A buddy of mine said that the easiest thing i could do to help cool the engine compartment was to remove the engine shield that's attatched underneath the hood. He said the shield was to act as a sound deadener. The problem is that the shield also traps the hot air in the engine compartment longer and that we're better off removing it so that the heat can transfer more easily through the hood.

The drawbacks to this is that when it rains in cold weather, it looks like the hood of your car is steaming, and secondly, the hood of your car is pretty hot to the touch of your hand no matter what the temperature is outside.

What do you guys and gals think?

 

i'd put money down saying the heat will begin to deteriorate the paint on your hood...

 

I have mine off. the main reason for the liner is to put out fires under the hood by smothering it. many ppl here have the liner off and I havent heard of anyone with paint problems yet.

 

I'm sure it's a different case for the Maxima's, but the old CJ7 I had didn't have the hood liner. It would steam all the time in the rain and the paint on the hood that was immediately above the exhaust manifold cracked. Since the hottest part of the Maxima's engine is some distance away from the hood itself, it would probably take longer than most of us will own the cars before the extra heat becomes a problem. I'm just guessing though.

 

Get a vented hood, not the kind that rushes air in but the kind that lets air out.

 

If a vented hood comes out I may invest in one to keep the engine bay cooler but then again Michael asked should I buy his Carbon Fiber hood, ooh well I didnt have the money then and still dont.

 

Why don't you custom graft it into your hood? If you want to keep it simple, you may even be able to pick up a set of hood vents off a trashed Subaru and graft those in.

 

It's unlikely to hurt anything except to be a little noisier. On the other hand, it won't do much for you either - the difference in heat transfer is negligible compared to the total heat the engine produces.
Louvers might make a difference you could measure.

 

Mine's been off for a long time. No increase in noise. My paint hasnt gotten any worse than it was.