DIY - EM Short Ram Air Install (2001-2005 Civic)
 

A short ram air intake install is pretty simple and is something you can do yourself at your house, most people already know how to do this, but for those that do not, then hopefully this can be of some use to you.

NOTE: I used the photos in this tutorial from another one that I found online, these are not my photos. That tutorial I found incomplete and at some points left me scratching my head when I was trying to follow it. So I modified it with my own experience from doing it myself, I can't take all the credit for this.

Enjoy all!

This installation is easy to do, and should take approximately 20-30minutes to complete.

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/a...etremoval1.jpg
This one is where the first 2 bolts need to be unscrewed. They come out with the washers. 10mm Socket. all of them except the battery were 10mm, battery was 8mm socket.


http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/a...letremoval.jpg
The 2 screws holding the inlet to the resonator are removed, you should be able to just wiggle that little piece off and put it aside.

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/a...terfromITB.jpg
This is the resonator. RED arrows are the bolts to unscrew. After you loosen them take them out but DON'T try to take the resonator off yet. You can disconnect the air temperature sensor as well. The PINK arrow shows where the IAT hooks into the air filter, just push the clip down with your thumb and pull the cable off, now the air sensor is still in the air filter, but you can pull that out easier once the filter is completely taken off later.


http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/a.../greenclip.jpg
This green clip is attached to the resonator near the under left side, it was a little tricky to get off at first. Flathead screwdriver under the tab and twist up, then take your finger and lift the tab up, then pull. This is the resonator mount. Be patient, it didn’t come off easily. Now you can take the resonator out.


http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/a...terremoval.jpg
This is the last part that connects to the ITB. RED arrow is AIR SENSOR. You will need that in a minute. The PINK arrow is the ITB clamp. It’s right beside the air sensor as you can see but its hidden under this big black box. Flat head screw driver, or 8mm Socket will loosen it. After it’s loose, you can remove it, by gently wiggling it off the ITB. Once the air filter has been removed, you can now remove the air temperature sensor. Just gently wiggle it out of the rubber grommet.


http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/a...elyremoved.jpg
This is with the box off of the ITB. Notice that I temporarily unscrewed the cruise control line moved it up to have space to work with, made things easier. 8mm socket needed for those.


http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/a...naltouches.jpg
Everything has been removed, install your new intake as per the directions given with the intake. Tighten the 2 clamps at the Throttle Body, and the clamp holding the filter on. Insert the Air Temperature Sensor into the intake and plug it back in. Run the rubber pipe from the intake to the EGR and make sure everything is fastened tight.
RED arrows show where I tightened stuff included with the kit. ORANGE arrows are the bolts for the cruise control wires.



Questions? Concerns? Comments?
Let me know, thanks for looking!

excellent diy!!!!

need a new strut bar :P ... didnt know the lx came in vtec

good DIY

Thanks guys, appreciate it!

I used these pics from another DIY of someone else's engine bay, and added more descriptive indepth explanations, edited images, etc. The original one was vague and confusing at some steps. Im assuming these would have been from an SI.

nice, will come handy in the future

Hey guys, just wondered what kind of 'horsepower gains' I would get from a short-ram intake? I have a 2004 Si, I believe it is 127hp stock.

I know that a short-ram will make the engine 'louder' (I had one on my old '94 Integra) but honestly, will it be any more powerful?

I know the gains will likely be minimal without at least a complete header/exhaust replacement too, but overall, do you guys think a short-ram intake is worth the expense?

so i assume you have to get rid of the strut bar?

something like a few hp gain, thats it nothing really significant


Yeah, no strut bar at the moment.

Thanks for the DIY. I just recently bought a Short Ram Intake locally from TooFastMotors.Com - Auto Performance (I found their posting on Craigslist) for $60. I have an 02 Civic LX (auto) and the guy sold me some generic APC (American Products Company) SRI for an 01-05 EX. He said it would fit and that I can return it if it didn't...fair enough. So with the help of this DIY I got as far as partially removing the Resonator and Air filter. That Green clip (to the left of the air box and above the resonator) was fricken impossible and I stopped from fully pulling off the air filter because I suddenly wanted make sure the intake would fit before pulling off the thick Black piping that connects the Air filter to the EGR. To my dissappointment, the intake pipe only had one ummm "nipple" on it and it wasn't even close to the Air filter/ITB (Individual Throttle Body) side. There wasn't another hole in the intake Pipe for the IAT sensor. So I searched some more forums to see if there were other DIYs and looked at other intake and they all seemed to have 2 hole/connectors on the PIPE (1 for the Think black rubber tube that goes to the EGR and another for the IAT sensor). Reinstalled everything and will have to return this cheap intake...So if anyone knows where else to buy decently priced Short rams or would like to sell theirs...let me know.

Here's my questions in case I decide to buy another Intake and try this again.
1) That think black rubber piping that connects the air filter and the EGR, do you just wiggle that off? I know there's a clamp on the EGR side but don't really see a clamp on the air filter side. And if you do get the black rubber pipe off...it seemed like a really tight fit so how would you put it back in. I already had some trouble putting the air filter back on the ITB (Individual Throttle Body)

2) How in the world do you get that Green clip off. I've been prying with a scrediver to the point where my finger's hurt. The green tab just wouldn't lift up. Plus the limited hand space in there didn't help much.

Sorry for the long post, I'm a noob so I wanted to share my SRI experience as I'm sure many people out there are searching for SRIs and planning to make it their first DIY project (like myself).

All depends on the intake, ones from companies like AEM and INJEN will allow you to have a strut bar, even with the no name ones you might be able to, but the intake might hit the strut bar and make an annoying noise when your driving. As well sometimes the hood will hit the intake on the no name ones. (01-05 civics and Y7's may have this problem).

Well just got and installed an AEM V2 short ram, got it from another member here. For those who are still wondering how to work that "GREEN CLIP" (it actually is ABOVE the resonator and to the left of the Air filter box), just simply PRESS DOWN on the green tab and the hose connecting to the resonator just pulls out. Don't force the tab upwards with a screwdriver...PRESS DOWN ON IT. It's really quite simple after knowing that...hope this helped someone out there.

Thanks Danger for the clarification, how is the AEM V2 working for you? Im looking at upgrading to the full cold air real soon

The V2 is pretty nice... I'm driving an auto and I do feel a slight increase in acceleration (pretty much from 1st to second gear). I really can't comment too much since I haven't tried any other intakes. I can say that it does have a nice throaty sound when you really step on it at WOT (wide open throttle).

Overall, I'm please with it and the low maintenance of the AEM dry flow filter. I personally won't be going cold air unless I decide doing the entire exhaust (header/cat back and all), but if you do it'll be a nice addition to this DIY since it's one of the few fully and well documented DIYs out there. I'm sure hundreds of people are using it =).