I know a lot of Pontiac owners take the engine covers off their GTPs becuase it just heats up the fuel and air more.
The plastic just makes it look nice...
The plastic just makes it look nice...
Plastic engine covers on Accord
- Thread starter Intelman34
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Plastic engine covers seem to be the big trend these days. I'm glad my car predates the trend. If you don't want to see the engine, don't pop the hood.
Yeah for real...Hey GM, here's an IDEA...save the money on the stupid plastic covers and use it to get intake gaskets that are worth a ****
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My '96 Audi has a plastic engine cover, too. As far as functionality, it does preven quite some dirt (sand in my case - I live close to the beach) from falling into hard to reach places.
There is one more point to be made in favor of plastic engine covers and belly pans. There are a few critters (ferrets and rats mostly, depending on where you live), that love nothing more than chewing on delicious rubber and wire insulation. I've had a ferret crawl up into the engine compartment of my Scirocco. There he chewed up my spark plug wires and pretty much everything else that was soft and chewy: $500 damage over one single night.
Just my 2 1/2 cents.
There is one more point to be made in favor of plastic engine covers and belly pans. There are a few critters (ferrets and rats mostly, depending on where you live), that love nothing more than chewing on delicious rubber and wire insulation. I've had a ferret crawl up into the engine compartment of my Scirocco. There he chewed up my spark plug wires and pretty much everything else that was soft and chewy: $500 damage over one single night.
Just my 2 1/2 cents.
Composite material cools faster,is lighter,easier to produce wierd configurations in intake designs...so it sounds pretty good...but the old Jeep valve cover gasket of yester-year was plastic...and a pile-o-crap...leaky wasn't even a word to describe it...but that was a while ago...and composite material should have come a long way by now
Amen Mr. Troxell!
Was looking at my wifes 02 Accord the other day and notice that this engine has a lot of plastic parts around the engine. They seem to serve no purpose other than for looks. Was thinking of taking all that junk off. I mean, it's all held together with plastic screws even. IMO, it would help the engine keep cooler????? Has anyone tried doing that? What could it hurt? Maybe in the winter time to warm it up quicker, but other than that???
[ June 25, 2003, 12:54 PM: Message edited by: Schmoe ]
[ June 25, 2003, 12:54 PM: Message edited by: Schmoe ]
My wife's Olds Intrigue 3.5 V6 had one of those plastic covers. Under it was the fuel rail and injectors (90 degree V). By 60,000 miles I had 4 (!) of the injectors plug up on me, in spite of using Techron frequently after the first failure (40k).
I always wondered if the temp just got to be too much under there when in traffic, but I worried that perhaps they hadn't weatherproofed the electrical connections under there since it was under a plastic hood. Ah well, she traded it for a minivan anyways...
I always wondered if the temp just got to be too much under there when in traffic, but I worried that perhaps they hadn't weatherproofed the electrical connections under there since it was under a plastic hood. Ah well, she traded it for a minivan anyways...
I disagree. Plastics are heat insulators compared with metals. They don't feel as hot or cold as metals because they exchange heat more slowly.
OH well...good for me then...my Jeeps have no plastic at all on them..aluminum intakes,cast iron block & head,metal valve cover...then plastic blow's dude
My guess is the plastics are there as a sound deadening shield, looks and to prevent the owners from tampering with engine. I agree its rediculous! I would remove it too.
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Daily Drives
-2003 Toyota Tacoma PreRunner XtraCab, Impulse Red, Peppy 2.7 Liter 4 Banger, Running Mobil 1 Synthetics SS 5w30.
ODO 3400 Miles.
-1995 Toyota 4-Runner, Evergreen, 3.0 V6, Running Mobil 1 Synthetic SS 10w30.
ODO 76000 Miles.
The first time I saw an engine dressed in plastic was on a Mercedes. I thought it was a shame to hide all of the machine work behind plastic. I actuly like to see the engine in all it's complexity. A well engineered powertrain is like a work of art. It is especialy actractive when the common failure parts are easy to reach!
In addition to sound deadening, I wonder whether the plastic coverings aid quicker engine warmup to reduce cold start emissions.
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