Hood Vent

[4ophenia]

Has anyone thought about replacing the black hood "vent" with a functional vent? I realise that mechanically it's okay the way it is, but just thinking it would be more Hummer-like to have a "real" vent.

[4ophenia]

Has anyone thought about replacing the black hood "vent" with a functional vent? I realise that mechanically it's okay the way it is, but just thinking it would be more Hummer-like to have a "real" vent.

[DWPC]

Don't worry, some one will be selling them soon. By this time next year there will be tons of aftermarket H3 stuff.

[DarthKarl]

I agree that an aftermarket vent replacement is a great idea. The current "vent" is pretty cheesy. I would love to have one with integrated inset hood handles that more closely duplicate the look of a H1 and H2.

[4ophenia]

Yeah. A metal vent, and not an overlay kit, would somehow justify having that "vent" feature there. Can't wait till someone designs this. Otherwise, the truck is absolutely great!

[SledgeHummer]

Just my 2 cents here.

a real vent ? WHY ??
Is your H3 overheating ? a vent will create wind resistance aerodynamically, maybe not noticeable, but it's there. you can sacrifice wind resistance to preserve your engine if it's overheating, but if it's not, then why ?

another point is dust, with a hood vent that is going nowhere, you will spray your engine with wind dust for no particular reason.

If you have a supercharger and need to channel ram air into it, then yes the hood vent is a good idea.

but if none of the above conditions apply, why the hood vent ? as the old saying goes : "if it ain't broke......"

SledgeHummer

[4ophenia]

I was thinking the real vent would have the same shape as the existing vent - so probably no change in wind resistance. Also the vent slats would be angled so that the vent openings would be towards the windshield, so hopefully not taking in too much additional dust. Kinda the same design as it now is, but just metal.

I can understand that the design team wanted to preserve the look of the Hummer hood. I just wish they had made that "vent" out of metal.

As you can tell, I like metal. More metal.

[SledgeHummer]

hehehe ok have it your way

Here's an idea, I dont know if you live in a cool or hot area, my area is defintely hot, 125 degree in the summer. I thought about the vent thing, but for a purpose not as an H1 look alike thing.

Anyway, the idea is : make a "vented" hood (intake) then install an air cooler radiator, same as the one they they have for superchargers and turbos (intercooler) to cool the hot air during the summer. which means I would have to install the intercooler on the inner part of the hood.

Or a lesser hassling alternative would be to open up the "vent on teh hood and have some out-vent openings on the side fenders.

Then I took my H3 to the Desert in August, and it was registering 51 degree celcius on the rear view mirror digital thermometer. I started my quick half-day journey at 12 noon and came back home at around 8 in the evening, I started the engine at noon went off, never switched the engine off, not a single minute until I came back home at 8 in the evening.

during the whole time the engine was on, AC was on to the max in cooling (fan was on 3) and (mind you) during desert drives the engine would be revving between 3 and 5K RPM constantly, I stop each 2 hours for rest (but keep the eingine running). ALL THIS, and the engine temperature guage simply went up slightly past half during worst rough areas.

That got me thinking : why am I planing all this vent stuff ? truck's running BEAUTIFULY even in worst of earth's conditions.

Compare this to my 2000 Chevy Blazer ZR2 (http://www.zr2.com) first thing I would have to do in those conditions is turn off the AC, coz the engine cannot take that kind of heat pressure during the summer, hence sweat the entire trip.
BEARING in mind that I have a an additional electric fan installed on my Blazer, + 3 line "Hidden Hitch" automatic transmission cooler ON TOP of the single line OEM one, modified the radiator from sigle core to a custom made THREE core radiator, switched the 195 cooling thermostat to a 180 degree one from Jaguar so the fan clutch can kick in sooner, all of that plus the AC off all the time to keep the temp at half and preserve the engine.

Compared to my H3, the H3 is still OEM and running perfectly WITH AC ON.

Conclusion : why do it on the H3, truck's perfect as it is. I initially started planing the vent thing coz I expected the H3 to be similar in engineering to the Blazer, I am glad I was wrong.

