[stromer]

On another board there is a discussion on three cheap and easy cooling mods. I have done one, tried the other, and am curious about the third. I'm curious as to who has done these mods and your impressions. So if you wouldn't mind sharing that info, this could be a good resource for other people.

1. removing the hood insulation
2. bypassing the coolant hoses from the throttle body
3. wrapping the intake pipe from intercooler to throttle body with insulation tape

These mods can be found with more info at this site.

 

[stromer]

This could have gone with the top post, but I'll keep it seperate to distinguish it as my findings, and nothing more:

1. I removed my hood insulation yesterday. I was cleaning my engine bay and found that the aluminum square part of the insulation was rubbing on my oil cap and the black plastic cover over the throttle body. This was making a mess of a metalicy residue coating my cap and the cover. The reason for this was because my insulation was sagging as there were some holes where the pins weren't holding it up right. I imagine this is because I have had my hood replaced and the insulation had been taken off the old hood and put on this new one. Since this was done by a body shop a little extra force was probably used.

2. I am just a bit hesitant on bypassing the coolant from the throttle body because I did this last fall and it made the engine take longer to warm up. Now that it is summer time, I might try it again. I only really want to do this mod if it is reversable so I can switch it back for this winter. So basically I need to find a way to guarantee I can do this.

3. My main reservation on wrapping the delivery pipe is because I think it looks horrible with the wrapping on it. I know that if it provided some good results it would be different. But I want to hear from other people before I go ahead and do this. Also if it was reversable I might give it a try, but I don't want any adhesive leftover residue.

 

[jrbrangi]

I have done 1 & 3 both with good results (if you take your time the wrap doesn't look all that bad), Living in newengland where it can be 80 one day then snow the next I'm not gonna mess with the TB and from what I here the result are not worth the problems you may encounter if ou forget to turn it back on.

 

[sethsev7n]

um, I wouldn't take out that insulation if I were you. Its there to protect your hood and paint from overheating and cracking.. intense heat like that can really damage your paint.

 

[tidewatersaab]

I have done the TB bypass mod last year and ran it that way through last winter with lows to 19-20f, and no problems. Did the intake insulation wrap at the same time with home depot stuff and found that the pipes before the wrap could not be touched and with it they were warm but I was able to leave my hand on it no problem. I will not do the hood insulation removal. Thought about adding some thermo tec heat mat to it to reflect the heat off.

 

[stromer]

A lot of "testing" had been done and the conclusion is that the insulation did little for heat and most for sound. People say that there is no difference in temp of the hood with or without the insulation, but there is a noticeable sound increase with it off.

jrbrangi, those are my same thoughts about the tb bypass. What are these sever problems? Can ice get in there? If ice is the biggest problem, I would think I could have it for a while and once the temps get close to 32 put it back. I mean yes the temp fluctuates a lot, but it should be a while before the temp gets down to 32.

 

[stromer]

I will not do the hood insulation removal.

Is this because of the fear of paint damage or what? Just trying to get some different points of view.

 

[Raven18940]

Is cooling really a problem on the 9-3?

 

[stromer]

No, but heat soak most definatly is!

 

[tidewatersaab]

stromer,
Yes!!!
won't do the hood because of the paint and also I would rather listen to the sound of my saab sport exhaust than ticks,rattles whines or whatever from engine compt.

 

[mike saunders]

I have done the TB bypass mod last year and ran it that way through last winter with lows to 19-20f, and no problems. Did the intake insulation wrap at the same time with home depot stuff and found that the pipes before the wrap could not be touched and with it they were warm but I was able to leave my hand on it no problem. I will not do the hood insulation removal. Thought about adding some thermo tec heat mat to it to reflect the heat off.

19F? Pina colada weather.

I drove home one morning at 2 a.m. and it was -2 when I left Boston, -10 when I got home. It eventually dropped to -16.

My TB coolant is currently disconnected but I'll probably re-route it in the fall with a ball valve.

 

[jrbrangi]

I have had the hoodliner removed for a year now with no ill effects, The hood is never hot enough that I can't touch it after a long spirited drive, I find it get much hotter by just sitting in the sun than it has ever gotten driving around. If you are going to to the TB mod I would suggest installing a sutoff valve rather than totally disconnecting.

 

[stromer]

Well I just drove my car for the first time without the hood insulation. Boy is it louder. Considering I have a turboxs rfl blow-off I was definatly getting some looks from the locals. I'll have to give it some time to see if I get used to the added noise or not.

The cut-off for the tb mod is something new to me. So would you just put the valve in line with the inlet to the coolant? I actually like this idea because I could have easy control over it. Where would I get a valve like this? Would a hardware store that sells brass fittings have one? Then I could either cut the existing tube or pick up another small section. Hmmmm, now this is something I like.

 

[tidewatersaab]

Hey Mike,

pina colada weather suits me just fine, thanks.
-16f, That is why the geese go south for the winter.

 

[mg_td]

i noticed a large difference in the warm weather driving around sans coolant lines to the tb, my car HATED anything over 75 before, and i still wqas cruising, despite some nasty gas, at as much boost as it had giv en me all day after the cruise on dyno day. before it owuld have been more sluggish. the i/c to tb i have no idea ifg its effective or what, i did it because i thought it would be a good idea to insulate it from any other kind of heat, heatsoak sucks.

 

[BLÜE 9-3se]

Option #4.

At the rear of the hood there is a rubber gasket that is just clipped into place. Remove that for a little extra cooling and a little more turbo whoosh. Not as loud as with the underhood insulation off. Just a nice little increase... I have had mine off for a year with no ill effects. The blast of heat you get when opening your hood after driving will be greatly reduced as it has escaped out the back.

 

[stromer]

thanks for number 4. The added noise from taking off all the insulation may be just too much for me at this point. And I think that's saying a lot coming from me, haha.

 

[Adrian W]

I've tried all of the above mods. I found that a cooler thermostat made the most difference in warm weather. Part # 88 17 538

 

[CleveSaab]

-16f, That is why the geese go south for the winter.

/Utter and total thread hijack/
The actual TEMPRATURE has nothing to do with why birds migrate.

Songbirds and Geese migrate because thier food gets hard to find in the winter. Insects die off or hibernate, plants get covered with snow, flowers die.
The bigger birds (Falcons, hawks, eagles) all migrate only because thier food does.
I always thought birds migrated because of the cold, too. Then I saw over 1,000 seagulls sitting in the river when it was below zero.
Don't underestimate the warming power of feathers.

/Err. Excuse me.

 

[tidewatersaab]

/Utter and total thread hijack/
The actual TEMPRATURE has nothing to do with why birds migrate.

Songbirds and Geese migrate because thier food gets hard to find in the winter. Insects die off or hibernate, plants get covered with snow, flowers die.
The bigger birds (Falcons, hawks, eagles) all migrate only because thier food does.
I always thought birds migrated because of the cold, too. Then I saw over 1,000 seagulls sitting in the river when it was below zero.
Don't underestimate the warming power of feathers.

/Err. Excuse me.

Cleve,
It was meant as a joke, not scientific fact.