Hood Insulation Gone; Important or Not
 

Didn't know if it's one of those projects to do now or do later. I'm concerned about the paint on the hood and the expansion/contraction when colder weather comes. Should I be concerned?

There are 3 functions for the hood pad: To minize heat tranfer from the engine to the metal hood; Sound/noise absorbtion; Flame retardant in the event of an engine fire. Most will agree that given the soot and oil soaked condition of some hood pads . . . . it probably fuels the fire.

Heat transfer: Heat will transfer thru the pad, only slower.

Sound/noise absorbtion: probably the main reason to have a pad.

Flame retardant: In case of fire, just RUN! :D

Replace it if you like.

Best Regards,
Jim

no problem
 

if you dont replace. just a little more noise. i dont replace them when they go bad. dont mind hearing the motor.

tom w

the heat build up could cause a negative effect on the hood's paint.

I would replace

hood pad
 

my saab cought fire today and the thing that fueled it most was the hood
pad... i stoped in front of a ladys house and she let me use her hose... and i got it out with and the car is salvageable... the fire dept got there about 10 minutes later.... (I will always carry a fire extinguisher from now on and I am going to rip out all the hood pads from now on...)

Its the hood pad that does most of the burning... and it transmits the fire to other places... :(

Sounds like a good reason for me to replace mine with one that is not oil soaked (from an unfortunate oil cooler line incident). I have heard of paint damage from running without one. The fire extinguisher sounds like a very good idea.

For modern engines, an halonite extinguisher might save some electronics. Although in a panic water might seem appropriate, it's just not the best thing for a fuel fire.

No problem, I don't have any modern engines ;)

on the cars
 

that i have been running wo the pads, no problems with paint.

tom w

Tom, I agree that the hood pad likely offers minimal heat protection to the hood. Large sections of the hood pad on our 1991 300CE are missing and I haven't gotten around to installing the new one yet; however, there has been no effect on the hood paint. Wax lasts as long as before, etc. I'd say the hood pads primarily absorb engine noise.