Hood Insulation

[oldman]

I've got a '03 PZEV SE. I've seen other topics about the need for hood insulation since the engines run hot. Is this true with the PZEV ? Mine has no insulation-does this mean my hood paint will be a mess in a few years ?

[Sponsor]

[Egz]

I thought it was more of a NVH item. My 2001 ZX3 didn't have hood insulation (it was phased out mid 2001), and after 30,000 miles, its still fine.

[FocusOnThis]

If you're concerned, try installing dyno mat (used to line trunks when you have a sound system to keep trunk from vibrating) It works great for heat too. I have carbon fiber hoods on both cars and to keep the hoods from warping from heat and protect the custom paint work on the edges of the hoods, I've installed the dyno-mat. NO warp, no messy paint

[guerro]

I would think that if there was a need for insulation on the inside of the hood, Ford would have put it there. I highly doubt you will have any problems with your paint. I am sure Ford researched this when testing the Focus. I see no reason to give Ford a way out of warranty coverage if you have put something on your hood that doesnt belong there. I am also pretty sure that if you do have a problem with the paint on your hood, Ford will fix it for you.

Oh yeah, its Dynamat. http://www.dynamat.com/

Unless you bought some kind of copy of Dynamat.

[teddyrob]

mine has no hood padding and personally i think it looks awesome! it looks like a racer.

[01CobaltTiburon]

Here's my 2 cents on this subject.

The PZEV may run hot, but there is no way that it can rut hot enough, under normal conditions, to cause any damage to the paint on the hood, even long term.

I used to have a '94 Mercury Sable that had a severe overheating experience, and I mean SEVERE, like, just short of catching fire. It was a 108 degree day one summer and the water pump gave out. I was in the middle of nowhere, with no cell phone, and someone else's kid in the car with me... so I continued driving to the nearest gas station, which was like 6 miles. (I should also mention that the car was under an extended warranty) By the time we got there, the cooling system was dry as a bone, and the heat coming off the engine was unbelievable. It ended up warping the aluminum heads, etc etc. My point is... even with this kind of extreme heat, the only damage done to the paint was a dime sized area directly over the engine that kind of did that paint cracking thing. It wasn't even noticeable unless you knew it was there.

So I seriously doubt that one of these engines is going to cause any kind of damage to the paint on your hood because of a lack of insulation, at least not without some kind of engine malfunction first. So just relax. If Ford thought it needed insulation, it would have provided insulation.

[fokuzsport]

a racer?

[teddyrob]

by racer i just mean it looks bare bones and light. the way its all skeletonized looks cool.

[Egz]

I like mine without the liner too.

[DidHeFocus?]

Mine is a 2003 with 2.3 pzev and I'm getting a cracking/spitting of the paint above the exhaust manifold. I believe that insulation would have avoided this.
It's been garaged since I got it new and the paint is immaculate everywhere else. The small cracks are too small to show up on photos or I would have posted some.