Setright

Okay, we need pics of the kit too, please. I would advise against plugging any of the hoses. The PCV system keeps your oil healthy, by removing blowby from the crankcase.

You would have to replace the piping. Cutting and sealing will never give a smooth inner surface, and roughness will cause turbulence in the intake. Your air filter box is resting behind the headlamp right?? This "old" design is much easier and better to modify. My 1992 Legacy was similar, and all I did was remove the "intake silencer" that lives inside the fender cavity and run a 60mm pipe from the air filter box into the fender. Mounted a velocity stack on the end of course, to reduce turbulence. This gave a wonderful growl on hard acceleration, and zero noise increase at cruise. I put a K&N drop-in element in the standard filter box. This a shot from below, inside the fender: http://www.geocities.com/vik2r/Sube/intake2.jpg

For more info check the thread called "Intake"...very heated debate. CAI will not hydrolock your engine in rain.

Cookie, if we are not in agreement, make a useful suggestion or lay down an indisputable theory. Snotrocket's idea of thermal shock is the first plausible one I've heard. Hats off! As for the old discussion as to why OE intakes aren't drawing cold air: Well, many of them are! Have you looked under the bonnet of a gen3 Legacy? Air is drawn in from above the grille. Gen1 and 2's drew from inside the fender cavity. Heck, even a Volvo 340 - ca. 1985 - has a factory cold air intake. So it works. And it doesn't mean instant hydro-lock. Why then, are some of our Subes drawing from inside the engine bay, and losing potential horsepower? Noise. Some of it forced by legislation, some because it's easier to sell a silent car. Maybe even to save fuel, since less dense air will take less fuel along with it?

You need a "MAF adapter". Don't run the car without the MAF sensor - Mass Air Flow.

There are three hoses of similar diameter that feed the Positive Crankcase Ventilation system. One runs to a mixing stud and up to the PCV valve in the intake manifold plenum, on top of the engine. This system draws fresh air through the engine to purge blowby gases from the crankcase. Blowby is the stuff that slips past the pistons. Minimal amounts. The should be one hose of a larger diameter than those three, and this feeds the Idle Air Control valve. When you are not pressing the throttle pedal, the throttle valve is shut almost completely and the engine would stall if it weren't for the air the IAC valve lets in during idle. The PCV hoses may be connected at one of the "lumps" in the intake, since they function best with slow moving air. The lumps are also there to keep things quiet - boring!

We need some photos...of the car and intake, please

Funny, my car makes some chirping noises: Second gear, about 55mph, stand on the brakes, down to about 35mph, pull hard right on the steering as I release the brakes, hug the curb round a street corner. That chirping never fails to appear?? Usually from the front first, but a deep stab on the throttle seems to cause a chirp from the rear of the car too? ;-) Sorry, couldn't help myself!

Six cylinder has better throttle response, potentially better economy, MUCH better sound track. Engine will last a long time. Four cylinder turbo will have more torque, as soon as the turbo is spooled up, meaning from 2500rpm it should shove along nicely. This engine is likely to weigh slightly less, which would given a more even handling balance. This engine is likely to have head gasket issues - unless the block is total a redesign. Even so, you must compare the suspension set ups to judge handling fairly, and I would suspect that Subaru reckons that H6 owners want a smoother ride, and turbo owners want better body control. I would choose the H6, no matter the suspension bias. There is nothing that can compete with the smooth silken sound of a boxer six.....

If you cannot understand why "why" is important, don't involve yourself in this thread. You all speak as if hydro-locking was an everyday occurence, but no-one has yet given an explanation of how it would ever bend valves. I grew up in Singapore, and the torrential rain, and subsequent flooding never gave rise to any stories of hydrolocked engines. If it was common, a climate like Singapore's would reflect that.

Maybe a wheel balance weight has fallen off one of the wheels?

ECU coolant temp sensor is a popular guess in these situtations. I would check all the electrical connectors in the egine room. Disconnect, spray with a good contact-cleaner, one that leaves zero residue, let dry, and connect again. You might want to consider your fuel filter, when was it last replaced?

I dont know for sure. I would check the placement of the pump drive wheel. Since the the pump takes drive from the back of the timing belt, and the belt takes a slightly different path between SOHC and DOHC, the axle might be in a different location.

