Replacing hood pad: worthwhile??
 

The foam padding at the back of the hood has fallen apart. Is it worthwhile (money-wise) to replace is with a new one? It's been like this since I bought the car, so I don't know what the effect really is.

Cheers!

Personally, I think it makes things look alot better under there with a fresh hood pad.

There are three functions of a hood pad, two of which are rather critical.

1. Sound proofing
2. Heat shield (protects the paint on your hood from engine heat)
3. Fire suppression (will drop off of the hood onto the engine in the case of a fire and help to smother the fire)

Given #2 and particularly the safety implications of #3, I'd replace it as soon as your budget allows.

jlc

Jeff,
The pad om my W124.021 hood covers only the back section of the engine bay behind the firewall where the battery, fuse box, etc are located. It does not extend over the engine itself: that part of the hood is bare.

Does your car have a pad that covers the whole underside of the hood?

Cheers!

Yeh - goes almost all the way from front to back and side to side. Same that I've seen on other W126s.

jlc

Vronsky
All Mercedes benz cars in the states have the complete hood pad. Mostly all european spec benzes in Europe have the 1/4 pad.

In the UK, both my old 87 200T and my current 94 E200 wagon have full length pads.

jlc - the fire suppression thing sounds interesting. Is this a design feature of the pad, or just what you think would tend to happen?

Cheers

Barry

1994 E200 Wagon 111, 000 miles

Bazzman,

Brandon is correct, the fire suppression is a universal not just MB (although MB may have been the originators of the idea). I first learned about it during a seminar on vehicle safety features while I was working at Chrysler as an intern.

jlc

Bazzman,

This is one of the actual functions of the hood pad. In addition Mercedes is not the only manufacturer to use this technology.
:D :D :D

My hood pad is starting to sag. Can I just spray some adhesive on it to try an make it stick to the hood again or do you just have to start fresh?

DieselGent,

If the pad itself is still in good shape, I see no reason why it can't simply be reattached. I seem to recall seeing a thread here a few weeks back on what adhesive to use so try doing some searching.

jlc

My W124 230E in Indonesia originally had the 1/4 pad just covering the back part of the hood (closer to the windshield)...

The 300E's came with the full pads though...

I guess my 300CD diesel came with the full pad although there are only bits of it left. :)
Will change it ASAP

does anyone have an idea how expensive?, etc.?
part number?
aftermarket pad's available?

I have not replaced my MB pad, but I did replace one on a BMW a few years back ... used a reflective material that glued on with spray ... very easy. Does NOT look stock, however.

Was about 1/4 the cost of OEM replacement, though.

Thanks for all the input guys.
Where can I order these in the US, aftermarket?

This is what's so great about this Board: learning new things all the time:) :) :)

Cheers!