Hood Insulation Chaffing on the Engine

A common problem is that the Idle air control (IAC) solenoid rubs against the hood insulation and will wear two holes next to the running pony. The problem is that the IAC hose and muffler sets too high and does not clear the insulation. There were several ways to prevent this. One way was to secure the IAC intake hose down to the alternator bracket. But this put a lot of stress on the short hose going from the IAC to the IAC muffler. What I did instead was to use a longer piece of 3/4' hose going from the IAC Solenoid to the intake hose muffler. This allowed the hose and muffler to set lower with out having to use hardware. I am sure Ford will change this as an extra 3 inches of 3/4" hose has to be a lot cheaper than having the warranty department change out the hood insulation.

Here is what the wear marks look like.

Here is how the IAC muffler and intake hose sets. The arrows are pointing to the areas that are contacting the insulation.

I tried adding a tie strap to the IAC muffler with the OEM short hose in place but it put too much tension on the shorter hose.

So I added a longer piece of hose between the muffler and the IAC valve.

This is a view from the side before.

Another view form the side so you can see how much lower the muffler/intake hose sets now.

I was now able to place a tie strap around the muffler and around the bracket of the alternator.