Air Ram hood for 2000 XLT SOHC 6 cyl

[athertonwj]

Hi all,

Anyone have suggestions on where to find a functioning hood/scoop for my 2000 XLT, SOHC? I have recently installed the K&N cold air intake, which is basically in the same spot as the original air box. Looking for sites, or even local shops (if any know some near Melrose, MA), as well as ideas/pics on installation, ballpark prices, etc..

Thanks,

 

[spindlecone]

Try www.keystonerestyling.com

 

[athertonwj]

Thanks. Checked it out, but they don;t seem to have much in the way of Explorer Hoods

 

[spindlecone]

Call them direct.
In reality a functioning cowl or Ramair hood will do nothing for performance.
Waste of bux IMO

 

[410Fortune]

Spindle it can significantly reduce under hood tempatures which can result in a colder intake air charge and make more power. A agree alone it would be marginal gains, but as part of the complete intake and exhaust mods and tune it can really be a benefit.

Do you disagree?

Also the K&n filter should NOT be allowed to get its intake air from under the hood, it should be shielded off from turbulance from the fan and also from hot underhood air.

 

[athertonwj]

Also the K&n filter should NOT be allowed to get its intake air from under the hood, it should be shielded off from turbulance from the fan and also from hot underhood air.[/QUOTE]


Can you expound on this? Not sure what you mean. It is a K&N cold air intake kit made for this vehicle, and sits where it sits, replacing the original box. Is this incorrect?

Thanks,

Bill

 

[spindlecone]

Spindle it can significantly reduce under hood tempatures which can result in a colder intake air charge and make more power. A agree alone it would be marginal gains, but as part of the complete intake and exhaust mods and tune it can really be a benefit.

Do you disagree?

Also the K&n filter should NOT be allowed to get its intake air from under the hood, it should be shielded off from turbulance from the fan and also from hot underhood air.

410
I agree a cooler air charge builds more H.P (1H.P/10degs)
Ram air and cowl induction in the days of carbed engines worked very well.
With todays engines and the location of our intakes, I do not think they would do anything worthwhile.
If one could use a shaker type hood, run extensive ducting to the intake direct, perhaps a slight reduction in IAT would be seen,at this point I do not anyone has done such a mod (shaker hood yes, ducting no).
Besides at speeds above about 40MPH your IAT is at ambiant temp and cannot get any cooler, shielding or no sheilding, it makes no diff.
Turbulant air can be a problem with certain CAIs at low rpms but not at anything above approx 1000 rpms, try this: at idle, with your air nozzle, blow some air on the filter, the engine will die, why? turbulant air and a closed throttle, is not a problem when your moving.
I always look at H.P gains verses bux spent, sure I spent 300 bux for my offroad Y pipe, but it got me 7 H.P (dyno proven)well worth the money spent to me.
Any aftermarket unpainted Hood will run 800/1000 Bux, say you could reduce the IAT by 20 degs just by venting hot engine bay air, so than you get 2 H.P, in traffic or at idle, what good is it?JMO

 

[410Fortune]

$800? OUch. hahaha I guess it MIGHT be worth it if you amde it functional to vent the hot air AND wanted the looks.

I personally would just chop a hole in my $50 hood and put a scoop on top of my filter

But you are correct sir and thank you for the explanation.
Ever since I put headers on my old 4.0L I had under hood temp issues and always saw a cowl hood as a good way to help this, I figured it would benefit my intake as well since it is under the hood and help keep the intake manifold cooler.
That was my thought process on them, but I dont like the looks so I never did it

 

[aldive]

I once was concerned with under hood temperature, but experimentation proved that at sped over 40 MPH, there was no under hood heating issues.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=143801&highlight=hood+temperature

 

[JDraper]

Did someone say Shaker??

It's for either an F-150 or a Mustang, but could be adapted to a Explorer. Here's the link...
CDC Shaker System

 

[Ray Lobato]

This topic belongs in the modified Explorations forum.
This is only for stock questions.
Moving to modified Explorations
Please only stock questions in the STOCK forum.
Thank you.
Ray Lobato

 

[410Fortune]

Good to know Aldive I was concerned about the tempature inside the cab and on my passengers feet more then performance gains.. Also because anything within 4-6" of my headers would melt (speedo cable, wire looms, etc)

These headers were not coated.
I have learned alot about heat shielding since then, but venting the hood really could have helped I am guessing.

