DIY: Engine Cooling for <$10 [M's Garage]

[GIPONU]

Disclaimer: The following is provided as a GUIDE ONLY, and neither myself nor Ozhonda take any responsibility for the outcomes of someone else doing the following. You follow these steps at your own risk!

Have you ever taken a drive then opened your hood and felt a big gash of hot air just rise to your face? do you ever wonder where it goes and thought that it would just be stuck in there? well heres a solution that could let the heat escape. It can also be used for all sorts of purposes where you need to keep the engine temperature down.

It should probaly only ever be used on tracks and off road, as doing this could void ur insurance and could be dangerous. :D

Aim:Cheap way to let the hot air escape from the engine bay.

Required:
4 threaded hex bolts(from supercheap)
40-50 washers(from bunnings)

Steps:
1. Remove one of the bolts on your hood hinge, connected to the hood, then go down to supercheap or any auto store which sells bolts for cars. You will need to buy at least 4 bolts, same thread but twice as long or so, depending how much you want your hood to lift.
THen drive to bunning and buy alot of washers which will fit your bolts.

2. after arriving at home, grab a mate to help you support the hood while you undo both the bolts on one side of your hinge.

3. replace the lower bolt with the new longer one and stick around 8 or so washers in there.
then replace the upper bolt and stick around 5 washers in there, there tighten it all up.

Pic:
http://h1.ripway.com/GIPONU/DSC00243.JPG

4. do the same step 3 to the other side.

5. slowly open and close the hood to see if there are any obstacles. if there isnt, then its all good. If there is, then you gotta adjust the amount of washers you used.

Other comments: after taking a drive you can feel the hot air escaping from the gaps of the hood. so, it must be working :D

Before:
http://h1.ripway.com/GIPONU/DSC00241.JPG
http://h1.ripway.com/GIPONU/DSC00242.JPG
After:
http://h1.ripway.com/GIPONU/DSC00244.JPG
http://h1.ripway.com/GIPONU/DSC00245.JPG

[VTECACCORD]

that looks sooooo ghey

[GIPONU]

i put a couple too many washers in =.="

[christmas]

between 20 and 25 too many on each side. Lol.

each to there own, just not my thing. Soz

[dupac->]

cant see pics. haha

[shadou]

wasn't this discussed before as illegal and dangerous?

[GIPONU]

i dunno, pics work for me. prob cos they are really big pictures.

i dunno if its illegal or not and dangerous or not.lols.
but as the title says , i take no responsibility :P:P

[mku01]

pretty sure its not legal... and definately dangerous the height you have it at... you're sure to get beheaded if you're in a front on collison, mine's not even half the height of yours... it'll look better if its lower anyway

[GIPONU]

yeh my cousin told me to lower it abit.
i'll do it when i have time.
i havent even driven my car for a while..lols

[Zdster]

It is illegal and an insurance company would void any claim in about half a second. Further, I cant imagine what would happen if the washers gave out or the bolts broke :eek:. It also makes it a whole lot easier for a thief to get in your car/engine bay.

Besides all those things, good diy :thumbsup:

[bennjamin]

i know...a DIY to cool down your engine is to turn the HOT all the way UP. This cools down your engine - and can save your engine if loosing coolant ( enough to get to safety etc) Also can help on track days etc.

But putting washers to open your bonnet up alittle does nothing to the temp. of your engine lol.

[GIPONU]

but dat'll make u sweat like a slob :p:p
cos u'll also be wearing long sleeves and everything.

[JasonGilholme]

but dat'll make u sweat like a slob :p:p
cos u'll also be wearing long sleeves and everything.

thats why you point the vents out the window ;)

[destrukshn]

er..
you don't have to put the heater on.
just make sure the heater tap is all the way to hot.

[chingaling]

lol my mate got an s13 and he had it like that as well the front coz of the bigger engine in it... anyway when we were doing mt run on night his bonnet FLIPED backwards LOL it was f..king funny he couldnt see sh.t coz the windscreen was covered by the bonnet lol, lucky it didnt go through the windscreen otherwise he will be heaps trouble on him.. so yeh better off lower it .. it looks stupid if u put too much on

[GIPONU]

lol okk...
yeh mine is lowered now,
its like only 1cm high.
not that high isit?

the pictures shows its high, cos that was originally how high i made it, then i changed it without updated pics.

[turtleEK1]

I can't say too much because I've done this as well... but not that high...

You could always just remove the seal from the back of the bonnent there just below the wipers. Still makes a gap of about an inch.

[[ricer]]

looks like ur car been in an accident
dont ppl like flush panels anymore?

[Illegal]

or you could buy a carbon invader hood from VIS.

[omgzilla]

As bennjamin said this 'mod' will make little difference in cooling your engine. At best - this will let air pass through the engine bay a bit more freely, possibly creating lower intake temperatures if running a short ram intake.

Not worth the risk of personal injury or voiding your insurance to gain a few degrees lower temp... not to mention looking hideous.

bennjamin makes a good point about putting the heater on to assist in cooling. This is a good trick for extended periods of 'spirited' driving or track days etc.

As destrukshn posted: You don't need to have the heater fan on to take advantage, just the heater tap opened. Having the heater fan on will draw hot air from the engine bay into the cabin.

Not sure about honda's but on most cars with climate control units you have to set the fan direction to the windscreen in order to reach full heat setting. Usually the climate control is set up so that it wont allow hot air to be blown directly at the drivers face as it's understood that it makes the operator tired/drousy.

[Limbo]

well just to entertain, i'd buy some polyurothane bushes and use them instead od the washers.

