Reading the thread about idling your diesel for long periods to generate power during a blackout reminded me of an opinion I've long held. Someone mentioned keeping the hood up to run cooler. (let's assume this is a hot weather discussion!)

And having lived in Manhattan for a few years back in the day, I can vouch for the fact that a lot of taxis, Crown Vics in this case, used to pop the hoods (not all the way up, but opened against the secondary catch) during hot days while running around the city.

I maintain, however, that this is counter productive. When you open the hood, you allow air to bypass the radiator, thereby lessening the effectiveness of the radiator. With the hood closed, you are forcing the (relatively) cool air from outside to pass through the radiator rather than around it.

What say y'all?

Rgds,
Chris W.
'95 E300D, 372K

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