just trying to see who has vented hoods out there? pictures? insight?

this past weekend i had to take the excursion out into the desert and it was 115 degrees out there. im in california so rain is scarce during the summer. but during the winter, i could probably make some fiberglass pieces to cover up the holes. just throwing ideas out there

there are some events i gotta tow the track car to and theyre out in the desert. i dont want the excursion to be at risk of overheating

 

Howdy marshun, Would be better to make sure your cooling system is up to snuff, upgrade to the 6.0 tranny cooler, and make sure the a/c and thermostatic fan are good. Battery ok?

I've never had any overheating issues in the desert. Not sure hood vents will do much other than look great!

Which engine?

 

I agree with Sean, don't think it would make much of difference.

 

It's only going to make a difference if your vehicle idles stationary for long periods of time. With my 16 Explorer PI, it idles for long periods of time in Houston and popping the hood really does make a difference in how cool the AC is (dog in the car). For just driving though, the air coming through the grill should help push the hot air out. It's still going to be hot, but it really shouldn't have too much of a chance to rise while the vehicle is in motion.

 

It was 117 here last week. With the 7.3 in city driving cooling wasn't an issue. Wasn't towing, though. As long as you are moving I am with the above posters in that vents probably wouldn't make a difference. After all the whole bottom of the engine bay is open. Idling, though, may be something to explore. If you have less air traveling under the cabin heating the floor...

 

114* here for 3 days in a row last week. Left mine idleing with the AC on most of the day. No problem.

Years back I was towing the Baker grade out of Barstow with a 16k trailer in 110* and my trans overheated. I put a 6.0 cooler and a trans temp gauge on it and have been able to keep temps in check by just slowing down.

 

There is a F250 by my son school with a hood vent. But it is directly over the intake box. So I'm assuming it would not do much good removing heat as it would be introducing air into the intake. Also it looks a bit strange with it offset to one side for the intake

 

well the ac was definitely affected. i already have the 6.0 trans cooler on there.

engine is the v10.

i used to live in arizona and thats why the cars have vented hoods now. one year the lexus' ac died in 123* weather. got the black death in the ac system and i had to swap it all out when the parts came in. zero fun

im a stickler for maintaining batteries (lexus gets finicky with a crappy battery).

but it seems like many folks around here dont even play with the idea of a vented hood? cooler underhood temps. colder ac temps. i know my ac wasnt putting out the nice 40* when we were out in the desert. maybe 50ish at best.

my excursion is doing fine. just wanted to do this as a preventive maintenance type of thing.

but i went ahead and ordered some stuff.

 

those are nice vents!

v10

 

Someday they'll bring the Ranger diesel to the USA...

 

I've added purple ice to every radiator in every vehicle I've owner. For at least 20 years.

It has lowered operating temps by 10% (min). In some vehicles I've seen temps lowered by 15%+ degrees.

Purple Ice Radiator Additive | Reduces Engine Heat | Royal Purple

If you don't want to add vents in your hood, this might help?

 

Use a infrared thermometer to check before and after temps if you do do the hood vent install. I think we can all agree that heat rises and with a closed, non vented hood, it will have no where to go and will then heat soak everything in the engine bay. This might come into play in rush hour traffic or extended periods of idle time, but I can't really see it having an ill effect any other time. While in motion, the air coming in through the grill might help force the air out the vents as well as towards the ground, but I don't know if that's going to be enough to make any kind of noticeable difference.

Even running the AC full blast for an hour in Houston with the vehicle stationary and the hood open, I only see a 3-6 degree difference in the overall inside temperature of the car compared to the same hour of AC full blast with the hood closed. That's not enough for me to cut up the hood and add vents.

 

you could also space the rear on the hood up alittle to vent that air. we use to do it to our time attack car and some of my little cars. just add some washers between then hinge and the hood and it spaces the hood just enough to vent it out while driving you can see from my old turbo corolla I had to get rid of some heat so I did that and it worked quite well

 

FWIW, I had a 93 Thunderbird Super Coupe years ago and put a Cervinis Ram air hood on it. It looked awesome with the Mach 1 style scoops. It actually raised the coolant temps while driving....Not what I wanted to happen. Turns out the flow of air was disturbed at speed. Air was taking the path of least resistance over the top of the engine which didn't include the radiator where it needed it more. This might be a side effect of bottom breathing cars though but I would think that the Excursion has a big enough beak to catch air that it shouldn't need any help.