Do you cover the two air vents on the hood before a car wash?

[Hemidayz]

Do you ever run your car through a touchless car wash and not cover the two side hood air vents? I see that the drivers side air vent gives air to the air filter but not sure if the passenger hood air vent will Just drip water onto the engine. Any advice ??

 

[T_Trahan44]

Do you ever run your car through a touchless car wash and not cover the two side hood air vents? I see that the drivers side air vent gives air to the air filter but not sure if the passenger hood air vent will Just drip water onto the engine. Any advice ??

I don't recommend a touchless wash for the simple fact that the stripping chemicals they use can be very hard on your paint. Of course, I don't recommend a touch wash either. If, for a medical reason, you can't wash the vehicle yourself, a touchless won't be bad so long as you remember to hydrate the paint again with a little wax/water. The strippers can damage it pretty badly.

 

[1971demon]

I don't recommend a touchless wash for the simple fact that the stripping chemicals they use can be very hard on your paint. Of course, I don't recommend a touch wash either. If, for a medical reason, you can't wash the vehicle yourself, a touchless won't be bad so long as you remember to hydrate the paint again with a little wax/water. The strippers can damage it pretty badly.

Never run any of my cars through any automated wash...my truck...yes.....once I had a stripper throw a vodka tonic at my truck in the parking lot...but she didn't do any damage...

 

[Hellcatcfp]

Never run any of my cars through any automated wash...my truck...yes.....once I had a stripper throw a vodka tonic at my truck in the parking lot...but she didn't do any damage...

I bet there is a story behind that...bad tipper??? 😅🤣😂🤣😅

 

[Paladin06]

Do you ever run your car through a touchless car wash and not cover the two side hood air vents? I see that the drivers side air vent gives air to the air filter but not sure if the passenger hood air vent will Just drip water onto the engine. Any advice ??

Car wash. What’s that? Haven’t been to one in 20 years.

 

[Hemidayz]

Never run any of my cars through any automated wash...my truck...yes.....once I had a stripper throw a vodka tonic at my truck in the parking lot...but she didn't do any damage...

so how do you cover the two air vents on the hellcat hood when you wash ?

 

[ChargerChallenger]

so how do you cover the two air vents on the hellcat hood when you wash ?

No worries I run my cats thru a really nice car wash and the hood vents were designed to have water run thru them otherwise you couldn’t drive in the rain nor let your car sit outside in the rain.

 

[ACMAVRO]

so how do you cover the two air vents on the hellcat hood when you wash ?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^ except I only hand wash mine

 

[MikeD1]

Do you ever run your car through a touchless car wash and not cover the two side hood air vents? I see that the drivers side air vent gives air to the air filter but not sure if the passenger hood air vent will Just drip water onto the engine. Any advice ??

Never use a car wash, always do it by hand, but have looked long & hard for something to cover those vents while washing & no bueno

Never run any of my cars through any automated wash...my truck...yes.....once I had a stripper throw a vodka tonic at my truck in the parking lot...but she didn't do any damage...

Hmmm, you been hanging out with the Hickster ? Sounds like something he'd say ......................

 

[BULL]

Nope... After soap, I do flood out the vents, after washing, I open up the good and detail by hand.

 

[SilverBillet]

so how do you cover the two air vents on the hellcat hood when you wash ?

I would never have taken mine through any kind of car wash. I did cut some out of aluminum and used some 1/4” carriage bolts with nuts or wing nuts and washers underneath to keep the water out as much as possible when I hand wash it. They are not water tight so I put a bath towel under each side to help absorb water that leaks through. I also cut one out of a little heavier gauge aluminum with a rubber gasket behind it for the hood scoop to keep bugs and rain out when driving at night or with possible rain in the forecast and on a trip.

 

[Tape]

They have drains

 

[SilverBillet]

They have drains

I thought we were talking about a Hellcat Charger? There are no drains.

 

[Hemidayz]

I thought we were talking about a Hellcat Charger? There are no drains.

yea im Not really seeing any drains

 

[SilverBillet]

yea im Not really seeing any drains

Make a paper pattern and use it to trace on some thin cardboard. Cut and use that to draw the pattern on a piece of thin gauge aluminum sheet that you can cut with tin snips. The right and left side are mirror images (opposite). You can use 3 or 4 carriage bolts and figure out how to line up the holes between the openings in the hood vents.

 

[ChargerChallenger]

This is a very interesting conversation lol I have owned now 2 Hellcat Chargers over the last 4 years and never have had water issues in the vents. To the point I used to only go to the car wash with my first Hellcat and at least 3-4 times a month and it would sit outside in rain and snow as well. And now my second Charger Hellcat I have actually hand washed her more than going to the car wash but same story she sits outside in rain and snow. Summing it up can anyone here show in the owners manual a warning of the hood vents getting water in them and doing damage to the car?
I owned the 2019 Toyota Tacoma Pro with the factory Snorkel and it had a big warning label inside the passengers side to never take her thru a car wash. And I used to detail cars 30 years ago and sell automotive waxes and cleaners and polishes. The Dodge paint is not a prestigious paint and has many flaws in it. If you think taking your car to a really good soft touch car wash is going to ruin the paint well your driving the wrong car lol. Yeah I would not take my Black Bugatti to the car wash lol. And what amazes me about car values they all depreciate the exact same whether you have an incredible pristine clean used car versus a nice clean used car you will not get any more money fir her. Trust me on that one lol I have traded in cars with low mileage and basically brand new and yep KBB value is KBB value no matter how cherry she is. I used to take my Plum Crazy only to the car wash all the time.

 

[SilverBillet]

It’s not a matter of any damage or not. It isn’t that easy to detail your engine compartment and I always like mine to look like new. If you get water and soap in there, it will eventually show it. It may be different if you treat it like a daily driver but I always treated mine just like my classic show car.

 

[tkracing1]

I let the water come in... because then I detail the engine bay. The cat is easy to wash.. the mid engine is a pain in the ass.

 

[WileECoyote]

Nope... After soap, I do flood out the vents, after washing, I open up the good and detail by hand.

View attachment 25222

You missed a spot.

 

[MikeD1]

I would never have taken mine through any kind of car wash. I did cut some out of aluminum and used some 1/4” carriage bolts with nuts or wing nuts and washers underneath to keep the water out as much as possible when I hand wash it. They are not water tight so I put a bath towel under each side to help absorb water that leaks through. I also cut one out of a little heavier gauge aluminum with a rubber gasket behind it for the hood scoop to keep bugs and rain out when driving at night or with possible rain in the forecast and on a trip. View attachment 25223

Thought about making something like that out of plexiglass or thick rubber mat but didn't want to go buy a scroll saw for a 10 minute job.
Tried to talk Weebz (was making custom vents on the other site) into making something, but he wasn't interested