Cadillac CTS-V - Lingenfelter CAI poor fit on 06 V

Gentlemen, I'm writing to see if you guys have any ideas or have experienced anything similar. I installed a Lingenfelter CAI, which as you know is just and airbox and filter, but there was so little room in the airbox after the installation, that I had to basically crush the filter to get it in there. Also, it would not fit horizontally, Pic below:

http://i.imgur.com/iluEM.jpg

I got on the phone with Lingenfelter, and they sent me a new airbox and filter. They were great, actually, no complaints about their customer service. This one fit slightly better, allowing me to position the filter horizontally, but essentially had the same problem. I didn't even try to put the new filter in because I'd have to crush it, too. There is simply no room.

The edge of the airbox is right up against the radiator, can't move any further. I'm almost certain I followed the instructions to a T and installed the brackets in all the right places, and plugged/screwed everything in to the right place.Any ideas as to what could be going on? Lingenfelter says they're stumped, but they'll take the CAI back.

PS-- Yes, I know my engine bay is dirty-- I had a coolant leak and for various other reasons it looks like crap. Gonna clean it up nicely this weekend.

Looks like you have the wrong filter.

End to end mine measures just over 7.5" (not counting connector which is about 3/4")

The filter doesn't fit perfectly square relative to your car's direction of motion and the ground. It is a tight fit, but you can make it work. I fail to see why you're having a problem tweaking it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/QuicksilverG4/CIMG0067.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/QuicksilverG4/CTS-V/CIMG0029.jpg

Maybe he is trying to force it over the connector (filter last).

The "proper" way is to install the filter first and connect up starting there and forget about having it look "nice" by being horizontal or vertical.

You mount it so it clears as much of everything it can.

Heavymetals, that's what I did. I slid the filter in first, then inserted the MAF. The filter fits towards the coolant reservoir, but to move it so thy the MAF can slide in necessitates crushing it.

I did measure it over the phone with lingenfelter. It's the right size.

Fuzz, I am not being autistic about this. I tried to gingerly position and orient the filter in ANY direction that would allow it to fit in the air box, but no go.

Wtf mine fit perfectly

And yea the filter is different than mine....

Is your filter the same as FuzzyLogic's? Because that's the same filter I have. It's just that I had to orientate it longways (and as you can see, crush it slightly) to get it to fit in the box.

Yea mine is the same as his... U can go get a little autozone filter and slap it on there if u want it still does the job u kno.. A filter is a filter in my book

A smaller filter is always an option. I had been hoping perhaps that someone could point out a glaring mistake, or maybe there was someone else out there who also goin the fit too tight. I am irritated, after spending the money I did, so have to spend yet more.

Lingenfelter strikes again.

Lingenfelter strikes again.

No issues with my Lingenfelter CAI.

I have my V at work and I can measure my filter. Measure yours and we will see if that is the issue.

Did you remove the outer plastic baffle from the stock airbox.. that would def effect the clearance.. ill try and find a pic

http://i549.photobucket.com/albums/ii384/shadybx7/IMG_0267.jpg
this is a shot of the plastic removed
http://i549.photobucket.com/albums/ii384/shadybx7/IMG_0268.jpg
shouldnt have to fuk up the filter

No, I just removed the snorkel. The instructions didn't call for removing the baffle. Doesn't te baffle help to guide water that runs along the hood guyyer away from the engine bay?

My filter is 7.5" long. This does not include the round inlet flange


http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o89/9t8z28/CTS-VFILTER.jpg

Holy Big PICS FuzzyLog1c !!

This dimension is 7.5" as well from the edge of the filter casing or what ever its called to the beginning of the weatherstrip on the fender. Sorry the tape measure is hard to see.

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o89/9t8z28/cts-vfilter2.jpg

Gentlemen, I'm writing to see if you guys have any ideas or have experienced anything similar. I installed a Lingenfelter CAI, which as you know is just and airbox and filter, but there was so little room in the airbox after the installation, that I had to basically crush the filter to get it in there. Also, it would not fit horizontally, Pic below:

http://i.imgur.com/iluEM.jpg

I got on the phone with Lingenfelter, and they sent me a new airbox and filter. They were great, actually, no complaints about their customer service. This one fit slightly better, allowing me to position the filter horizontally, but essentially had the same problem. I didn't even try to put the new filter in because I'd have to crush it, too. There is simply no room.

The edge of the airbox is right up against the radiator, can't move any further. I'm almost certain I followed the instructions to a T and installed the brackets in all the right places, and plugged/screwed everything in to the right place.Any ideas as to what could be going on? Lingenfelter says they're stumped, but they'll take the CAI back.

PS-- Yes, I know my engine bay is dirty-- I had a coolant leak and for various other reasons it looks like crap. Gonna clean it up nicely this weekend.


