Never had ANY problems with my 8 whats so ever :(

well obviously this is related to your install.. so I wouldn't get too worked up about it. it would be something else altogether if the car just randomly starting doing this.

Yea its definitely the intake lol. Car was flawless before this :(

So the VFAD was coming loose.. so i put on another cap that is tighter. I also cleaned my MAF sensor .. again. Idle is a bit more stable but once in a while it fluctuates. Also the CEL is back on.. FUCK.MY.LIFE.

Mazda dealer installed my MSCAI in my 2008 40th Anniversary RX8. They did all the ECU test procedures, and I got the car back the same day. They only charged one hour labor (that is what is listed in the Mazda service book), but they took a couple hours to install, drive it and set it up properly. I have had NO problems with it whatsoever, no idling problems, no driveability problems, nothing. It runs great and the car always starts right up and sounds great.

So yes I would check every bit of your install and see where they may be a blockage or leak.

Will do thanks !!!!

Its weird that it didnt happen the first 2 days but right after i redlined :S.

do you have an obd reader? You can get a basic one on ebay for about $50.

You may have stressed something else with your "spirited driving". Similar issue happened with me, just one day a CEL came on. Long story short it was cat failure.

I do not :(

See the car was idling fine when the CEL came on. Its when i reset my ECU by disconnecting the battery that the idling started getting fucked.

Fixed it !!!!!!!!

Alright so basically i took apart the cai. Not really the whole thing but a piece of it. I removed the coupler right before the MAF sensor. And guess what. It seemed like the screen was sideways a bit. So i put it on properly and tightened the hell out of all the couplers !!!!!



Turn my baby on and VOILA !!!!!! NORMAL IDLE !!!!!! CEL was still on so i once again (probably the 4th time today) reset the ECU. Turned her on. Bye bye CEL.


Im soo amazed how something as small as the screen being slightly sideways can mess up your idle and throw CELs.

My guess is when i ripped it today.. the couplers werent tight enough and one of the screen mustved shifted.

Thank God its nothing worse. :)

Thanks everyone for their help.

Next time if you want your cel read go to an autozone, checkers, etc or a Canadian equivalent if Canada does not have them. Those stores will check your cel's for free and tell you what they say and also remove them so you dont have to reset the ecu every time.

grats on the fix! i was having the same issues about a year ago when i first installed mine. stupid screens.

Im having issues with overheating after I installed mine. Can you post a pic of how your lines are connected and the one you removed. Thank you!.

http://www.aemintakes.com/instructio...1-485_inst.pdf
Page 12

so it was the screen damn.. Im just installed mines yesterday and im having the same problem..hopefully it will work

Nice, bump :)

Had this happen to me twice.... Once was my error (when installing my BHR ignition). The other time happened after I picked up my 8 from an oil change at the stealership.

G/L

Crazy long bump...i believe i'm having symptoms of a nonaligned screen. Have any of you guys placed a little silicone to keep them in place?

The weird thing is that my aem cai has been in place for months. Recently installed a stage 1 tune from MM and reset the ECU, bam...started having issues. First thought that maybe the tune was messed up, or the maf needed cleaning. Cleaned the maf, still no love. My maf is under warranty at a local auto parts store so swapped that out and again reset the ECU, no luck. Switched back to MM base tune still having symptoms. So i think the screens got turned or something. Crossing my fingers!!!

So anybody know a way to keep these things tight and in place.

Anybody having turbulence issues with their AEM? Anyone know a dedicated way to fixing this?