I installed Doc I's fender mount panel to eliminate the rattling from my CAI, but the damn thing still rattles. I've had the Injen CAI for about 6 months, and after 5 months it snapped its mounting bracket. A couple of weeks after that, I installed the fender mount and I have had some time to gauge how well it works.

What I have found is that the old rattle is gone and a new rattle has begun. The old rattle was the sound of the intake pipe hitting the inside of the fender and it happened over bumps only when no gas was being applied. The new rattle sounds more plasticky and happens under gas and especially when shifting gears (it's an auto, so I'm talking about when shifting from P, D, R, N).

I need to get a friend to confirm this for me, but I am almost certain the Doc I mount panel is rattling against the side of the fusebox. Sometimes it's like a flapping (low frequency), and sometimes it's like a buzzing (the same motion at a higher frequency). Does this happen to anyone else? I tightened the bolt on the panel to the point where I had no more torque left in my arm, so it's on there really tight. The panel seems to be solid, but the front end has a lot of movement if I push it with my hand, and that seems to be the part which moves on its own when I'm driving.

Just looking for solutions. I was thinking about getting some type of foam to fill the gap between the panel and the fusebox, and maybe also the opposite side gap between the panel and the fender. Anyone else done this?

 

I was going to say just add some foam or something where its rubbing, thats what I would do.

 

Kind of seems like masking the problem instead of solving the problem. I will do the foam thing, but I am also hoping for ideas for a more permanent fix.

 

i too have the dr. isotope panel for my injen cai but haven't noticed any abnormal noises. (knock on wood). are you 100% it is that which is causing the noise?

 

Not 100%. I need to get someone else to rev the engine and shift gears while I look at what is happening in the engine bay. Although I am pretty sure they are related because it started happening around the same time when I set up the panel and stopped the other rattle.

I thought the shifting part was kind of weird. Does the engine move when you shift an auto? I get the rattle especially when shifting in and out of park. I can recreate it every time and it never used to happen.

 

well shouldnt the engine move anyway when shifting regardless of auto/man? like it does that jiggle thing

 

I know it happens when you start the engine. Never looked at an engine being shifted though. I assume it moves, so that means the intake is also moving, and that means the mount panel is moving too.

 

How are you going to watch the engine while someone else is shifting through gears? Are you going to sit in the engine bay while the car is moving?

 

I love it when I take the time to write something and people only read half of it.

 

And for the record, I did get someone to do this little experiment with me yesterday, and I confirmed that it is the cause of the problem. The engine shifts a lot during shifting, I was pretty surprised to see just how much it moves. It makes a big shift to the driver's side, which causes the pipe to move in the same direction by the same amount, and that moves the mounting panel, which impacts the fusebox. It's all good, I'm getting some foam tape to wrap and insulate the plastic parts.