Something does not look correct where your air filter is mounted to the tube. If you look at the other pictures on other vehicles their filter is mounted flush to the air box. For some reason yours appears to be sitting roughly 1" away from the box. You may have the MAF or mounting flange installed incorrectly. I am not 100% sure what is causing it, but the filter mounting location appears to be the issue.

Ryan

My filter is 7.5" long. This does not include the round inlet flange


http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o89/9t8z28/CTS-VFILTER.jpg


Thats the same exact one i have and it fit's perfect

Does anything interfere when you put it all together except for the MAF?

If you are referring to the piece of plastic that is up against the side of the airbox area near the fender, you should not have to remove that part. It can be seen still attached to the vehicle in the installation picture at the bottom of page 6 of the installation instructions.

I have attached that image to this post.

Did you remove the outer plastic baffle from the stock airbox.. that would def effect the clearance.. ill try and find a pic

Sorry to see that you are having fitment problems with the air intake. I am not aware of other customers having this problem before.

The only thing I can see that looks different from our installation images and from the images of the several systems in this thread is that the air filter is clocked with the longer sides close to vertical while the installed images in this thread and in our instructions have the filter angled such that the long side of the filter is closer to horizontal/slightly angled up from horizontal.

Here are some of the images from this thread that show that angle:
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o89/9t8z28/CTS-VFILTER.jpg

http://i549.photobucket.com/albums/ii384/shadybx7/IMG_0268.jpg

Attached are a couple more images from our instructions showing that angle.

Gentlemen, I'm writing to see if you guys have any ideas or have experienced anything similar. I installed a Lingenfelter CAI, which as you know is just and airbox and filter, but there was so little room in the airbox after the installation, that I had to basically crush the filter to get it in there. Also, it would not fit horizontally, Pic below:

http://i.imgur.com/iluEM.jpg

I got on the phone with Lingenfelter, and they sent me a new airbox and filter. They were great, actually, no complaints about their customer service. This one fit slightly better, allowing me to position the filter horizontally, but essentially had the same problem. I didn't even try to put the new filter in because I'd have to crush it, too. There is simply no room.

The edge of the airbox is right up against the radiator, can't move any further. I'm almost certain I followed the instructions to a T and installed the brackets in all the right places, and plugged/screwed everything in to the right place.Any ideas as to what could be going on? Lingenfelter says they're stumped, but they'll take the CAI back.

PS-- Yes, I know my engine bay is dirty-- I had a coolant leak and for various other reasons it looks like crap. Gonna clean it up nicely this weekend.

Could you take some more pictures of the air box area showing the air filter and air wall around it, especially with the plastic radiator cover removed?

Looking at your picture again I see something in the picture that I can't recognize and doesn't appear to be in any of the other images in our files or on this forum.

I put a red arrow into your image to show the feature I am talking about. It looks a bit like sound deadening or some type of green material?

Thanks Jason and Ryan from LPE. I am out of town for the weekend, but will take measurement and post pics when I get back to my car.

When I had the Lingenfelter CAI, mine was like the oval-ish one everyone is posting pics of. Looks like they changed filters since then.

The filter on these systems has not changed (same dimensions, same supplier etc.).

When I had the Lingenfelter CAI, mine was like the oval-ish one everyone is posting pics of. Looks like they changed filters since then.

Confirm the filter is the same. I had to orient it that way to make it fit. Will go out and take some measurements soon.

Well, glad it's the same. I don't remember having to clock mine weird to make it fit.

Could you take some more pictures of the air box area showing the air filter and air wall around it, especially with the plastic radiator cover removed?

Looking at your picture again I see something in the picture that I can't recognize and doesn't appear to be in any of the other images in our files or on this forum.

I put a red arrow into your image to show the feature I am talking about. It looks a bit like sound deadening or some type of green material?

Hi Jason,

Firstly, the filter was oriented that way because it was the only way I could get it to fit in the airbox, and even then, as I mentioned, I had to crush the filter slightly to make it fit. Currently, after LPE sent me a replacement airbox on the hunch that perhaps the original one was defective, I can now orientate the filter the way it was intended, though it is still too tight to fit an uncrushed filter. I therefore elected to re-install the crushed filter. I simply didn't want to ruin another good filter.

