supercharger hood liner clearence

[spitfire5454]

so i dont think i can do anything more to try to combat my overheating problem. South texas has been unbearably hot lately. Ive noticed that i never go hot on the initial drive, Its always after i drive, park it for 30 min or so, and dtart driving again. My guess is that the coolant isnt circulating while parked, so it cant cool, and when i drive again, im using hot coolant. Anyways i have one final last ditch efferot. Can anyone think of a good reason to keep the liner under the hood. It ends up sitting right on top of and touching the S/C. Im hoping this is smothering is keeping the S/C from dissipating a lot of the heat, and that removing it, will increase the air flow around it. Is there any particular reason we have those other than sound deadening? Thanks.

[Solitude]

I removed mine years ago.. its just a noise dampener

[Triathlete]

Have you checked your cooling system lately to make sure it is functioning properly? Check the coolant flow (make sure radiator is not clogged), fresh coolant, cleaned the radiator fins...etc. I have never had my VX overheat even when sitting in traffic (or crawling along on the trail) and I am in Tucson where the temps hover in the 108 range in the summer. I am not SC'd but that shouldn't make that big of a difference.

[VXorado]

My VX was overheating to the point that the coolant would boil. I installed a new fan clutch recently and it completely stopped overheating. Look into it if you haven't already

If you removed the hood liner couldn't the extreme heat of your engine damage the hood insert?

[Solitude]

it hasn't done mine anything bad.. the crack in the laminate was there long before I removed the liner

[johnnyapollo]

My liner's gone as well and no issues - I plan to put some Dynamat Xtreme (2 layers probably) to combat some of the noise. Otherwise none the worse for wear.

-- John

[WormGod]

Surprised you kept it in there after installing it anyways. Nothing messier than a hood liner getting cranked into the S/C pulley drive and shredded. Seen that before and aside from all of the laughter, it was an ugly mess.... with minor damages elsewhere.

[SilverBullet75]

Yes, definately ok to remove the liner. I did it long ago too. No ill effects.

[circmand]

Have you checked your cooling system lately to make sure it is functioning properly? Check the coolant flow (make sure radiator is not clogged), fresh coolant, cleaned the radiator fins...etc. I have never had my VX overheat even when sitting in traffic (or crawling along on the trail) and I am in Tucson where the temps hover in the 108 range in the summer. I am not SC'd but that shouldn't make that big of a difference.

Have had my VX through two Houston summers plus two Bullhead City summers. Houston matches your summers and Bullhead Summers make Tucsons 108 degrees look like a cold spell. I have never over heated so something must be wrong with your coolant system. Presure clean the front of the radiator to make sure there is no dirt clogging air flow, make dure thermostat is working and opening too circulate, check fluid levels of course, I would have a shop boil your radiator or it may be cheaper to buy a new radiator, I also use water wetter it helps my sports car with a tiny radiator handle 120 plus degrees it was not built for.

[spitfire5454]

Thanks guys. I'll remove it. As far as my cooling system, everything checked out fine. I've been fighting this problem eversince I got the sc. I never actually overheated, but the temp gauge gets a little over 3/4s. So far the only thing that has helped has been switching to distilled water and little antifreeze with some water wetter. And the supercharger makes HUGE difference in temps. And our roots blowers are the worst of them all and increasing heat

[johnnyapollo]

I've noticed mine is hotter as well - especially on long rids on very hot days - definitely hotter than stock.

-- John

[tom4bren]

Here's an old thread on a radiator upgrade. Kinda on the pricey end but ... the stock radiator is NOT designed to handle the added heat of S/C. Upgrading the radiator is usually part of the S/C install process.

http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?t=4904&highlight=radiator

There was a thread about a year ago with someone selling an aftermarket radiator but I couldn't find it & can't remember who was selling.

[WormGod]

Here's an old thread on a radiator upgrade. Kinda on the pricey end but ... the stock radiator is NOT designed to handle the added heat of S/C. Upgrading the radiator is usually part of the S/C install process.



Hmmm, I am calling shenanigans. Upgrading the cooling system on larger units perhaps, yes, but ours is, in all actuality, a baby S/C. It's like when you get hot in bed, you kick off the covers. In this case, simply take out the hood liner. Just let it breathe. ;)

My VX hardly gets much hotter than it was before. 5psi is nothing to write home about but the added boost does not equate to so much more heat that further cooling is needed. I am on the same (even if it is the second one) factory rad everyone else has and even with teh A/C on, my VX doesn't come close to being the same mythical sauna you all are talking about, heh. Don't believe the hype.

http://www.aolcdn.com/ch_bv/flavor-flav-newswire-400a111606.jpg

[tom4bren]

"5psi is nothing to write home about but the added boost does not equate to so much more heat that further cooling is needed."

Maybe this issue is synonomous with the '3" lift & CV boot eating' issue. Some get away with it ... some don't. I'm not S/C'd so I'm just talkin out my arse.:)

Spitfire is more informed today than he was yesterday so it was good to present both sides.

Remove the hood liner. If that doesn't fix the problem ... start looking at a rad upgrade.

[Ldub]

Oh DRAT...when I read the title, I thought you were selling these CHEAP.

My insulating blanket has been gone for some time, I also cut a hole in my hood/insert for heat extraction...:smack:

In stop & go Moab trail traffic, (90+ deg. ambient air temp. Many times, more stop than go) I've never seen engine temp. over 218 degrees.

[jhigareda]

I used to run heavy boost and big turbos. I had upgraded cooling and mishimoto radiators in the past. But the one item that would help even with a stock radiator this..
http://www.mishimoto.com/mishimoto-liquid-chill-radiator-coolant-additive.html

Also used electric fans that ran for 5 minutes after motor shut off. Hope it helps.

[AlaskaVX]

I don't know how you have the liner in there with a S/Cer. My S/Cer nose was rubbing and I had it removed day 1.

[newthings]

Nothing as good as water, but this is a good set of tests.
Roy
http://www.turbomagazine.com/features/0703_turp_cooling_system_additives/test_results.html

[WormGod]

I used to run heavy boost and big turbos. I had upgraded cooling and mishimoto radiators in the past. But the one item that would help even with a stock radiator this..
http://www.mishimoto.com/mishimoto-liquid-chill-radiator-coolant-additive.html

Also used electric fans that ran for 5 minutes after motor shut off. Hope it helps.

Mishi is quality. I had a Mishi radiator in my old WRX and I don't know what kind of fairy dust they use in their design, but it was phenomenal. Whether track day or road trip on even the hottest extreme summer days, even A/C cranked, nil a temp flux. And they just look good. The OEM had trouble handling these instances so that upgrade was worth the bills.

[Jolly Roger VX'er]

My SC just wore a groove in the hood insulation and I drove it like that for like 2 years...then a squirrel came along and ripped it to shreds to make a nest in my blower fan (not the SC...the heater/AC blower).

I started up my VX and thought the blower fan bearing was shot when I heard "squealing" from under the dash...pulled it apart to find 4 dead baby squirrels inside. Removed the remenants of insulation and never did replace it. Thought the insert & hood paint would take a beating but have noticed no ill effects worth mentioning.

Now for the last year + I have a garage to keep flippin beasties out of my VX!

[circmand]

My sports car was reading high on temp. I had a radiator guy look at it. He used some type of tool to read the temp itwasnt high. I had an electronic part failure that caused it to read high. It also had my fuel gauge reading high. Run it up and have it tested with the gun when it is showing too hot to be sure.