SledgeHummer

[f5fstop]

Only way to find out if you have any hot spots under the hood is to monitor the under hood temps at various points. You can have a 50 degree variance from the front to the back of an engine compartment and not know of the variance.
This 50 degree difference will not show up in the coolant, except as a small movement of the needle.
There are two vehicles on the road right now that I know have large variances in under hood temps, and it is causing problems with their engines. The problems appear at around 50K and can be serious. Engines are both V6's and are aluminum, and are NOT made by GM.
Jeep wranglers are notorious for having large variances in under hood temps from one area to another, that is why many who offroad in a desert install vents.
I agree with sledgehammer, unless needed there is not requirement for a real vent. In addition, as sledgehammer noted, adding the vent would require vents on the side (or rear of engine compartment somewhere) to allow the air to flow through.

[SledgeHummer]

Oooh please dont mention Jeeps to me, they're a pain in the neck everytime they come out offroad with me. the old Cherokees and Wranglers had (still have) an overheating problem, most guys I know changed the radiators to custom made ones.

As for the new Jeep Liberty, they have transmission overheat problems. so everytime we're offroading, we have to stop and wait for the Jeep guys (Liberties and OEM radiator ones) to cool off before we can continue.

Bear in mind this is extreme hot weather conditions, 125 degrees F. + dry and sand dust. As an example, after EACH outing I have to clean my K&N on the Blazer.

Surprisingly, Nissans and Toyotas that tag along dont have that problem, out of American vehicles, only the Tahoe/Yukons and H2s dont overheat and now the H3, but most other American trucks tend to overheat.

As for my Blazer ZR2 (aka BlaZeR2) I did a focused modification on the entire cooling system to make it run right.

And ....f5fstop...the nickname is SledgeHUMMER not SledgeHammer

SledgeHummer

[4ophenia]

Well, I was just looking to replace the plastic fake vent with a metal fake vent, but this thread got me thinking: Are there significant under the hood temp variances with the I5, and if so, how will our engine stand up in the long run? Should it be vented? The engine has often been critisized for being not powerful enough. Is it working too hard? But, as SledgeHummer and others have noted, it performs far superior to other SUV's even in extreme conditions. Personally, I'm happier than a pig in sh*t with my H3 and will forever be a Hummer owner. Just curious now about our "little" engine. I really appreciate both f5fstop and SledgeHummer previous comments and weighing in on this. Thanks guys!

[SledgeHummer]

You're welcome

I test cars for a living, While testing the Chevy TrailBlazer back in 2003, I noticed the acceleration is sluggish, that in itself surprised me a lot coz the T-Blazer is a 294 Gross Horsepowered vehicle (275 net Horsepower). I went back tio GM engineers and asked them, why is the accelration sluggish on such a relatively high powered vehicle ? knowing that the T-Blazer is not a heavy car. (Yes it's a car, I wouldn;t call the TrailBlazer a truck).

Anyway the response was : it's SUPPOSED to be sluggish, actually it's not "sluggish" it's smooth. the T-Balzer is a family SUV and should NOT have abrupt or hard acceleration specially when you have kids or women in the vehicle.

The T-Blazer is not a street rod, the Chevy S-15 Typhoon (if any of you remember it) is another story, that truck can do a tire burnout right from the dealer showroom.

The H3 (I am assuming) has the same "smooth" acceleration. the comon judgement error people make is that they judge the engine from ITS ACCELERATION. If it doesnt do a tire burnout, they tend to think the engine is weak. It's a common mistake.

Dont worry about the I5's underpower reputation, it's just the acceleration. I tested my H3 in offroad conditions on 4HI locked, the egine has enough power as it is....for the zillionth time WITH AC ON, hehehe.

SledgeHummer

[HummerNewbie]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by SledgeHummer:
...the Chevy S-15 Typhoon (if any of you remember it) is another story, that truck can do a tire burnout right from the dealer showroom. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I loved those, just saw one last week. That and the Cyclone.

[VTSTOMPER]

I thought those where all wheel drive?

[HummerNewbie]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by VTSTOMPER:
I thought those where all wheel drive? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I think you are correct but don't know for sure.

[CLAYDOG]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by VTSTOMPER:
I thought those where all wheel drive? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes, they were all wheel drive,it just didn't matter a whole lot. Drove one for a week out in LA when they first came out, a little black electrical tape over the Cyclone badging then go out Ferrari hunting,boy did I piss some people off.

BTW both the Cyclone and Typhoon were GMCs

[HummerNewbie]

They were bad ass but they didn't sell very well. I remember my uncle had a Typhoon and ended up also buying two of the Cyclones because the rebates were so good and buying two the dealer came down a lot. Don't know what he did with them. Think they got traded for a couple of 454 SSs.