Engine Hood Damper?!

[corybb]

Is there any functional benefit of the cardboard-foamy thing clipped to the underside of the hood?... AKA is it ok if I remove this and will it have any negative effects???

[SD_GR]

It deadens sound, protects the paint from heat generated by the motor and absorbed by the metal, and ideally in case of fire it'd be designed to drop onto the motor like a cloak -- although the last bit is IMO optimistic and maybe even science fiction. There's no reason to remove it anyway.

[DUB]

I too am curious as to why you would want to remove it?

[corybb]

some of the clips seem to be missing and some of it some how is like cracking around the clip points. just curious is all.

[DUB]

If I were you I would just get a few replacement clips and repair the cracking with some sort of silicon adhesive.

[corybb]

I don't konw if it can be "fixed" with an adhesive... the crappy material just kinda disintegrates. It just falls to crums. Hmmm.
I think its like 50 bucks to get a new one and clips are like $1.80

[Rogan]

go new

[SD_GR]

I'm wondering what happened to the old one. My car is driven in a hot climate and I do absolutely nothing to the engine bay other than wipe down the top of the motor or whatever I'm (not...) working on*** but the deadening material is intact and looks fine. I wonder if the previous owner steam cleaned the engine bay and the stuff deteriorated or what?



***In the "how to buy used" sticky thread I say to never buy a car with a squeaky clean engine bay; go find a nice dirty one. I still believe that -- it's easier to see leaks and potential problems when the bay hasn't been steam cleaned and shined up. I use a rag to get the dirt off the top of my motor, and get the leaves out to avoid decaying debris, but the elements do the rest. No leaks, no problems (granted, no car show trophies, but it's not that kind of party).

[corybb]

Yeah I have no idea.

I did however just clean my engine bay with some simple green and a rag, but I'm not planning on selling this car for a long time.

I guess I'll stop by a body shop and see if they can't find me some clips and hope this thing holds together when clipped properly.