Engine covers?

[OilPatch197]

What is the purpose of an engine cover?

Many vehicles have them, what are they for, what purpose do they serve?

 

[adsm08]

They are there to make the engine look pretty for people who want to look at a pretty engine without being bothered by all the nasty details like fuel rails and plug wires.

 

[martin]

They're there to piss off anybody who has to work on them.

 

[Ranger Kip]

never seen one, pics?

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

never seen one, pics?

find some pictures of a VW, Audi, BMW, or Merc-Benz.. you'll get an idea of the nightmare.

i have to remove at least 1 if not 2-3 covers to change the oil on a VW.. and its even more involved just to change the air filter on some.

but i guess all manufacturers are doing it more since too many drivers never look under the hood.

yeah they are just for looks

 

[ozziemo27]

never seen one, pics?

Look under the hood of many new cars, you'll see them. such as an 09 chevy malibu. Everybody is doing it, so it must be cool.

 

[Ranger Kip]

wait, is it usually a heavy duty plastic covering the top of the engine?
My 97' Infiniti Q45 has one, its easy to remove (3 bolts) but looks cool on it. Says 5.2L V8 on it.

 

[LittleHorse]

because everybody still looks under the hood before the buy a car, but 98% of them don't know what they're looking at...so it might as well be a "cool" looking piece of plastic if it gets them to sign on the dotted line.

Granted, there are some cars that are equipped with certain plastic parts that actually serve to direct airflow to improve heat rejection. But it's the exception, not the rule.

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

wait, is it usually a heavy duty plastic covering the top of the engine?
My 97' Infiniti Q45 has one, its easy to remove (3 bolts) but looks cool on it. Says 5.2L V8 on it.

yeah, but some go so over the top that they literally cover EVERYTHING except the oil dipstick and filler

i just did a timing belt on an audi quattro.. i've seen worse covers though

 

[Ranger Kip]

what kind of idiot devised those? like to see them recover that plastic after an engine fire, it would be a b1tch

 

[Quartermile]

They are to keep the owner out of the engine bay

 

[Hopman]

never seen one, pics?

Look under the hood of a late-model Chevy Impalla. My mom has one (an '04) It looks nice, but makes doing work on the thing a PITA!

Changing the air filter on that thing (should've been a sub-2 minute job, took close to 20 due to the @#$%^&* engine covers!

 

[Ranger Kip]

replacing a filter for me with a carb, takes "maybe" 20 seconds

 

[OilPatch197]

Granted, there are some cars that are equipped with certain plastic parts that actually serve to direct airflow to improve heat rejection. But it's the exception, not the rule.

I thought maybe they are supposed to reduce engine noise, or direct airflow, but if your in stopped traffic, will you not just trap hot air over the intake manifold?

 

[Hopman]

I just realized something: There's a engine cover on my Ranger. It's called the hood.