deliriousga

In the '87 S4, the cooling flap in front of the radiator opens and closes constantly. The flaps never stop at any point, just open, close, open, close.......

I unplugged it in the 2/3 open position so it won't overheat, but don't know where to go from here.

Has anyone else had this problem and know what could cause the problem? Relay, motor, switch? Not a huge deal, but I would like to fix it soon so I don't have to worry so much about rocks hitting the radiator.

Thanks!

Randy V

Based on those symptoms, I'd guess relay (or intermittent fuse).

Jim_H

Unhook it, full open. Porsche quit installing flaps on Sharks in 91. Musta been a reason. A bit of over kill to me.

MikeN

My advice is fix it if you can........I hate to see good systems that just need minor repairs disabled. The flaps do serve a purpose.....more controlled engine warmups, and they actually direct and funnel air more directly into the radiator. Maybe a bit overkill, but if a couple of bucks is all it takes to fix it why not keep them active.

Check/reseat connection to motor. Try a new relay, they are less than 20 bucks. If that doesn't work you might want to find a good used motor.

The relay number is XVIII and p/n is 944.615.119.00

heinrich

You could pull fuse (IIRC it is 50) and let it be. But I agree it is a cool feature, I like mine which works fine.

deliriousga

Stinkin' POs! One of them (or most likely their "Porsche specialist" mechanic) put an ignition relay in the XVIII spot. The correct relay has one more prong than the ignition relay. So I guess they thought "it has 4 out of 5 prongs and half of the part number matches so it must be ok." Extremely frustrating, but at least they are working now. It's amazing how well things work when you actually use the right parts!

MikeN

Excelllllent......glad to see it was something simple. I've learned the same thing with my 928s over the years......beware of the bad PO and/or the rotten mechanic. 9 out of 10 problems will be caused by them.