The arrows in your picture are pointing to some rubber material that was there on the other side of the air box. It was sitting under the stock airbox, and covers some wiring. I elected to leave it there because I assume it redirects water that runs down the hood gutters away from the wiring and onto the ground. At any rate, it only measures about the thickness of a few pieces of paper and doesn't touch the filter in any way. Here's a closer picture of that rubber:

http://i.imgur.com/CYOSFl.jpg

And here are pics showing the airbox from above as it is currently. I can reassure Ryan from LPE that there is not extra material protruding from the MAF assembly into the airbox. I believe that was an optical illusion caused by light reflecting off the bulge of the hole made for the MAF:

http://i.imgur.com/eLHMwl.jpg

Lastly, here is a picture of where the filter bumps into the side of the bay. You can see clearly that, though crushed, it's still making contact in one corner:

http://i.imgur.com/uQsCpl.jpg

I also measured the filter and found it to be about 7.5 inches, the same as the unused replacement filter.

Maybe your car was in a front end collision?

No way. Nothing on the carfax. Driveline is perfect, car tracks perfect, underside looks clean, very few dings, etc.

IMO you need to remove the black plastic divider i mentioned earlier .. look at the difference from my clearance to yours. from this angle, the only spot your rubbing on is the divider.

http://i549.photobucket.com/albums/ii384/shadybx7/IMG_0267.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/uQsCpl.jpg

The LPE guys say it's supposed to stay in there. I don't want to rip any more stuff out of there in case I have to re-install the factory airbox.

Then I think your only other option here is to get a smaller filter. It looks like removing that piece is required.

The LPE guys say it's supposed to stay in there. I don't want to rip any more stuff out of there in case I have to re-install the factory airbox.

I have that plastic divider and my filter fits fine. When I get home from work I'll snap a picture and post it.

This is the hardest cai build ever lol

As you can see (picture below), I'm not having fitment issues with the plastic divider left undisturbed and the S&B filter provided with the Lingenfelter kit. Granted, you have to turn it a little bit to get it to fit, but it's not even remotely difficult to do. Here's the URL for the filter:

http://www.lingenfelter.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=L660050704&Category_Code=C68&Store_Code=LPE

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/QuicksilverG4/CTS-V/IMG_0186.jpg

1. Just be glad it is not a Volant!
2. OP, yours is clocked differently than everyone elses, from what the pictures show.
3. I agree that it looks like your front end looks tweaked from an accident.
a. Carfax does not mean shit if the person that wrecked the car did not have it fixed by insurance or a body shop that reports.
b. There are body men out there than can make an accident go away to the untrained eye.
4. Do you think you can get some measurements inside the box to see if the box is indeed tweaked.
5. Have you replaced your motor mounts?
6. Just be glad it is not a Volant!

I'm surprised so many people run the lingenfelter intake. Not trying to knock it if there is an advantage to it that i dont know about but it looks like a slightly bigger/better but very similar barrier and filter combo than the K&N and doesn't even include an intake tube (unless they now include one with it). Someone please tell me why this intake seems to be so popular.

Like I said, not trying to ruffle feathers... I just don't get it. I went from my K&N FIPK to the Volant for the fact that it's a sealed intake box keeping the filter concealed from the engine bay heat. That to me makes sense as an upgrade over this style intake.

And 54... Why the hate on Volant? No issues here with mine.

Volant fitment is SHIT! Not to be confused with THE SHIT!

I bought one for another vehicle and it is shitty.

I won one for the V and it sux. The lid does not seal and I had to add weatherstripping. The holes do not line up. On and On and On......

Lol! Sounds like u got a defective Volant. Mine fits and bolted up nicely. No issues at all. But I like your descriptive response. Lol

Mine was probably totaled in the front end. lol

Hahaha

The Lingenfelter airbox seals really well. The Volant airbox reputedly heatsoaks like nuts. Another problem is that the best tube that you can drop into our cars is the Volant tube, which only measures about 2.75" ID. Don Kinder (owner, Slowhawk Performance) thinks I'm leaving significant meat on the table with the Volant tube and recommended that I source some larger piping ASAP.

I am thinking a bag over the throttle body is probably better than the Volant.

The Lingenfelter airbox seals really well. The Volant airbox reputedly heatsoaks like nuts. Another problem is that the best tube that you can drop into our cars is the Volant tube, which only measures about 2.75" ID. Don Kinder (owner, Slowhawk Performance) thinks I'm leaving significant meat on the table with the Volant tube and recommended that I source some larger piping ASAP.

With larger piping, isn't your MAF going to be a bottleneck?

Lol @ 54!

With the LS6 TB being just 78mm stock... Even ported, i would think the Volant is plenty. Maybe u LS2 guys running the 90mm setup stock are closer to being maxed out with the volant tube but i doubt it. If that really is an issue, i may look into a custom intake tube setup similar to the JLT intake i had on my 03 cobra when I go 92/92 but for now, I don't think the Volant is hindering me in any way. I believe the stock mass air is 85mm correct?

With larger piping, isn't your MAF going to be a bottleneck?