The exhaust valve opens quite some time after TDC. If the volume of water could fit at max compression, the exhaust valve would have plenty of space to open. Please try again :-)

I particularly like the Overlander quote: "possibly bend a connecting rod or worse" No mention of bent valves. I know how an engine operates, I do not need links to howstuffworks. The rods bend when they try to force the pistons up and meet the water. I cannot think of any engine that has valves open at this part of the cycle. If the valves are open when the piston is at TDC, they will collide with the piston and bend, but that has nothing to do with water in the combustion chamber. I think some of these bent valves stories stem from smaller amounts of water, that work their way past pistons as "blow-by" and contaminate oil and cause seizure in camshaft bearings. Let's say an intake stroke takes in water and on the compression stroke, the water stays inside the combustion chamber. Now, as the piston moves away from BDC, the intake valve will be closing, the exhaust will be shut. As the piston moves up - well outward on our engines - the intake valve shuts, the gases present compress, the water doesn't, and suddenly there is only just enough volume for the water, some time before TDC. BANG! The piston and con-rod will flex, deform, or crack and the crankshaft stops dead. When this happens, the valves are SHUT. How can they have their stems bent?

I am still waiting to hear how valves are bent by water....

How on earth would valves bend due to water ingestion? Con-rods, yes, since the piston stops short. And, it's not the 3in puddle that you hit, it's the person in front who hits it and splashes the front of your own car. Honestly, have you ever thought about how much water enters the engine bay through the radiator opening? The fender cavity is not a worse place. I understand that a low set, frontal filter, just behind an opening can suck in more water....but someone tell me how that bends valves!

I am sure you can find reason to shoot at this too, but here goes: The carb requires a restriction to work. Fuel injection means your intake can be free of restriction. Which would provide better flow and throttle response? Bang on two dual throat carbs and you may overcome this. However, you will lose low to medium torque, and throttle response. Each cylinder will now have to pull in it's own air from a plenum of nearly still air. With the 1 into 4 of the FI EJ-engine, the air in the plenum is moving faster.

QUOTE "but i do not recommend anything that penetrates the fender wall" What? I ran my Legacy with a 90 degree, downward bend ending in a velocity stack, inside the fender, coming from the stock air box. For 70k miles, once through a hub-high flood. No problems. The stock intake opening was in there in the first place. And the stock silencer does not separate water out, as has been heard on these pages before. I am now running a pipe from the engine top air box on my Imp, into the fender cavity. Not in any floods yet, but so far so good. Just to be sure of our definitions: Hydro-lock will cause "cavitation" of the pistons, due to the sudden shock of hitting incompressible water in the combustion chamber. Similar to pre-detonation. People who have ingested water and therefore damgaged their big-end bearings, did not hydro-lock. Agree?

For sure, the metal shavings were interferring!

The wear pattern is more likely caused by suspension geometry. A Radial tyre has a very stable contact patch, and distributes force fairly evenly across the tread. Cross ply tyres - rare these days - will wear shoulders when underinflated and centres when overinflated. Oh, I run 195/60R15, presently at 36 front 31 rear. This compensates for the lack of a rear anti roll bar on my cheapo Impreza, and allows for some tail-out fun :-) Even so, the OUTSIDE shoulders on all my tyres are what wear out first....there was a list of tyre related stuff in my Legacy manual, and this type of tyre wear could be caused by "Excessive speed in turns." YOU BET!

Any chance of a photo of the setup?

Rain will NOT cause hydro-lock. It takes more water than most rain storms can deliver. Keep in mind that any water that does enter will be turned into mist as it passes through the air filter. Mounted just inside the fender cavity, near the top, there is neglible risk of serious water ingestion. If the filter is set low and just behind an opening in the bumper, then it will take in more water, but I still wouldn't worry. All cars breathe in rain water, you can't avoid it, and it does no harm. Think about single seater race cars that race in the rain, they have very high compression ratios - like 14 to 1 - and often no more than a metal mesh air "filter". They don't hydro-lock....

Do you drive into deep puddles often? How low set is the intake? Rain will not cause hydro-locking.

Yeah!