Vents to engine room

[Driftwoods]

I was doing a little work around the engine room this weekend and just casually looked at the 2 cowl vents on the starboard side that have ducting running down into the engine room. I was curious where they went and it was really easy to find out since they're basically just hanging down into the engine room. They're not swinging freely, just not connected at the ends to anything. One goes down to about a foot off the bilge, the other stops a little higher at the top of the fuel filters.

Should these be connected to anything? Just how effective are they at anything if they're just sitting in there?

[Lancerbye]

If they are not swinging and are secure they are ok as is. They supply your engine with the needed air for combustion and help remove engine room heat.

[ontherocks83]

Not sure I'm picturing exactly what you are talking about but if it is like my boat it is just the outside air supply for the engine. It's not supposed to be directly connected to anything just a path for fresh air to get to the compartment so the engine can breathe.

[Driftwoods]

Awesome, thanks guys! Seeing things not connected has begun to worry me, always good to get some solid advice here.

[colemj]

Often times one of those is connected to a blower to exhaust hot air while the other is a passive fresh air intake.

Mark