cdmdriver

I have had a 993 for many years but I am new to the 996tt world.
With Fall here I am finding a bunch of leaves accumulating in the front air vents up against the radiators. Those vents are like leaf catchers. My neighbors should pay me to run around our streets and clean up the leaves.
Anyway, does anyone have any tips for cleaning these out?
What happens if leaves (trash, etc..) accumulate in the side vents? Can this area be inspected and cleaned out if necessary?

Happy Halloween to all.

LexVan

Leaf blower. When it gets really bad, bumper removal is required. Pretty easy job.

Kevin

Pull the bumper cover off.. That's the only method that allow you to get the garbage between the radiator and a/c condenser. One can use a blower after one has done the FULL treatment (months down the road)

Macster

You've already gotten the scoop on the radiators.

The side vents, the intercooler air intakes generally do not collect much if any trash. They are located at a fairly clean spot in the air flow along side the car. And they have no fan pulling air in (unlike the radiator ducts) so only air gets pulled in by the car's aerodynamics.

tomofva

The bumper comes of easy

Richard.

Get a techart bumper and then just stick your arm in ....

zblake

Still have to take it off if it has grills. Mine does.

cdmdriver

Thank you all for the input. I thought there would be a much easier way to clean out the leaves without pulling he bumper.

Macster

If the bumper cover has been removed recently and the condensers/radiators have been subjected to a thorough cleaning -- removing the stuff that collects between them, and the stuff at the bottom that collects and compacts and require some work with a plastic scrub brush to remove -- then a periodic/regular cleaning by using some form of air flow (shop compressed air or a leaf blower) can blow most of the stuff out.

After I had my Turbo's (and Boxster's) bumper cover removed and cleaned -- I think I was charged one hour's labor -- thereafter when I take either car in I ask the leaves/trash be blown out unless the tech believes the build up requires another bumper cover removal. So far it has not.

But I drive my cars a lot, and live in a fairly arid location -- it doesn't rain at all for months at a time (and this year now when it should be raining it is not -- looks like another dry year) -- and what collects doesn't get wet and pack and both cars get this cleaning several times a year.

My point is that depending upon where you live a cleaning using compressed air or a leaf blower may not be sufficient.

You might have to think about using air to clean the trash out then remove the bumper cover and inspect the areas to confirm they are clean and free of the finer stuff that also collects and compacts. It could be a monthly cleaning by the air technique could be called for to keep the trash (the leaves and fluffy stuff along with the dirt, sand, etc.) from collecting to the point the compressed air can't remove the stuff.

996tnz

Old thread but this may help someone. I made up a long skinny vacuum attachment that makes it easy to quickly pull out leaves, bits of dead birds etc from the front cavities:

Get a yard or two so of clear 1/2 to 3/4 inch soft plastic semi-rigid hose from a hardware store or pet store (as used for fish tank water filters). This pokes easily between the slats of your intakes, is stiff enough to push to the back recesses, soft enough to bend down into corners while doing no harm to the radiator fins.

Then attach this to a vacuum cleaner (hoover) and away you go. A five minute fishing expedition cleans out a lot of garbage and is best done when the intakes are dry. Small garbage goes up the hose but bigger stuff just gets sucked onto it and can be pulled out of the car.

There are bound to be other ways to attach it but I cut off 6 inches or so of round pool noodle , drilled its centre right out to tightly hold the flexible tubing but let air through, and just used the end of the vacuum cleaner to cut a deep ring into the other end to hold the vacuum pipe. This makes an easy push on adapter.

I use it every few months, or more often if leaves are falling. As Kevin mentioned, you'll probably still need to pull the front bumper off every now and again to clear anything that's gone deeper and got stuck between the radiators.

"02996ttx50

one of the best mods i've done is to replace the grills with mesh chicken wire lol it's kinda hillbilly and it suits me. it saves me from pulling cig butts and small animals out from my rads and looks great ( i think ) too. the grills pop right out once bumpers off.

sanyata

If you're pulling the bumper off and have the extra time and inclination making grills is a great way to cut down on the trash getting in those Hoover air ducts. The site customcargrills.com (no affiliation) has some great mesh grille material in many configurations. They give you good data to help in your selection such as the gauge of the material and the percentage of airflow the mesh allows. It's powdercoated and available in various sizes. I'm very pleased with mine; haven't seen any change in coolant temp and think they provide a newer, upgraded modern look over the exposed radiators.

"02996ttx50

mine's the same as yours.. and i recall you once offering to send the outline to me..and i was able to do it ( with help ) thx for the info way back when.. it's truly an incalculable $ VS results mod. chicken wire is still a real bargain lol

wross996tt

Did mine also....same company to supply grills.

Macster

That's a pretty fine mesh: FWIW, a mesh size of 3x3 with a wire diameter of 0.047" reduces the open area to 73.6%. A finer mesh, roughly I estimate to be what I see in your picture, with a mesh size of 8x8 with a wire diameter of 0.028" cuts the open area by 40%.