Insulated Valve Cover

[brucepick]

pete c,

When you question whether it's worthwhile buying insulation, I'm not sure if you're referring to the valve cover or to hood insulation.

Anyway, if you think there's more return in insulating other areas, please do them on your car, and let us know how it works out.

The foam for the valve cover was $6 for the roll as I mentioned in the first post. What I did not write there is that I used most of the roll. I certainly could use the rest of the roll on this engine, it would only help. If doing an engine larger than my 1.6 liter Civic's, one would probably use the whole roll anyway.

I don't think this would be a "basic" mod, one of the first to be done on a car. But it makes a lot of sense for a car with already reduced fuel consumption and thus reduced heat generated. And definitely makes sense when using a block heater, in my humble opinion.

[RandomFact314]

Never thought of doing this, can't wait to see if it works

[Frank Lee]

Valve covers get a lot of heat from being doused by hot oil. Some of them are even finned to help reject more heat- not just for appearances.

Excess heat can weaken valve springs. If the engine tends to run really hot I would be wary of this and monitor temps closely. If you p&g a lot this could really keep the heat in.

[California98Civic]

What a cool idea. New thinking. I like it. But in line of logic with what Frank Lee says above, have you thought about the possible down sides? I wonder if a removable, insulated cover for the valve cover would be better for the warm months. Secure it to the valve cover using "plumber's tape," perhaps?



Here in Cali, it would have to be removable. Insulation like that would probably be an instant fail on emissions testing. All such mods need a CARB sticker to pass.

[brucepick]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Valve covers get a lot of heat from being doused by hot oil. Some of them are even finned to help reject more heat- not just for appearances.

Excess heat can weaken valve springs. If the engine tends to run really hot I would be wary of this and monitor temps closely. If you p&g a lot this could really keep the heat in.

Thank you Frank. I had counted on the cooling system keeping everything within safe temperature limits. However I hadn't considered the requirements of valve springs and their environment.

Do you think the insulation is flat out unwise? Only safe if coolant remains below some particular temperature?

Based on your note above, I'm considering removing the insulation. or maybe just remove it from the valve cover's forward face, which is located directly above the exhaust ports and exhaust manifold gasket. Does this make sense?

Thanks again for your input.

[Frank Lee]

I wouldn't just outright dismiss it but I think if one does it they should monitor temps closely. It does make me nervous enough to not think about trying it. As noted, though, some bits might get hot and you won't necessarily see that on the coolant gauge.

My purposes for running grille blocks and blankets are to retain more heat while parked, and aid external pre-heating equipment like block heaters; I want faster warm-ups. I'm not interested in raising operating temps while it's running. There is still flow through my engine bays- albeit reduced- but I don't want to create any local hot spots.

[Ryland]

How hot would the head need to get before the valve springs were damaged tho? they have a constant flow of oil going over them.
Of course you can get nice little 1/16" thermocuples who's leads would squish in to the valve cover gasket if you wanted to get a reading on how hot they really are getting, otherwise a $15 remote kitchen thermometer would work too, for about $30 you can get one with a wireless readout that you could put in the car and just stick the probe inside of the valve cover next to a valve spring, wired in place of course.

[nemo]

Many newer car use some sort of composite material for valve covers, what amount of oil cooing if any do they provide. The question is if the designers of your engine were counting on the valve cover for any type of cooling. Driving style and other mods will play into this. Don't think it will cause any problems in the winter in Ct. Monitoring the temp is prudent.

[user removed]

Plastic valve covers and intake manifold on the Fiesta, as well as many of the newer cars. Much less expensive to manufacture than metal castings. As far as long term reliability, that remains to be seen. When you consider the total surface area of the engine available to radiate heat the valve covers are a small percentage.

Valve springs would not overheat until the coolant temperatures were astronomical. Oil cooling for the valve stems, with the valve heads radiating heat into the cylinder head. The seals would probably melt first and then the engine would start smoking like crazy.
Of course driving for mileage means lower overall temps compared to design maximums so I see no problem with insulating a lot more than just the valve covers if you are in lower temperature climates.

Get down to 20 below and you could probably spray insulation over the whole engine and just leave the oil filter exposed to a flow of minus 20 air.

Just remember the engine is acutally cooled by air, oil, and water-antifreeze.

regards
Mech

[pete c]

I doubt overheated oil could have an effect on spring tempering. It would seem to me that if it got that hot you'd have bigger problems. I think a bigger issue might be other components that could suffer heatstroke if they are under this insulation.