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INSULATED HOOD

B

bayhunter

NAXJA Forum User
Location
new jersey
I picked a 99 XJ last year.The underside of the hood has a insulating material with a foil type finish secured with foil duct joining tape.Im sure this was added on. Can anyone tell me why someone would add this? Did the xj come with insulation of some type from factory? Should i remove it.
 
My 98 Limited has underhood insulation. It's black and doesn't appear to have any foil or tape holding it up. If I recall correctly, it's got snaps holding it in.......not 100% on that though.
 
Some people put noise damping stuff under there - like dynamat or equivalent. I would guess that's what it is.

I don't think it would be a problem - I would leave it. Especially since it is likely in place of rather than over the factory insulation material.
 
98NWCherokee said:
My 98 Limited has underhood insulation. It's black and doesn't appear to have any foil or tape holding it up. If I recall correctly, it's got snaps holding it in.......not 100% on that though.
Click to expand...

That's the same setup as on my 2000 (and, as far as I can recall, every '97-up XJ I've looked under the hood of). The foil stuff is typically aftermarket and probably doesn't do anything to help with the XJ's underhood temperatures.

Best bet is to snag it at the junkyard, assuming you can find it in good shape. OEM part number (for 2000) is 55217068AE; I'd assume it's the same for '99 as there were no changes to the hood from '97-'01 AFAIK. Probably want to double-check on that, though.
 
My 97 has no insulation, but I do know that it had body work done in the first few years of its life, so it may have had insulation at some point prior. The hood gets awfully hot in the summer, but it also melts the ice nicely in the winter, so I've never bothered with. I've put ~130K on it, and don't believe its absence has caused any problems.
 
I snagged a factory hood insulator. It did a lot to lower the engine noise.
 
Some of my jeeps have them and some don't, I don't recall which and the 91 and 98 have replacement hoods anyways so it is anyone's guess what they came from the factory with.

I could care less about the insulation, I like the fact that it melts residual ice and snow off in the winter.
 
I have a 95 XJ with no insulation and a 96 XJ that has the insulation.

With all the talk about engine heat and some overheating I wonder if taking the insulation out would help with engine compartment cooling. Heat rise naturally and that insulation is keeping that heat in the engine compartment.

I am thinking of removing the insulation on my 96 and installing hood vents as well.

The 96 is my 'toy', the 95 will be a shared DD vehicle for family members.
 
I thought the stuff under the hood from the factory was usually a fire blanket more than insulation. In case of an engine fire the matt falls and helps smother the fire.

Mine doesn't have anything under the hood but I bought it used.
 
I think the insulation is mainly for protecting the hood paint from engine heat so that the paint and/or clear coat doesn't oxidize and blister, etc. (...of course, the sun already
does a good job of doing this). At least it will allow the paint to last a bit longer.

My '93 and '96 XJs do not have the hood insulation although I've seen them in
pick-yourself parts yards. The stuff looks like pressed and molded fiberglass.
 
iwannadie said:
I thought the stuff under the hood from the factory was usually a fire blanket more than insulation. In case of an engine fire the matt falls and helps smother the fire.

Mine doesn't have anything under the hood but I bought it used.
Click to expand...


I spoke to someone this afternoon about this, he has been in the car business for over 30 years and he said you were right.

It's a 'blanket' of sorts, held up by plastic snap in posts with wide heads. The idea is that when a fire starts those plastic parts will melt and the blanket will drop down over the engine, if not putting out the fire perhaps slowing it down a bit.

After reading your post I sort of recalled that from the past and decided to inquire about it.
 
KD3NE_ said:
I spoke to someone this afternoon about this, he has been in the car business for over 30 years and he said you were right.

It's a 'blanket' of sorts, held up by plastic snap in posts with wide heads. The idea is that when a fire starts those plastic parts will melt and the blanket will drop down over the engine, if not putting out the fire perhaps slowing it down a bit.

After reading your post I sort of recalled that from the past and decided to inquire about it.
Click to expand...

I wasn't positive it was like that with Jeep but I know my old toyota and newer lexus has it and it's a fire blanket not insulation. Good to have confirmation, now that it's on my mind I am going to try and track one down.
 
hubs97xj said:
My 97 has no insulation, but I do know that it had body work done in the first few years of its life, so it may have had insulation at some point prior. The hood gets awfully hot in the summer, but it also melts the ice nicely in the winter, so I've never bothered with. I've put ~130K on it, and don't believe its absence has caused any problems.
Click to expand...

The '98 that I purchased new in Oct '97 doesn't have the hood insulation either....
 
Honestly, do you really think it matters in a bucket of bolts like the XJ?
I can understand the fire retardant but as far as noise...no way
 
my 98 had it, i pulled it figuring I'd rather not risk an overheat in the summer. however it took about 15 minutes extra every morning to warm up in the winter.
 
For being able to supposedly snuff out a fire, the one I had sure did burn good.
 
Having put out numerous car fires, I can pretty safely say that by the time an engine compartment fire gets hot enough to make the liner/insulation/blanket drop onto the engine, it's pretty much toast already. It might help save the paint job on the hood a little longer, but your wiring, hoses, and pretty much anything plastic near the point of origin melts into a big gooey mess pretty darn quick. It also seems like those "blankets" usually fall off in pieces instead of as one big sheet which doesn't contribute to helping snuff out the fire much either.

For the record, the Factory Parts Catalog for the '97-'99 refers to it as (55217 068AC) INSULATION, Hood and it is held up with 13 (6003 351) RETAINER, Hood Insulation. No mention of fire in the description...
 
Dragonslayer said:
I think the insulation is mainly for protecting the hood paint from engine heat so that the paint and/or clear coat doesn't oxidize and blister, etc.
Click to expand...
Correct Answer!

and Team Cherokee has them

Hood Insulation OEM Cherokee & Comanche 1985-2001
This is a Factory Original N.O.S Part. This Is The Hood Insulation. This Will Fit All Jeep Cherokees & Jeep Comanches & Wagoneer XJ Body Styles From 1985-2001. If Your Hood Insulation Is Tearing Apart-You May Want To Replace The Insulation As Fiberglass Can Be Breathed Through The Air Ducts Through Your Fresh Air Vents With Your Heater & A/C. WE ARE SELLING THIS FACTORY ORIGINAL MOLDED 1-PIECE HOOD INSULATION FOR MUCH LESS THAN THE DEALER LIST PRICE. WE HAVE ADDED SOME EXTRA SHIPPING FOR THE OVERSIZE PORTION OF THE SHIPPING ALREADY INTO THE PRICE AS THIS PART IS CONSIDERED OVERSIZE PART DUE TO IT BEING MOLDED & IT STILL IS CHEAPER THAN THE DEALER BY MANY DOLLARS. OE PART#55217068

Price: $56.95

Quantity :
 
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