Probably. The MAF is 90mm, which is 3.54". I'll have to decide between 3.5" piping and 4" piping with reducers for my application.

http://www.siliconeintakes.com/

FuzzyLog1c, did you check the other dimensions that I posted? Take a pic with the filter out so we can see what it is hitting on

Sorry to bring back a dead thread, but back in Post #16 (see picture below), ShadyLS6 identified that he removed the outer baffle from the original airbox to give himself more clearance. I was thinking about doing the same thing and putting a significantly larger filter in there to match my new 4" intake tubing.

http://i549.photobucket.com/albums/ii384/shadybx7/IMG_0268.jpg

Anyone have advice on that baffle removal process, or should I just wing it?

Also, does anyone know where to pick up new rubber gasket material? I was thinking about putting something beefier in there to try to achieve an even better seal.

Sorry to bring back a dead thread, but back in Post #16 (see picture below), ShadyLS6 identified that he removed the outer baffle from the original airbox to give himself more clearance. I was thinking about doing the same thing and putting a significantly larger filter in there to match my new 4" intake tubing.

http://i549.photobucket.com/albums/ii384/shadybx7/IMG_0268.jpg

Anyone have advice on that baffle removal process, or should I just wing it?

Also, does anyone know where to pick up new rubber gasket material? I was thinking about putting something beefier in there to try to achieve an even better seal.

you can wing it, its held in with double sided tape if i remember correctly. I thought everyone removed it,

next step with a setup like this is to redirect the Driverside brake duct up into the CAI chamber the LPE creates. I have a solid dent in the hood insulation from the outline of the LPE plastic. so it would deff add more clean air.

i got the rubber gasket pictured above from homedepot back in 08. i think it was originally window weather stripping.

descreen your maf before the tune? i did it right before i got a street tune, no more Maf bottle neck tuner. IMO is overkill without intake and heads but its possible i think CTSVoodo on cadi fourms did a thread while back

There is no screen on more recent Gen III (LS6) and all Gen IV (LS2 and later) MAFs. I would never redirect brake airflow to the filter. The brake cooling ducts are there for a reason, and the benefit you'll get out of doing that is minimal. I'd rather concentrate on ensuring that I'm not sucking hot air out of the engine bay.

Thanks for the feedback--especially the part about the adhesive. I'm wary of yanking on something if it's stuck and I don't know why. The last thing I want to do us yank out a bolt or rivet and damage something else.

I'm also working with GT|Motion on the Cadillac Forums to figure out how to better insulate the bucket.

I've been thinking that if a vendor could make an aftermarket radiator that allowed the clearance to run a straight intake tube to the grill, they would make some good coin. Maybe someone could talk to the alradco guy.

I would never redirect brake airflow to the filter. The brake cooling ducts are there for a reason, and the benefit you'll get out of doing that is minimal.
unless the brake ducts are connected to extensions with z06 spindle duct holders. They do nothing. that's why the front calipers will still turn yellow from 1 hard track day in a V1's stock form

maybe i wasn't clear about what i was talking about.. JCC type of setup looks like it would lower IAT in general. IMO the more fresh air inlets for the CAI the better.

http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/2004-2007-cadillac-cts-v-performance/214422-magnuson-intake-relocate-fender-well-pics.html

I've been thinking that if a vendor could make an aftermarket radiator that allowed the clearance to run a straight intake tube to the grill, they would make some good coin. Maybe someone could talk to the alradco guy.

you could always do alittle hacking, this was JonCR's setup.. then he got banned so dont know the long term on it

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l261/JonCR96Z/DSCN0258.jpg

I thought I would report back for the sake of completeness, because i hate unresolved threads. I finally got around to removing the plastic baffle against the body of the car, and now the filter fits perfectly in the horizontal position, with about a half inch of wiggle room. My guess is this will be necessary on all the 06-07 cars.

I thought I would report back for the sake of completeness, because i hate unresolved threads. I finally got around to removing the plastic baffle against the body of the car, and now the filter fits perfectly in the horizontal position, with about a half inch of wiggle room. My guess is this will be necessary on all the 06-07 cars.

Any pics of said removed part?

you could always do alittle hacking, this was JonCR's setup.. then he got banned so dont know the long term on it

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l261/JonCR96Z/DSCN0258.jpg

That looks like a C5 or C6 Vette inlet tube but how did he get it through the rad support?

Any pics of said removed part?

Sure, I'll snap some pics next time I'm in the basement.

That looks like a C5 or C6 Vette inlet tube but how did he get it through the rad support?

he created a custom mount that allowed the rad to sit tilted. way more trouble than it's worth.

i think the only way to do this will be with a custom hood.

Mods--- is there a way to change the title of the thread to say SOLVED. The CAI is working fine. I don't want anyone to get the idea that they should stay away from it. Lingenfelter just needs to modify their instructions slightly.