LOL, the funny part is I wrote "yeahhh, what he said" almost immediately after you wrote what you wrote. Then I got called to dinner and forget to hit send.

I come back from dinner and you already made a post about it... hehe.

Okay, nevermind, it was funnier in my head...


Mark

 

I know, sometimes the parts are like Corvette or Porsche parts... it comes with a Corvette tax...the prices seem too much for what they are. However, I think buying a piece of stainless with holes in it with no insulation is nothing more than a heat deflector you'd find on a cheap dirtbike exhaust.

 

Who knows if it will work? It would be nice if MM would do some testing and report the results. That said, it just might reduce the heat going to the scoop "enough" to prevent it from warping.

The theory seems to be "similar" to a heat sink (used to reduce heat in electronics components). Stock car racers used to install a false floor which produced an air space between the firewall and the false floor. This air space was effective at reducing the heat to the interior of the car (especially the floorboard).

I guess somebody will just have to try it and see what happens.

 

yeah, i was kind of hoping someone had tried this MM heat shield out so they could give us the scoop (no pun intended). anyway, M7 already ordered.

 

To answer the earlier question, my warping was between the top center to the top right of my scoop.

I wouldn't expect the mounting points to directly warp the plastic all the time. I've seen other plastics react to heat and stress by bending in accordance with the plastic's internal stresses and warping in ways that don't follow how the part is mounted. How the part was molded and the internal stresses created in that process affects how the part will deform as much as where the stress is applied by the fasteners holding the part in place.

What I'd like to know are more facts about this problem, like what's the actual temperature that section of the hood is reaching; exactly what type of plastic we're dealing with; and what it's exact melting temperature? Hmm, time to buy that remote sensing infrared thermometer I've always wanted...

 

The damage you describe is the same I saw on mine and every other MCS I've seen that had some miles on it. IMO, the design is typically over engineered for a part that does nothing. The problem seems to be cheap plastic. Hi-Temp plastic ain't cheap. I feel the bean counters won out over the engineers, as usual .

I've got one of those fancy thermometers. Before mods, I was seeing scoop surface temps of 240-250 F. Some have reported temps as high as 350F. ! After mods (see sig), it's down to ~125F. My temp gun is a beaut, Laser/IR, point and area readings with a temp range of -6 to +968F. and accuracy of +/-4%. Cost a bundle, $40 at Harbor Freight! Try it on the BBQ.

 

Just had my hood scoop replaced after 2,400 miles. They said the center pin had separated possibly due to heat. Old scoop was bowed up. We'll see how long this one lasts. Local dealer is new (opening on 8/11/09) so has limited experience.
John

 

18,000miles on my '08 Clubman. Getting a new scoop next week.

 

just remove the scoop grill, add a deflector and some gold reflective heat barrier film to the underside of the bonnet above the turbo and problem solved. In the winter will put gill back in for rain, but outside temp is way down and the barrier film seems to really do the job.

 

I saw the MM one and it looks like a standard heat dissapater, as opposed to a reflector/shield.

 

Mark was the M7 difficult to install? (Im all thumbs here).

Also, from what Ive been reading on other MINI regional and international forums, looks like the JCWs, both factory and S1, may be more prone to this occurence. Mark when U had yr MCSa JCW, did U have this problem? Cheers

 

The M7 is a matter of 5 minutes to install, if that. It's nothing more than 2-3 bolts. Very simple, very straightforward.

And yes, I had the melting hood scoop on my '08 MCSa by 2400 miles. (roughly 3 weeks of driving....that's ridiculous)

When I installed the JCW carbon fiber scoop, it still sank a tiny bit and in the right light, you could see the warpage, though minimal, it was still there.

I've got 9K miles on the JCW and see no signs of warpage so between opening the hood scoop, installing a heat shield and some reflective insulation under the hood, apparently that all helped.

