Hey all,
My used xb came with billet grills and after looking at the upper stock grill, it is a solid piece that doesn't allow rain or road trash thru. My upper billet grill is open without an airdam, so the engine is always dirty under the hood. Were those billet grills supposed to come with a piece of sheet metal behind so there is no airflow thru it?

 

Probably, but just for reference, my underhood is always really dirty, too. Lots of sand even, somehow. I'm not sure how it gets there, and yours may be somewhat exacerbated by the open grille, but it definitely won't be completely cured by a solid grille... just FYI.

 

I run an open grille, and the engine bay is only slightly dirtier than it used to be. So, I'd say you could do it, but it's no big deal.

 

thanks for the replies, glad to hear others have an open grill, but I was a bit concerned after driving thru a wet snow storm that resulted in tons of dirty slush and salt all over the top of the engine, battery and components and wonder how much "mist" gets sucked down into the snorkle as a result

 

Mist isnt neccessarily a bad thing
salty mist is another thing though...

 

See this thread:

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/vie...528&highlight=

The consensus of this thread was that installing an upper grill that was not solid would degrade the engine ventilation. Dirt in the engine compartment due a non-solid upper grille is the least of your problems. The XB engine ventilation system appears to be designed very carefully to manage the airflow in a very specific way and allowing air flow through the upper grill would not be good for the engine over the long term.

 

x2

 

i dont see a problem with the open grille at all. i feel the car runs 10 degrees cooler with it open which is fine with me. i put the stock grill on during the snowy weeks to keep the salt out of my engine. its a pain to clean off.

 

I went to an open grill and mine has ALOT more dirt and salt inside the engine compartment. I am going to make a change to a solid grill.