semtex

I just finished installing the Motordyne MREV2 + 5/16" Iso-Thermal spacer today. When I closed my hood, I immediately noticed that on the driver's side, the hood is raised ever so slightly. It's not huge -- the hood closes w/o any difficulty, I can't feel any extra resistance when closing the hood, etc. But it's definitely perceptible that the hood isn't lining up quite right and not shutting as tightly as normal, especially if compared to the passenger side. I'd say it's raised by maybe 3mm. Has anyone else seen this issue, and if so, is there a quick fix?

Here's some pertinent info. I have an '06 Enthusiast. AEM CAI under the hood. I did NOT need to install the extra strut brace washers that came with the kit -- there is sufficient clearance between the strut tower brace and the top of the plenum with the bracket spacers alone. When I look at the underside of the hood, there are no obvious marks to indicate that the hood is hitting anything. My guess is that it's the strut brace itself that is raising the hood slightly. I noticed that there are two rubber pads under the hood to cushion between the hood and the strut brace. I think that's the only contact being made and the strut brace is just a touch too high on the driver's side. Sure enough, when I crouch down in front of the car and look at the strut brace head on, it appears that it's just a tad higher on the driver's side. Can this be adjusted somehow? Do I need to get a different STB?

I'd appreciate any advice/help you can offer.

Audible Mayhem

iTrader: (48)

you could use a few washers where you hood mounts to raise it up. thats about all i know that would work, my skunk2 spacer hit my hood pretty nicely. maybe if you take off the engine cover??


good luck

masterj26

iTrader: (20)

honestly i don't know why its doing that, but how is the performance of the mrev 2 and spacer combined, i am installing my spacer next week and already have the mrev 2

Hydrazine

iTrader: (53)

Hi Semtex,

The strut bar spacers are 1/4" high. If you have plenty of clearance between the strut bar and plenum, you can always try lowering the driver side of the strut bar by using 3 washers under each bracket bolt hole.

A washer is typically 1/16" thick, so the stack up of three would be 3/16" rather than the 1/4" strutbar spacers you have in there now. This should fix it.

Tony

semtex

To be honest, I'm just not quite sure about the performance. From reading other threads on this mod, I expected an immediately deeper tone from the engine, as well as a noticeable improvement in torque. I haven't noticed any change in tone at all, and as for torque...well, I don't know. Let's just say that after I put my Stillen exhaust on, the difference was immediately noticeable. With this mod, not so much, if at all. I'm left wondering what all the hype is about.

But to be fair, perhaps I just need to give my ECU some time to adapt. I read that with the rev-up engine, a ECU reflash is not required; it'll adapt just fine on its own. What isn't clear is how long it takes for that adaptation to complete. I might find that over the next few days, dramatic differences will suddenly start to be noticeable. I know that's what happened when I put headers on my last car (S2000). At first, nothing. Then after a few days, suddenly it felt noticeably more responsive and quicker. My mechanic said that it made sense because it'd take the ECU a few days to adjust.

masterj26

iTrader: (20)

you can always reset your ecu too, if you search on here there are instructions to do so

semtex

Tony, I swapped the spacers out and put in washers as you suggested. Hood fell right off! No, just kidding. The hood closes up back normal now. Thanks for your help!

semtex

Thanks for the tip! I reset my ECU. We'll see if that makes a difference (haven't taken it out for a drive yet).

Hydrazine

iTrader: (53)

What engine do you have?
REVUP? Non REVUP?

semtex

Tony - I have a REVUP engine.

But I need to do a big mea culpa here! (Actually, two of them.) First off, re. the original issue -- the hood not sitting right -- that has been resolved. And I ended up using the original spacers that came with the kit. I think I had the tension on the strut brace all screwed up. I took the brace off, adjusted it, re-seated it, and now the hood lines up just fine.

Second mea culpa. After I disconnected the battery and reconnected it, I went out for a drive and immediately noticed the change in engine tone and also the gain in performance. So why is this is my bad? Because the installation instructions say to disconnect the battery right at the beginning, and I neglected to do that! Had I followed the instructions and disconnected it to begin with, I would have never been scratching my head going 'I don't notice any difference, what's all the hype about?'

Sorry for being a dumba$$!