Hi everyone, I'm having a handful of minor issues with my 2000 4Runner that I'll be posting in separate threads. I hate to come in asking for so much help as my first post, but I'm stuck. My 4Runner is a limited model with 145k miles, and has the 'sport' hood with the hood scoop. I'm not sure if it's original to the vehicle or not. We've had lots of heavy rain lately, and after driving in the rain and then lifting the hood, I notice that a fairly significant amount of water is coming in through the scoop. When I lift the hood, some water that is sitting in the scoop area then dumps all over the top of the intake manifold.

This doesn't seem right to me, so my question is if the scoop is supposed to have an opening large enough to let water in? I'm not sure if any of this water entry is related to some of my other issues (slight rough idle, intermittent chirping/squeal noise, drivetrain "bump" when accelerating sometimes, and an occasional hesitation upon accelerating from stop). About a week ago I was driving in heavy rain and began to get a misfire with flashing CEL. The shop that I took it to told me that the issue was a loose spark plug wire, which they installed about 6 months ago. I don't think water caused a loose plug wire, but I'm including that info just in case it's relevant.

Thanks for any help yall can provide!

TG

 

I don't believe any water intrusion should occur at all. I "think" (rarely), that the hood scoop should be water proof.

No, water can't cause a "loose" spark plug wire, but if water gets inside one end or the other of the wire, it can cause a corrosion build-up that simulates that situation. A small amount of silicon dielectric grease in both ends of the wire, at the connections, can help prevent that. I do that to every electrical connection I might open before I put it back together. The environment under the hood of a vehicle is horrible on electrical connections, and the grease I mentioned helps prevent corrosion, and dirt intrusion.

Does that help any?
Pat☺

 

The stock hood scoops do not have any openings. Perhaps a tiny bit of water could get in around the perimeter, but the scoop itself has no openings, it's all closed. Did someone chop out the back end of yours to make it a 'real' scoop?

And you'll get a modest amount of moisture in the engine bay even without an open scoop - road mist and rain coming through the radiator and blown all over the front of the engine.

 

Thanks Pat and Jomoka,

There aren't any visible openings in the scoop as if it's been modified, it appears the water is getting in around the perimeter. After being driven in rain, like this morning, it drips quite a bit on the engine area when the hood is lifted. It's hard to say if I think the water gets all the way through if the hood just stays shut. I may remove the scoop and try some sort of light caulking to help seal it up. In any case I don't think it's the cause of my other issues. Thanks again!