Helpful Tips To Install The Mopar Cai

These helpful tips are “specifically” for the 5.7L Mopar CAI, however, the 6.1L seems very similar so these tips may help some on either install. Also, as mentioned below this tutorial will help with a K&N or other CAI which may have poor instructions as well.


First, I honestly think if anyone reads an online install guide (I’ve linked one below that still has pics. Uploaded) or even that pitiful MOPAR install guide you get with the MOPAR CAI – reading the guide AND THESE TIPS and really getting familiar with the parts prior to doing anything – GET FAMILIAR WITH THE PARTS FIRST – you do that and this should be a mod that should easily be done in less then 1 hour. If you are reading the helpful tips and have no clue what a coupler or heat shield or air horn is, then you need to spend more time getting familiar with the parts first prior to attempting the install.

Note: You can put a lot of the parts together from the comfort of your own home, instead of fiddling with them outside when it isn’t necessary or having to put them on in tight spots. Look at all your parts, you can put the Air Horn (round black plastic piece that may already be inside the filter when you get it..) You can put the “weather strip” (more on this later) around the INSIDE of the heat shield hole. You can put the rubber, round grommet inside the Mopar CAI tube. You can also put the IAT sensor inside the tube as well (if you’ve already removed the old one.) You can also put the top side heat shield strip on the heat shield prior to ever walking outside your door. You can even put the hose clamps around BOTH couplers and tighten just enough so they stay firm.

A lot of these things will really reduce the number of parts you take outside and make things much easier to install.

Also, BE VERY CAREFUL with the nuts and bolts as you can drop them inside your car. I did NOT drop them, but was very careful not to do so as I’ve heard others drop them and not be able to get to them. Another small piece is the black push pin clip that comes with the kit. That is to push down on the small hole on the bottom of the heat shield to keep it from moving around and secure it. If you aren’t careful you will drop it inside your car and it will be very difficult to get as it’s an extremely small piece. Then you’d have to rig something with a nut and bolt – so just be CAREFUL and take your time.


Let’s start with the tools – You don’t need many.

1) Flat Head Screw Driver or 2 Flat head screw drivers –Small and Medium will work
2) Socket Wrench 3/8, and ½ (3/8 used for disconnecting the negative battery terminal, ½ used to remove the factory nut on the original system and to tighten with the new Mopar CAI.



Tips and tricks (in the order of install) as the Directions are really crappy and are either very unclear on certain steps or even leave them out ENTIRELY.


Before you begin you need to remove the engine cover. Don’t be concerned you are gonna break it. No, there are no bolts holding it on. There are suction cup type “thingys” on the bottom of the engine cover. You can pull up (with decent force) on the front or the sides – either way will work fine. Just YANK up with even force. I pulled up from the sides and one of the suction cups to the back of the engine cover was a little tight still and didn’t release so I just went to the back side and pulled that one up and removed the cover. Removing the engine cover takes all of 5 seconds literally. It should align up pretty well when you put it back on as you can just align directly over the oil cap and push down firmly on each side.

NOTE:
Make the removal/replacement easier....The posts that point upward can be ground down on the back 1/3, and then ground down on the front 1/3 of the post......it then snaps on /off with very little pressure, and everything will last longer.

 

Part 2


Now let’s start with some helpful tips that horrendous instruction guide isn’t specific on or doesn’t mention at all.


1) Remember to disconnect the negative battery terminal. I’ve read it can help the computer with the mod quicker as well as protect you from potential injury or shock.
1a.) After removing the throttle body clamp and tube clamp, as well as the mounting bolt for your stock setup, simply twist the tube from the throttle body and it will pop right out. Also twist the stock air box left and right and it will pop right out of the tube. Just make sure you unscrew the mounting brackets all the way so that they come off easily. The removal process is extremely fast (less then 10 mins. Easy)

2) When disconnecting the IAT (INTAKE AIR TEMPERATURE) SENSOR, the instructions just tell you to slide out the red locking clip and remove the wire harnass from the sensor. What they DO NOT TELL YOU is that you can EASILY damage the sensor if you pull too hard and that there is AN ADDITIONAL STEP to remove the harnass. There is a black clip you push in with your thumb or finger after you remove the red locking clip. The Harnass will NOT come off unless you push this black clip inwards and remove the harnass at the same time! This is not only tricky because the instructions leave the step to press the black clip in and pull – if you did the “blinker mod” the red locking clip once pulled out just released the wire harness with a light pull. I did the blinker mod and figured the clip was the same way – and the instruction manual was correct. If you are not careful you can break or damage your IAT SENSOR so make sure you push down on the black clip!


3) 1.5’’ coupler – When you slide this onto the Mopar CAI TUBE be careful NOT TO SLIDE IT ON TOO FAR. The 2’’ coupler you installed earlier onto the throttle body went on ALL THE WAY. So it may seem logical to push the 1.5’’ coupler on all the way onto the MOPAR AIR TUBE – You do NOT push the 1.5’’ coupler on that far at all. You see, the Air Horn (inside the air filter) slides INTO THE COUPLER – NOT INTO THE TUBE!! If you slide the 1.5’’ coupler onto the tube too far there won’t be enough of the coupler for the air horn to fit into. You basically just want to slide or wedge enough of the coupler onto the tube that it won’t fall off. Then tighten the first clamp right over that piece. That is very important because if you don’t tighten that first clamp when you try to push the air horn/air filter assembly into it, it will push the coupler back further, thus, causing you to not have enough coupler to work with and to cover the lip of the air horn completely. After you get the air horn/filter assembly all the way in, tighten the second clamp. Keep in mind the air filter/air horn assembly has a VERY TIGHT fit. Depending on how far up you pushed the 1.5’’ coupler, will depend on how close your filter gets to the power steering reservoir. Because it’s a tight fit, don’t worry about damaging the air horn or filter – just push it down on the coupler – the coupler will give way and allow you to insert the air horn. Because it’s a matter of inches – some people’s finished CAI will be EXTREMELY close to the power steering reservoir – and some may even be touching the power steering reservoir – doesn’t matter – both are perfectly fine as long as the air horn is in the coupler nice and snug.

