| Open the hood of your PT after driving around a while. Now touch something in there, ... NO wait! .. be careful!! A "George Forman Grill"... on high, can't compare to the temps in that engine bay! ... Let's try to find a fix! ... .... Adding the turbo just made it that nuch HOTTER! .... |
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| Too Hot To Handle |
| First I removed the rubber strip from across the top of the engine bay. Just the back piece! It is not glued, it just pushes into place. Start at one end and pull up gently. I had a spare rubber shock mount, so I clipped the "tail" off one of those Goofey big plastic rivets that Chrysler uses to hold body parts on with. Then it screwed into the hole in the rivet. I noticed a screw about in the center of the engine bay that holds down the plastic grill around the windshield whipers. I removed the screw and the pop in threads too. The 10-32 threads twisted in perfectly! The total height of the new hood support I just made is 1 1/4" off the tray. You now have a full 1" openning all the way across the top of the hood to let out hot air. The slot is so far under the back of the hood, you can hardly see it. After driving a while, now stop, turn off the engine so the fan doesn't run and hold your arm over the back of the hood near the glass. Feel the hot air? ... That is just from convection, the hot air rises and pulls cool air into the engine bay from the bottom, just the way we want it. On the highway, the air rushes out! I am going to do two things. Tape little pieces of string all over the general area to see how the air flows at speed, because at some speed, the pressure at the base of the windshield may be greater than the air comming in through the grill and under the car. The NASCAR cars make their engines breath at the base of the windshield because it is the cleanest air and under a slight pressure. This found in wind tunnel testing! I can't afford to rent the NASA full scale tunnel for a day, but I can check this out on my own. I will also put the rubber strip back and check the under hood temps with a portable temperature gauge I have. Driving, sitting in traffic, shut down after driving, both with the strip and after removing it. I will post the results in a few days. I am not recomending that you do this until I can check it out fully. Others have done this and gotten scared when they were told that the air might flow back in the slot, at the back of the hood, at speed. ........ Does this automaticly mean it is bad? To some, that is all the info they need to assume it is a bad thing. I am not so sure, but I will find out and let you know. Thanks for stopping by! Bob, |