Mark

 

Same here, going on 8,500 miles and no warpage. I installed the M7 shield about a week after I purchased my car and installed the reflective insulation just for good measure.

 

The problem with these heat sheild is that they will help heat soak the turbo which will increase your intake heat and be that much hotter to cool down in the intercooler. I found the removing the grill on the scoop, inserting a deflector to angle a percentage of the air down towards the turbo and adding film heat barrier to the bonett seems to fix the melt down. Not really worried about the increase of air flow through open scoop. Way more ways fo the air to get out and not build up a backpreasure that would be significant to overcome the air coming in through the radiatior. I believe the reason OEM has the limited openings in the grill on the scoop is to cover all seasons issues, winter rain, snow and summer. A compramise is made to suit all, without the owner having to deal with changing opeing size for time of year or weather. When shutting down on hot engine, there is a ton of heat coming out of the open scoop that would normal be trapped like a rat!!!

Will post a pic when I get a chance.

 

This will work at low speeds however at highway speed there is not that appreciable amount of airflow coming in the hood scoop. At speed you get most airflow at front grill and at cowl

 

Yea but at high speed there is enough air movement to keep the turbo from cooking the scoop. But looking at the amout of opeings through the radiatior and the flapper pannels next to the fan, the soop percentage wise I would say is about 20% but also it is all cool air, not air that's been throught the radiator grill...... When I get off the freeway have hot run, the bonett/scoop are very cool. So is it when it seats hot that the melting is occuring or is it while running at speed they melt?

 

Not based on anything empirical but I'd say a little bit of both and that much heat takes time to dissipate and cooking that plastic every minute of it.

Only thing I saw 'proof' other than seeing the actual sagged scoop was someone on here taking a laser thermometer to the hood scoop after installing the M7 and it was 100 deg cooler.

Heat must be going somewhere and I think there is enough airflow whether it be from holes in scoop itself, radiator, from under car to not roast the turbo.

If the heat shield is doing it's job, and it appears it is, the main heat is being deflected to the metal part of the bonnet as it cools down at a stand still

Another reason to make sure we change oil every 5K, our babies take a cookin'!

 

The heat build up problem occurs when stopped. There's simply no place for it to properly vent (hot air rises, etc). The stock scoop is a decoration (the first ones were closed, the "open" replacement a joke). IMHO, the cowl molding is the problem, it's completely closed! Any thoughts on this?

 

+1 on the cowl moulding. I've thought about this too

 

Remove it, 4 screws. Yes after shutdown I feel tons of heat coming out of the scoop, but mine is open with the grill removed, the stock grill is a joke as far as letting out any heat or cool air in. Haven't had the time yet to post a pic of my mode, will soon.

 

19000 miles scoop melted at the top middle with a sag. Took it to the dealer for service and after some negotiation with the SA was able to get a free Carbon Fiber scoop installed. Pulled out of the parking lot to install the M7 heat shield and after the five minutes required for the install went to turn on my music and it was a CD. Strange since I had listened to it on my 4 hour drive to see my daughter and get my car worked on looked down to where my Ipod had been residing for the past year and not only was the Ipod with custom engraving Do you know what TA is? Return to John R. Dunlap gone but so was my Ipod cable. Now I'm dealing with the dealer to figure out how they are going to fix this. Guess it could have been worse as I had my MacBook in the boot along with a full set of Craftsman tools in a case.

 

Ya didn't turn around and go back?? It would have been a little more effective than calling them a day later.

Hope you get your stuff back.


Mark

 

OMG, and I thought my dealer was bad!? Ever since my first "service" I've put on the white inspection gloves before leaving the lot . Hope you get your stuff back.

 

Mine is beginning to warp. I'll probably bring it up to the dealer next time I'm in.

 

Oh I did go back and the answer was that this was not the first time. Sorry and customer service would be contacting me on Monday However legally they can't go searching everyone with out reasonable cause. However I will be contacting MiniUSA and letting all my friends know that this is going on