Hood Pad - Any reason not to remove? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

300SD81 · #1 10-12-2006, 03:20 PM

My hood pad is disintrgrating and leaving this nasty dust all over my engine. Is there any reason not to completely remove it? I do not at all care about additional noise, and actually wish it was louder, especially with my now higher idle for easier winter starting..

pj67coll · #2 10-12-2006, 03:27 PM

Just pull it off. I just did that on my 240D beacuse it was also disintegrating. I'll replace mine it eventually though.

- Peter.

rrgrassi · #3 10-12-2006, 03:55 PM

Remove and replace it. Besides noise insulation, it also provides some cold weather insulation.

carnut · #4 10-12-2006, 04:32 PM

On my 300CD, I removed it 5 years ago.

Old300D · #5 10-12-2006, 04:43 PM

If you leave it off, it will bake and discolor your paint.

Stevo · #6 10-12-2006, 07:54 PM

What Old300D said plus is looks nice, kinda classes up your ride.

networkboy · #7 10-12-2006, 09:42 PM

The edges of mine were literally falling off. Had to shop-vac the engine every time I opened the hood. Gave up and cut away all the "bad" parts (all bad, really) and kept the portion over the turbo where the most heat is as it was still well secured.

Result? On my drive to work the morning dew stays on the hood in that one area but dries over the rest of the hood. Kind of odd having a wet patch in the middle when it's usually the first area to dry

New pad is on the list of things to do next year.
-nB

bgkast · #8 10-12-2006, 09:46 PM

Mine was a powder. I brushed it off and have a new one from ebay on the way. Cost $60 or so

SirNik84 · #9 10-12-2006, 09:53 PM

is there anything better then stock? my hood pad flaked apart years ago. i haven't had any problems, but i want a new one. i'd like to have something that will not flake. i was thinking about cutting myself a peice of Dynamat.

somethign like this:
http://www.dynamat.com/products_automotive_hoodliner.html

any thoughts?

networkboy · #10 10-12-2006, 09:59 PM

IIRC Dynamat has two types, one with thermal and sound insulation and one that is sound only.

I was planning on the metallized version for heat shielding.
But yes I think Dynamat is superior to OEM. Those Germans were smart, but materials science has come a long way since then.
-nB

300SD81 · #11 10-12-2006, 10:12 PM

I ripped the rest of it off, most of it was already on my engine anyway. How about a layer of aluminum foil to reflect the heat back down? My turbo is covered by the air cleaner. I don't want any sound insluation, personally, I like the sound of my engine.

sokoloff · #12 10-12-2006, 10:17 PM

Your original hood pad lasted 20 years. What's wrong with that? Most cars don't last that long.

Len

300SD81 · #13 10-12-2006, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sokoloff

Your original hood pad lasted 20 years. What's wrong with that? Most cars don't last that long.

Len

It lasted 20 years, but now that its fallen off, I don't see any good reason to spend $60 to replace some sound insluation I don't want anyway. Some other form of thermal insulation that lets sound through would be preferred.

Nate · #14 10-12-2006, 10:26 PM

http://www.secondskinaudio.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?pg=1&p=ps

I'd get damplifier.......

good up to 475 degrees... I think if your engine gets that hot, your "may" have bigger issues then a hood pad falling off...

~Nate

Samuel M. Ross · #15 10-13-2006, 02:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 300SD81

It lasted 20 years, but now that its fallen off, I don't see any good reason to spend $60 to replace some sound insluation I don't want anyway. Some other form of thermal insulation that lets sound through would be preferred.

... IF the deterioration is as bad as the pads on both of our 1980 model W123 cars below.

As to heat damage to the hood... presumably from the turbo??... well you can make that judgement by whether or not there is a heat shield there now... IF not, then I wouldn't worry about it. As a retired safety professional who has done a lot of occupationaly sound reduction engineering and testing, I don't believe the foam pad's on the underside of the hood do any measureable good for someone inside the passenger compartment... but IF you added heavier soundproofing on the firewall like most of the later model W126(s) have, then this would definitely help with noise inside the car.