Are Vented Hoods a Good Idea?

[FatBaldandWheeling]

Consider:

• Parked outside
• Will be used in winter
• Decent amount of rain in the state

I am striving for longevity on my Gladiator, and pulling air through the bay seems to be a decent idea. I do worry about moisture entering the engine bay, and I know it is an eventuality with any vented hood.

Are they worth it? Is there exposure danger?

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[Mr._Bill]

Since they do not come from the factory with open vents, I would be inclined to believe that the positives of venting do not outweigh the negatives.

 

[Rusty PW]

I opened up the vents on my Rubicon. Really didn't see any difference in temps.

 

[ArchEtech]

Since they do not come from the factory with open vents, I would be inclined to believe that the positives of venting do not outweigh the negatives.

I’m inclined to agree. I also really hate vents on cars that are not real. I mean like really hate them. So the fact that the hood vents and side vents are the OEM equivalent of Advanced Autoparts stick ons from that no go section bugs me.

 

[Jaxmax]

Only Jeep hood that’s functional and vented is the 392 Wrangler, vented to air box and also to both sides of engine bay. It’s on my list of things to do some time to my Mojave…..Jack

 

[Puch]

Consider:

• Parked outside
• Will be used in winter
• Decent amount of rain in the state

I am striving for longevity on my Gladiator, and pulling air through the bay seems to be a decent idea. I do worry about moisture entering the engine bay, and I know it is an eventuality with any vented hood.

Are they worth it? Is there exposure danger?

I installed the poison spider hood louver on my last JT. 1st let me say, you won’t see any difference in operating temp during normal operation. Maybe during extreme conditions like towing in high temp, but I doubt it. As long as your thermostat is working, the coolant has the correct ratio, and no other issues with the engine.

I saw no change while towing or wheeling in summer temps.

No issues with rain or car washes. Yes, water gets in, but never enough to cause any issues.

Road salt got it and stained the hood insulation white spots.

Full disclosure, I now own a Mojave and I modified the hood vent so air can pass through. My hope is it will make it easier to maintain the operating temperature not lower the operating temperature. I have a spare vent with no modifications which I will put in during the winter so I don’t get the staining again.
Hope that helps.

 

[Lunentucker]

Mine can be opened and closed as needed.

 

[DanW]

I would not worry about it. These trucks and engines are VERY durable. Just take care of it.

Good maintenance with reputable oils/fluids and good sealer/wax is more important than anything else. On a budget, I recommend Turtle Wax Seal N Shine. It is cheap and easy to apply. You can put it right over plastic, rubber, and decals, too, giving them UV protection.

A little better but more expensive product is their Flex Wax with Graphene.

Oh, also a good sunshade for the windshield.

 

[Zachanadandy]

The only time I've ever seen vents help temperatures is at low speeds, high load, in very hot temperatures. Crawling in moab in 100⁰+ weather where there's little flow through the radiator aside from the fan draw itself you can see the heat waves coming out the vents. Our 2019 had the valkyrie off road vents for 60k+ miles always parked outside. No issues. My JT mojave got the vent opened up 8 days after purchase (mostly so I could add the light bar behind it) and 17k miles later no issues there either.

 

[J Sierra]

I am going to find out. Four channels oil, radiator, air into vent, and air out at bottom of vent.

 

[willys 41]

You guys want to really lower your engine and oil temps.
Install the RPM Extreme JL Fan controller.
I have his old version on my Willys witch Idles the fan at 15% fan speed keeping air moving through the engine compartment at all times. Running it for over a year now.
I have his new version on my Wife's Rubicon witch comes on at 195 at 15% fan speed and turns off at 190 degrees. In stalled last week.
I have seen a reduction of 25 degrees on both oil and coolant temps.
Jon can program the module any way you like.
Here is More info on how it works.
http://www.rpmextreme.com/Product/311/Jeep-JL-PWM-FAN-CONTROLLER.aspx

This has been a game changer and I will be happy to answer any question you may have.

 

[Jefe1018]

I’ve got motobilt vents. It doesn't do incredibly much during your driving, but in the eco diesel I timed my turbo outlet temps going from mid 500’s to under 400 degrees. It was about 3 minutes before the open vents with an ambient temperature over 100 degrees and now it is on the 45-60 second range in the peak of summer.

 

[JTGuy]

These vehicles are designed and tested to run at certain temps. They do lots of testing. If I get too hot I'll just pull over for a few minutes. Never had an issue yet.

 

[Jefe1018]

These vehicles are designed and tested to run at certain temps. They do lots of testing. If I get too hot I'll just pull over for a few minutes. Never had an issue yet.

Theoretical design and correct engineering do not always cross paths perfectly unfortunately. Particularly with the diesel platform, an additional oil cooler should have probably been a part of the compromise to keep the original 7 slot grill design and the truck running below oil temperatures that cause derating. There are some extreme builds out there that push boundaries, but even stock trucks are derating and having turbo heat sink issues when towing up grades in summer temps. This is just a way to try and mitigate what the bean counters refused to.

 

[willys 41]

Theoretical design and correct engineering do not always cross paths perfectly unfortunately. Particularly with the diesel platform, an additional oil cooler should have probably been a part of the compromise to keep the original 7 slot grill design and the truck running below oil temperatures that cause derating. There are some extreme builds out there that push boundaries, but even stock trucks are derating and having turbo heat sink issues when towing up grades in summer temps. This is just a way to try and mitigate what the bean counters refused to.

You are 100% correct.
I am highly modified and weigh in at 6400lb with 37 tires and that's with out vacation luggage.
I worked for 6 months trying to get control of the cooling system and reduce my high 235+ coolant temps.
The thermostat starts to open at 190 and is fully opened at about 212 degrees.
The rad. fan come on at 221 at about 15% fan speed and 75% fan speed at 231 degrees.
This is the problem. To little to late.
The RPM Extreme JL Fan controller solves this problem.
Here is the way your fan will operate with the fan controller.

195 degrees = 15%
199 degrees = 30%
205 degrees = 50%
212 degrees = 75%
218+ degrees = 100%

After a year I have yet to see my temps over 212 climbing 4000ft to 8000ft mountain pass.

http://www.rpmextreme.com/Product/311/Jeep-JL-PWM-FAN-CONTROLLER.aspx

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