White deposits on hood insulation.

[NC4stroker]

This may have been covered elsewhere, but this weekend I popped the hood and noticed a white residue on the hood insulation, and a few white spots on the top of the engine. A relative of mine, a former Ram/Cummins mechanic, told me it's the fire retardant in the hood insulation material, which will "crystallize" when it gets wet and appear as white deposits on the insulation.

(I thought it may have been a leaking windshield washer hose or something...which was causing the "residue" on the hood insulation.)

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[Polaraco]

Road salt is more likely

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[Steinbrenner]

The gasket between the hood and the body is leaking water into the engine compartment.


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[AnOldBiker]

It's a shame we couldn't get a sample into a qualified lab to analysize it. It's things like this that I use to get a kick out of verifying. Sometimes getting old and retirement sucks.

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[JaredHerzog]

Your relative is right. They all have the fire retardant crystals showing to different degrees. The dealer may warranty it out. But, the new ones will also look bad in short order. You could remove it, the 4500 and 5500 trucks do not have the insulation. It will get worse if you try to pressure wash it. Try a shop vac instead.

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[NC4stroker]

Road salt is more likely

Good thought, but you'd have to see the pattern. Only on the insulation with maybe 4 drops on valve cover. Rest of engine bay is clean.

The gasket between the hood and the body is leaking water into the engine compartment.

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Yep, but it's not too bad. Initially I was just ruling out coolant!

Your relative is right. They all have the fire retardant crystals showing to different degrees. The dealer may warranty it out. But, the new ones will also look bad in short order. You could remove it, the 4500 and 5500 trucks do not have the insulation. It will get worse if you try to pressure wash it. Try a shop vac instead.

I'm going to leave it alone. My first thought after ruling out coolant (being sprayed around under the hood), was a faulty windshield washer connection..they fall off all the time on my last GC. LOL.

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[NC4stroker]

It's a shame we couldn't get a sample into a qualified lab to analysize it. It's things like this that I use to get a kick out of verifying. Sometimes getting old and retirement sucks.

Taste testing ruled out road salt! LOLOLOL

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[JaredHerzog]

Some guys have opened up the drains at the base of the windshield to help it drain faster to eliminate the residue under the hood from excess water. There were mixed results with that. I have opened my hood after a heavy rain and had water run out of the hole for the under hood light.
The fire retardant is interesting. It will drop crystals onto the motor where they look like they grow and are stalactites. The windshield washer nozzles have a propensity to break where the hose attaches to them. This compounds the residue but is easy to test and fix or rule out. This is just a cosmetic issue that is worsened when a guy starts trying to pressure wash the insulation. I just figured if mine got bad enough i would remove it. Most trucks on the dealer lots already have the residue forming.

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[F350Cummins]

my truck has had it since new. It did sit on the dealer lot for a little over 300 days.

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