Excessive heat from engine compartment

[Slickone]

Turbo = recirculating exhaust gas = hot.

Small range of temperature you experience will not affect the performance much. Heat soak is a real thing but this only affects high performance, track oriented cars when you try and beat your last lap by milliseconds.

Heat most definitely will affect performance of turbocharged street cars.

Also, I noticed that my car engages the turbo at a minimum to conserve fuel, if you don't drive hard it shouldn't be that warm.

Of course. But the turbo is spinning even at idle. Obviously, the harder you drive, the faster the turbo spins/more boost, the hotter it gets.
Kind of like saying when not driving hard, less fuel is injected, which conserves fuel.

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[NSCIVIC]

Turbo = recirculating exhaust gas = hot.

Small range of temperature you experience will not affect the performance much. Heat soak is a real thing but this only affects high performance, track oriented cars when you try and beat your last lap by milliseconds.

Also, I noticed that my car engages the turbo at a minimum to conserve fuel, if you don't drive hard it shouldn't be that warm.

When the delivery company made an error on the address when I was waiting for my injen air intake I had to drive about 15 mins to go to their Depot to pick it up. I drove like a granny putting the car in Eco mode and normal drive not going over 2000rpm since I knew how hot the engine got and wanted to install it right away.

The car still damn near roasted me even after waiting for an hour before doing the install

 

[CivicChina]

Is this happening because the CVT that makes the engine rev higher? I find my turbo manual engine bay very very cool after normal commute driving. Much cooler than my previous Malibu on the same road and heavy traffic conditions. Also I noticed that thanks to the manual transmission I use the brakes a lot less and they are just warm instead of almost incandescent at the arrival. I keep Econ mode on at morning, so my turbo is not working 98% of the time. On the way back the traffic is lighter and I tend to drive faster, without ECON, but temperatures are still fine.

 

[AndreiMR]

I found this thread after experiencing steam -- or smoke -- or something -- coming from under the hood, after only fifteen or twenty minutes of driving it. I had just picked it up new from the dealership. I also saw that it was ridiculously hot under the hood, but I'm reassured to hear others have experienced the same.

Using a laser thermometer for automotive use, I measured crazy hot temperatures from the surfaces under the hood, like 80 -- 95 deg C. I'm not talking about the engine, either. Even the hood prop (the rod) was about 65 degrees C. Honestly, that seems far from normal. Definitely the steam/smoke, or whatever the hell that is, is not normal.

(And, yes, I'm off to the dealership to have these issues looked at.)

 

[RetroJR]

I found this thread after experiencing steam -- or smoke -- or something -- coming from under the hood, after only fifteen or twenty minutes of driving it. I had just picked it up new from the dealership. I also saw that it was ridiculously hot under the hood, but I'm reassured to hear others have experienced the same.

Using a laser thermometer for automotive use, I measured crazy hot temperatures from the surfaces under the hood, like 80 -- 95 deg C. I'm not talking about the engine, either. Even the hood prop (the rod) was about 65 degrees C. Honestly, that seems far from normal. Definitely the steam/smoke, or whatever the hell that is, is not normal.

(And, yes, I'm off to the dealership to have these issues looked at.)

I would not panic about some steam/ smoke too much brand new. There could easily be oils burning off of the exhaust manifold, etc. Mine did the same thing. I even had an antifreeze smell for a while when new. Been running beautifully for 9000+ miles. THough I do not know exactly what you saw. Did you notice where it was coming from?

 

[PolishedLX]

This might be of interest...
http://www.civicx.com/threads/the-oil-thread.684/

Extreme heat is the enemy of any oil and FI motor. It can lead to coking in the turbo, prematurely worn piston rings, stuck oil control rings, or sludge accumulation in the crank case. Because of these factors, many will recommend using a high quality synthetic to help combat premature breakdown in viscosity. They are generally more consistent in a wider variety of temperatures."

What about extending the break-in process and use the semi-synthetic Honda oil for atleast 3 oil changes?

 

[AndreiMR]

RetroJR,

Mine did the same thing.

That is indeed most reassuring. Thanks for posting.

Did you notice where it was coming from?

I saw it initially coming out from around the right, front headlight. When I opened the hood, I saw that it was coming from what I now know to be the turbo manifold. (I measured its temperature at >100 deg C using my trusty laser thermometer.)

I visited my Honda service centre the following day after posting my comment above. The technical staff told me that -- exactly like you said -- new deliveries have oil traces on surfaces and detergents left over from cleaning done prior to delivery/certification. I trust completely that that was what that was!

So, lurkers, if you find my post in search of explanations for the same phenomenon I had -- white smoke that kind of smelled like burnt oil mixed with antifreeze coming from under the hood, originating near the front, right part of the engine, escaping around your right headlight, on a brand new vehicle with basically a few miles/Km on it -- there is nothing to worry about. Perfectly normal.

(Well, the dealership -- Richmond Hill Honda -- probably should have washed the car more thoroughly. There were pockets of mud and dirt that the service staff indicated should not have been there immediately after a delivery. No biggie, other than the fact I gave them perfect scores on the Customer Evaluation sheet, at their request, but that were not deserved.)

 

[CivicChina]

I always drive slowly for the last couple of km to cool down the engine before shutting off, to avoid cooking the oil inside turbo.

 

[17siturb0]

I always drive slowly for the last couple of km to cool down the engine before shutting off, to avoid cooking the oil inside turbo.

It's no longer required to do that on turbo cars. But I guess it could help, for that extra peace at mind.

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