4) When tightening the BIG CLAMP around the air filter, do NOT over-tighten. Tighten it just enough. That clamp obviously holds the air horn tightly to the air filter – but I’ve read some people have OVER-TIGHTENED that clamp and have cracked the air horn – so be very CAREFUL when tightening that clamp.

5) Weather strip – There is a 12’’ weatherstrip (thin) that comes with your kit. Do NOT confuse this with the other THICK piece of square tubing that you put ON TOP OF THE LIP OF THE HEAT SHIELD. The THIN 12 inch or so long weather strip goes INSIDE THE HEAD SHIELD HOLE. Many people who installed their CAI left that part off because the directions do NOT even mention it. If you are able to follow the crappy directions (via miracle) the one piece you will have left over is the weather strip. I installed this inside along with many other things which made it much easier. You will probably have to cut about an inch or two from the weatherstrip to make a perfect fit around the hole. Another helpful tip (cosmetic-wise) would be to try and have the two ends “where you started and where you cut” meet up together at the BOTTOM of the hole. That way you don’t see the two pieces – they won’t be visible. Just start by pushing the weather strip in from the BOTTOM of the hole – and when you get around the entire hole, cut an inch or two off and voila!

6) Prior to reattaching the IAT wire harness to the sensor – make sure the sensor is turned in the direction where when you put the harnass back on and clip it in you can SEE the red clip which you will tighten. When I put my sensor into the grommet on the tube I had it so when I put my connector on the red clip was on the BOTTOM. The reason this could be a problem is in the future if you need to remove the clip it is on the bottom so it would be more difficult to see and release. You may also forget there is a “black clip to press in and yank too hard – you have a 50/50 chance in getting it right side up when you install the sensor – if you don’t, just do what I did which is very simple. Spray a little WD-40 on the under side of the grommet – just a little – then TURN THE GROMMET ITSELF – repeat, TURN THE GROMMET ITSELF with a dry rag or a paper towel. Do NOT try to turn the sensor as it may break – and probably will. Just grab onto the grommet after you’ve sprayed a little WD-40 underneath it – it should turn with relative ease. Then you can turn the sensor in a 180 degree turn, snap the wire harness right into the sensor and tighten the red clip. All this while the clip is on TOP and clearly visible.

7) Another oddity (if there aren’t enough already) is one of the last steps. You will notice you have a small connector and a connector hose. Before reading any further, it apparently depends when and where your car was manufactured as to whether or not the hose coming from the engine will be the size that will fit onto the connector snug or not. If your hose coming from the engine fits onto the connector nice and tight skip this part -- if not, continue. The purpose of these parts is due to the original breather hose (coming from the engine) not being long enough to reach the MOPAR CAI nozzle on the tube. The instruction manual says you should connect the small breather hose to the MOPAIR CAI Tube nozzle, then attach the connector to the to the end of the hose so that you can ultimately finish by connecting the engine hose to the end of the connector – ughh…NOT SO FAST. You will notice right away that the hose going into the MOPAR CAI TUBE NOZZLE is firm and tight while the hose coming from the engine (is slightly wider) so it fits loosely on the connector. The instruction manual tells you to put the little hose clamp on the end of the hose (WHICH IS ALREADY SO TIGHT BIG FOOT COULDN’T YANK IT OFF) – WTF do we need a connector hose clamp on that end for??? --- :knockout: Right, we DON’T! The small clamp should go over the connector end with the loose hose (from the engine). Then tighten that clamp and that hose will be on their firm and tight and you are good to go –

Put your engine cover back on, make sure you’ve removed ALL TOOLS from under the hood so you don’t have any big surprises later – close the hood, fire her up and ….ZOOOM ZOOM!

Oh, there is ONE last part – the silver MOPAR STICKER --- you can send that back to Mopar and the dopes that wrote these instructions and tell them the best place for them to “stick-it” is where the sun don’t shine! : )


I hope this tips guide has really helped many. If it has..please donate your life savings via paypal to me. – lmao--- seriously, I do hope this has helped as it took me 3 hours to do this mod the first time. I could do it now in LESS then 20 mins. – EASY – but there were so many discrepancies with the instruction guide where it didn’t properly explain how to do a step or quite honestly INCORRECTLY told you how to do it. – And in some cases just LEFT STEPS OUT. Pretty baffling in the year 2007 Mopar couldn’t put together a “decent’ instruction manual. I’m sure the “experts” had no problems installing this (yawn) and did it faster then they can piss – “YAWN” – Now that I’ve done this once there’s nobody that will do it any faster then me, but I have no shame in saying it took me 3 hours the first time mainly because I had to verify and figure out how the hell these steps could be performed – or how to do them correctly. I took my time because I wasn’t gonna rush anything and break something or do it wrong.

The below guide may help too as it has pictures and is more detailed and accurate then the install guide that comes with the kit.
Install guide for 6.1L MOPAR CAI but similar in most steps to 5.7L (WITH PICS STILL UP)
http://www.300cforums.com/forums/tec...i-install.html