deliriousga

My cooling flaps on the '87 S4 were unplugged up front by my PO because they opened and closed constantly. They were set at about 2/3 open when they were unplugged. The car ran fine and didn't overheat, but there must have been a reason for them and I want everything working properly.

If you're like me, in the morning when you take off you're constantly watching the temperature guage waiting for the engine to reach operating temp so you can drive like the 928 was meant to be driven keeping the gears low and the revs high. I won't take it over 3K rpm until it's at operating temp. With the flaps not working and opened to 2/3 it would take about 4-5 miles to get to operating temp.

Last night I replaced the relay and the flaps started working properly. This morning was my first time driving from a completely cold start. I left the house and within 1 mile I was at operating temp and staying in the lower gears.

I watched the guage all the way in and the temp stayed in the bottom 1/4 of the operating temp range. It used to run at about 1/2-2/3 of the way up. I'm guessing this is because the flaps are now fully open once the engine has reached operating temp.

My fix was putting the proper relay in (PO had wrong one in there). Yours could be that simple so if you've got 'em, keep 'em working.

Jim_H

I read somewhere that it takes the oil a good 20 minutes to reach operating temp and that you really should run the motors too hard until that point.

Opinions?

worf928

I agree with James. I never 'get on it' until I see that the oil pressure is dropping at idle thus indicating that the oil is reaching operating temperature.

MikeN

Yes, 9 quarts of oil take a loooong time to warm up and the flaps go thru many different positions as temp sensors give them information. IMO they do help a LOT in the warm-up phase of the car. A lot of people seem to think they are "over-engineering" and not needed. Well technically they may not be "needed" but the designers put them in production for good reasons.

Many also think that Porsche deleted them starting with the '91 models because they were not needed or troublesome, but during these years of the 928, Porsche was slowly getting rid of things that were not absolutely needed to save money and also redirecting this saved money elsewhere in the car.

Are they absolutely necessary?.....probably not, are they troublesome?.......no, never had a single problem on my three cars with them, are they a good feature.......definitely IMO.

Gretch

I have removed my flap motor and have the flaps open permanently. The "game" never starts until Gretch is at operating temps.....Little warm up streaching and light jogging around till we are ready to "get it on".

If it was not such a complete pain in the *** to do, I would completely remove the flaps. BTW, the least intrusive way to do this is to remove the relay whan the flaps are completely open, Like they are when the engine is cold, before you turn the ignition key.

BTW, my opinion is skewed because of my SC install. If not for the SC, I would hold MikeN's opinion. I need all the air flow I can get through the radiator.

deliriousga

Good point. I'll watch the oil pressure guage and see when it drops on the way home tonight and tomorrow morning.

Jim bailey - 928 International

Having the flaps operational is OK for people who pay attention to the gauges and most important will not "try to make it home" should the flaps malfunction and the engine is overheating. That is really a big issue if you are not the only one to drive your car. The new DOT requirements for tire pressure sensors on ALL NEW CARS is further evidence of dumbing down to the lowest common denominator.....protect those people from them self. I know one 928 owner who hit a rock punched a hole in his oil pan then proceeded to drive it several miles to the repair shop with no oil ,no pressure ,warning lights on ...."but it still ran OK"

Tony

Id agree with that.
I just changed the oil in my car last week and had the oppurtunity to finally install my oil temp sender in the oil drain plug . I think Normy is now doing the same thing also, perhaps he will chime in with what he sees. ?.
For a moment i thought i had the wiring wrong as it took a LONG time for the oil temp to even come of the bottom scale at 140'F...meanwhile the water temp was well warmed up to the 180-190 range. I havent really had time to watch what it does, but oil is a HUGE part of the cooling in this motor.
Once i get some more time with the gauge ill let you know what i see.
Tranny temp is next.

FYI i, my flaps are comepletley removed and with an aftermarket water gauge, i really dont see that much difference in warm up time. Perhaps in extremely cool climates i might, but not in the 50-60 winter weather in vegas. From what ive seen in relation of the factory gauage and the aftermarket gauge...im glad i installed one! The sender is tapped next to the stock one on the crossover manifold.