But if you want more cooling buy a bigger radiator with a thicker core.
only about $300 if you really need it.

[ECU-MAN]

this is illegal but not for personal injury, more so for injury to others. If you collect a pedestrian with that thing you could slice them open quite badly.



if you really want to keep your engine bay cool you should adopt the method 1st used by honda ( that I know of ) in the 88 prelude, Run the radiator thermo fan in the engine bay after the engine has been stopped. They have a themo sensor on the firewall to determin under hood temp. The CD Accords also do this.

[Mr_will]

this is illegal but not for personal injury, more so for injury to others. If you collect a pedestrian with that thing you could slice them open quite badly.



if you really want to keep your engine bay cool you should adopt the method 1st used by honda ( that I know of ) in the 88 prelude, Run the radiator thermo fan in the engine bay after the engine has been stopped. They have a themo sensor on the firewall to determin under hood temp. The CD Accords also do this.

im not trying to say it doesnt work, just trying to understand here - if the fan is on but coolant isnt circulating, how does that help? or is it purely just to circulate air through the engine bay?

[bennjamin]

im not trying to say it doesnt work, just trying to understand here - if the fan is on but coolant isnt circulating, how does that help? or is it purely just to circulate air through the engine bay?

having the fan onto HOT takes the HOT water(coolant) circulating around the engine into the cabin and the heat is dissipated into the air via the fan. This will reduce the temp of the engine slightly.

[Illegal]

or get a hood like this.....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v509/illegalb16/mycarinaugust.jpg

[tekung89]

yeh i've done this too but not that high, jus enough =) its more for looks then anything lol. turning the heater to the max is the best result if ur engine has heating problems, i'd sweat like a b!tch for my engine lol

[xntrik]

yeh i've done this too but not that high, jus enough =) its more for looks then anything lol. turning the heater to the max is the best result if ur engine has heating problems, i'd sweat like a b!tch for my engine lol

I dont think its for looks, cause its not any good looking IMO.

[Illegal]

yeh i've done this too but not that high, jus enough =) its more for looks then anything lol. turning the heater to the max is the best result if ur engine has heating problems, i'd sweat like a b!tch for my engine lol

the results of that can also be done with a spoon thermostat, or no thermostat

[Rasputin]

Also, if attempting this mod make sure you're using High tensile bolts, not the brass-looking cheaper ones. As said before improper modifications to the bonnet hinges can cause it to spear through the windscreen in a collision. This is especially likely if you do not choose long enough bolts (bolts not screwed in enough), and if you use low quality bolts (bolts shearing under force).

[VTEC16]

Despite the aesthetic, safety, legal and insurance issues - have you wondered weather it actually works?

Think about it - The high and low pressure areas under the car's bonnet are there for a reason, they channel the airflow through certain areas and away from others.

What you have very likely gone and done, is channel the air going through your radiator, over the engine - to pass out the top of your engine bay - passing directly over your intake system (intake and manifold) and other things.

This will likely increase your intake temperatures.... heat things up that are supposed to be cool (like wiring etc), to an extent complicate the pressure (read: aero) balance and harm the performance of your car.

I wish i still had a link - but some guy did this mod...and found the cooling of the car was hindered. He did a reasonably thorough analysis too. (obvisouly this point is moot cos i dont have the link).

Just some food for thought.

[AzKik-R]

Think about it - The high and low pressure areas under the car's bonnet are there for a reason, they channel the airflow through certain areas and away from others.


you'll be pleased to know that the low pressure zone that is being greated is at the back end of the engine, not at the front radiator end sooo, after it draws the air in the front and thru the radiator, it pulls it right to the back, and onto the front windscreen

I actually did this today and then i discovered the post. Its an old Japanese car trend, I saw a few cars like this from 2001/2002, and naturally did the same on my car in 2003.

I believe the ideal position for the washers/spacers is not between the hinge and the bonet, but between the car and the hinge. some of the older model Integra's ended up bending the corner of the bonnet (the part near the windscreen) because the increased the movement of the bonet, not the height at which it hinges

[VTEC16]

you'll be pleased to know that the low pressure zone that is being greated is at the back end of the engine, not at the front radiator end sooo, after it draws the air in the front and thru the radiator, it pulls it right to the back, and onto the front windscreen
es

You obviously didn't read my whole post.

[Rasputin]

Would this create fogging issues with the windscreen on cold mornings/nights?

[zpreme]

That is ridiculously too high, it looks stupid.

I think the majority of people will do it for looks as opposed to cooling the engine.

http://www.teirney.net/civic/BonnetSpacers.htm <- I think this is the article VTEC16 was referring to.

Read this, it is an interesting perspective

[ECU-MAN]

That is ridiculously too high, it looks stupid.

I think the majority of people will do it for looks as opposed to cooling the engine.

http://www.teirney.net/civic/BonnetSpacers.htm

Read this, it is an interesting perspective

awsome

[GIPONU]

so results are...
it wont work well if ur headers arent wrapped.
but it will work well if ur headers are wrapped..

[AzKik-R]

You obviously didn't read my whole post.

my bad

[jasonb]

wouldnt it be safer for all ,,like insurance and looks and just buy some small bonnet vents and put those in ,,,,,,,

[shadou]

be the safest to just leave it the way it came from factory lol.

[jasonb]

exactly ,,,thats why they make cars and we dont lol

[VTEC16]

http://www.teirney.net/civic/BonnetSpacers.htm <- I think this is the article VTEC16 was referring to.


You are awesome! Thanks for that mate =)