Cooling Flaps
05-09-2011, 10:58 PM
#1
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Cooling Flaps
For those of us with louvers on our radiators that we keep connected:
The little crank arm on my louvers broke the other day after a blast to 140+. Didn't know it until I was driving home and the temp was climbing (at 75), oil pressure was slowly dropping and voltage was dropping. Got home after an hour drive of the temp hovering above the last white hash, looked at the louvers and they were closed. Upon closer inspection, the crank arm (928 575 053 00) broke and the louvers were non operable. The crank arm is pot metal so it could have been a defect in my casting or perhaps it just a little weak after all these years.
If you have overheating issues at speed, check this.
The little crank arm on my louvers broke the other day after a blast to 140+. Didn't know it until I was driving home and the temp was climbing (at 75), oil pressure was slowly dropping and voltage was dropping. Got home after an hour drive of the temp hovering above the last white hash, looked at the louvers and they were closed. Upon closer inspection, the crank arm (928 575 053 00) broke and the louvers were non operable. The crank arm is pot metal so it could have been a defect in my casting or perhaps it just a little weak after all these years.
If you have overheating issues at speed, check this.
05-09-2011, 11:00 PM
#2
Good tip.
05-09-2011, 11:05 PM
#4
Three Wheelin'
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Florida resident here... so flaps were disconnected by me and ziptied open once they stuck shut as you describe 
I don't experience the climate where this might be valuable and I think they eliminated these from the cars pretty quickly didn't they????
I don't experience the climate where this might be valuable and I think they eliminated these from the cars pretty quickly didn't they????
05-10-2011, 12:21 AM
#7
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I found one with that same arm broken just a few weeks ago. The flaps were fully closed.
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05-10-2011, 06:40 AM
#8
Rennlist Member
Another great Porsche folly?
When these things were delivered to the Middle East Porsche immediately disconnected them and wired them open. What Porsche did not seem to know until the GTS came along [without them] was that even wired open, the louvres present an air flow resistance. Remove the slats altogether and more cooling air will flow through the system. I can vouch for that on my late 90 S4.
Whereas the slats closed do improve overall CD does it make any real world differene on top end and would they not open because of the need for max cooling going flat out anyway? This never made any sense to me.
Regards
fred R
When these things were delivered to the Middle East Porsche immediately disconnected them and wired them open. What Porsche did not seem to know until the GTS came along [without them] was that even wired open, the louvres present an air flow resistance. Remove the slats altogether and more cooling air will flow through the system. I can vouch for that on my late 90 S4.
Whereas the slats closed do improve overall CD does it make any real world differene on top end and would they not open because of the need for max cooling going flat out anyway? This never made any sense to me.
Regards
fred R
05-10-2011, 11:17 AM
#10
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Thread Starter
They had variable positions, two I think, plus closed.
05-10-2011, 11:38 AM
#11
Drifting
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The new Ford Focus and the Chevy Cruz are touting that their improved MPG are attributed to their new innovating "active grille shutters".
"Active grille shutters help optimize aerodynamics by using vents to control airflow through the grille to the cooling system and engine compartment.
If air is required to cool the engine, the vents are opened. If no airflow is needed the vents are shut, contributing to significantly reduced aerodynamic drag.
Mounted in the grille aperture ahead of the radiator, the active grille shutters feature motorized horizontal vanes that can rotate through 90 degrees to block the airflow. Automatically controlled by the car's electronic control unit, the vanes can be rotated into 15 different positions - from fully closed to fully open - depending on the amount of cooling air required.
When fully closed, the reduction in drag means the active grille shutters can reduce CO2 emissions by 2 percent.
As an additional benefit, the system keeps the vanes closed as long as possible when starting from cold, so the engine reaches its most efficient operating temperature more quickly. This also helps reduce fuel consumption."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx66DYQbd4o
After all that hype, I almost felt like hooking my cooling flaps back up.
"Active grille shutters help optimize aerodynamics by using vents to control airflow through the grille to the cooling system and engine compartment.
If air is required to cool the engine, the vents are opened. If no airflow is needed the vents are shut, contributing to significantly reduced aerodynamic drag.
Mounted in the grille aperture ahead of the radiator, the active grille shutters feature motorized horizontal vanes that can rotate through 90 degrees to block the airflow. Automatically controlled by the car's electronic control unit, the vanes can be rotated into 15 different positions - from fully closed to fully open - depending on the amount of cooling air required.
When fully closed, the reduction in drag means the active grille shutters can reduce CO2 emissions by 2 percent.
As an additional benefit, the system keeps the vanes closed as long as possible when starting from cold, so the engine reaches its most efficient operating temperature more quickly. This also helps reduce fuel consumption."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx66DYQbd4o
After all that hype, I almost felt like hooking my cooling flaps back up.