 

[spindlecone]

Did someone say Shaker??

It's for either an F-150 or a Mustang, but could be adapted to a Explorer. Here's the link...
CDC Shaker System

Several sporttrac owners have also used that same system so it is adaptable to most any vehical, is just the shaker scoop, not an entire hood.
410, ever consider just wrapping your headers, header wrap is cheap on ebay.
Al, you are correct

 

[410Fortune]

Those headers are long gone now baby I was anti header wrap because of the stories I heard about it causing them to corrode underneath, especially with road salt here in CO.

MY new ones are coated and everything near them is guarded agains the heat, I have learned alot since then, but it made for a good discussion in this thread.

Oh and I have copper style wrapping on my stock Explorer down pipes now to hel pprotect the trans cooler lines, torque converter, floor boards, and trans solenoids. I also built several aluminum heat guards to further the protection. I figure even if the explorer pipes corrode under the wrap I have a coulpe spares of those and they are easy to replace.

 

[spindlecone]

Wrap on uncoated mild steel headers is bad news agreed, but wrap on coated or SS pipe has some great benis, keep the heat in the pipe, hotter gases move faster creating a scavenging effect plus protecting anything near the pipe.
I wrapped my offroad Y-pipe because of my deeper tranny pan and the pipe is very close to my starter moter, you can actually put your hand on the pipe with the engine running, my tranny temps as measured at the pan dropped 10 degs.
seems that heat is killing alot of things on todays engines, anything one can do to divert, vent,increase oil volumns Etc, seems to have benifits.Just get the heat out, whatever it takes

 

[athertonwj]

This topic belongs in the modified Explorations forum.
This is only for stock questions.
Moving to modified Explorations
Please only stock questions in the STOCK forum.
Thank you.
Ray Lobato

So, if I'm looking for modification advice on my stock explorer, where do I go? Lighten up. If you've got an issue with this discussion, then be nice about it, but don't go spewing commandments.

 

[410Fortune]

Looks familiar except my wrap is copper colored and you did a much better job (assume while pipe was out of the vehicle?)
I will have to get some pics of the sheet aluminum guards I made, they bolt to the trans using existing bolts and holes.

the hottest my 4r70w has gotten has been 130, my A4LD used to see 180 daily (temp sender mounted in side of the pan)
I figure larger trans moving same truck = less heat, plus my radiator for the V8 is about 400 times more efficient then the old 4.0L radiator.

Looks good! My stock pipes are not coated, I expect they will corrode "quicker then normal"...time will tell! I have spares

 

[spindlecone]

So, if I'm looking for modification advice on my stock explorer, where do I go? Lighten up. If you've got an issue with this discussion, then be nice about it, but don't go spewing commandments.

ray was just putting things in the proper forum and or thread.
Alot of posts and members here guy.

 

[410Fortune]

"So, if I'm looking for modification advice on my stock explorer, where do I go? Lighten up. If you've got an issue with this discussion, then be nice about it, but don't go spewing commandments."

Its okay man, Ray I am sure was not yelling when he typed this, just doing his job as the forum moderator Its hard to interprit text.

We welcome new comers with open arms around here, Ray was trying to be helpful, when you read text it may not always seem that way, I have learned this many many times over the years.

 

[spindlecone]

Looks familiar except my wrap is copper colored and you did a much better job (assume while pipe was out of the vehicle?)
I will have to get some pics of the sheet aluminum guards I made, they bolt to the trans using existing bolts and holes.

the hottest my 4r70w has gotten has been 130, my A4LD used to see 180 daily (temp sender mounted in side of the pan)
I figure larger trans moving same truck = less heat, plus my radiator for the V8 is about 400 times more efficient then the old 4.0L radiator.

Looks good! My stock pipes are not coated, I expect they will corrode "quicker then normal"...time will tell! I have spares

Great observation, I learned the hard way, you cannot wrap pipe mounted in place, needs to be on the bench, in a vise.
Brings up another thought, some people measure tranny temps inline, some as i do at the pan, which one is best?