Hello all,
I am new to the forums, but have been a non-member reading posts for a very long time. I own a 2010 G37x Coupe

. Recently (past 3 weeks). I have noticed that when I turn on my car (hot or cold), sometimes the idle is a little speratic. On cold starts the idle jumps up a little past 1K and settles around 700rpm, and on warm starts the idle kinda sounds like its going to stall out and then bounces between 500 and 900 rpm. Then (1.5 weeks ago) when i would accelerate hard (3500 - 6000) rpms the car would studder and not shift properly. Somtimes i would press the throttle 75% in 3rd gear (automatic) and after the slight electronic delay the car would start to ramp up but instead of smoothly reving up it would be like 2500 - then jump to 4000 and then go down to 3500 and then whale to 5500 rpm etc. Then a few days ago - the worst thing happened. I pressed the gas pedal approximately 50% from a dead stop at a red light with the hopes to beat out the car to my right so i can get over into the right lane and enter the gas station. The car reved up and then just bottomed back out to low rpms and violently jerked and lurched forward several times! As i pulled into the gas station (some how) throttle response was practically nil and VDC and traction control loss indicator lights came on along with check engine. I lurched to a gas pump and filled up gas. My heart had fallen deep into my intestines with dread and anxiety. When i turned the car on (with a prayer in mind) the condition was even worse. Check engine immediately came on and i wasn't even able to go 25 mph... i somehow navigated through the parking lot, crossed a high way at 5mph limping and lurching and then parked in an adjacent lot across the street and called AAA for a tow

The Engine Bay:
I then opened the hood and looked for any signs of immediate damages.... Now i am no expert but i try to learn and do my best, and i IMMEDIATELY noticed that my right side intake coupler/ducting was COMPLETELY ripped apart, reminiscent to a Freddy Kruger scene! Like how in the hell does that even happen! My heart is racing and my mind starts jumping to conclusions - did a rock or something sharp pass through the filter kill the ducting and enter my engine! When the AAA guy came he simply drove my car slowly onto the bed and when i arrived at my house i reversed the car into the parking spot - and the car ran much smoother then my previous encounter at the gas station ....

The questions:
The main question on my mind! Is this a simple issue? Does god (or whatever) want me to buy a Cold air intake (Short ram drop-ins - which are cheaper then OEM ducts)? - OR - am i 4uCked and are there other issues (bad ones) wrong with the car that caused some sort of destruction to other components that lead to this. Another word - is this a simple fix or can there be more underlying issues that caused the rupture of the ducting/coupler. Best case - maybe there was a small tear at the bottom of the ducting (that i couldn't see why my eye) and it progressively got worse until BLAM, it tore? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!

 

got any pictures of what you're talking about? its hard to recommend changes to parts without knowing whats actually damaged...you could get a CAI if you want to upgrade/spend money(SRIs are a downgrade unless you just want the look), if the airbox is intact you might be able to just replace the intake ducting with a silicone replacement...you may have damage at the throttle body and a damaged MAF too...you will also need to pull the codes (this is also information that you should post)...I wouldn't worry about the VDC and traction light, they usually come on as a result of an issue to another problem and go away once you clear the other codes...the other codes (for the real problem) will come back ...it could jsut be that you popped off a loose intake collar and it looks bad but nothing is damaged..if the intake comes off it will throw codes and the engine cant run right B/C A/F ratios will be all over the place

check the classified on here and your local craigslist...OEM sets of complete airboxes with intake ducting come available for sale for about $100.00 when people upgrade quite frequently