How much dirt could really be in there? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

ohioboxster · 10-03-2006, 09:13 AM

I answered that question today when I took my bumper cover off and cleaned behind ac condensers. I know its been covered a bunch of times but after this little project it made me realize how much crap is in there. This is a must and not hard at all it took me about 2 hours and I will rate it a two on the difficulty meter. If I wouldnt have smashed my finger putting my wheel back on I would have given it a one. Ten being the most difficult.

This is the drivers side.

Passanger side

CJ_Boxster · 10-03-2006, 09:34 AM

Dang thats alot of shmutts in there, I looked into my bumper opening and didnt see anything in there but 2 thin leafs, The previous owner removed the triangle plastic peices under the radiator fans so i was able to see there was nothing in there....Is that a good or bad thing to have those plastic peices missing.

Brucelee · 10-03-2006, 09:43 AM

Not the best design for this, no?

Hats off to you for your hard work and thanks for the pictures.

Good stuff!

aBsOlUt · 10-03-2006, 10:16 AM

Good work and thanks for the pics!

If only the car could talk...I bet it would say a huge "Thank you!"

Grizzly · 10-03-2006, 10:16 AM

It's a little late now 'cause your bumper cover is already back on, but this mesh stops that accumulation almost completely. The first picture is my 996 bumper (please disregard the bugs). The second one is my old Boxster bumper. If you don't want them to be so obvious, you can do them in black.

ohioboxster · 10-03-2006, 10:20 AM

Picture three is actually in between the radiator and the AC condenser, thats the scary part. Half the stuff fell out when I seperated them. What you are seeing is what didnt fall. How the heck did all that get in there? I dont know which pieces you mean CJ_boxster. Do you mean the big scoop looking ones?

Grizzly, did you make thoses? I think they look great. Im not taking the bumper cover back off. I wonder if I can get the grates out without removing cover.

Grizzly · 10-03-2006, 10:46 AM

Actually, Ohio, if you can get your hand up in there to pop the grilles out, it's a 20 minute job on the Boxster. They're made out of gutter mesh from Home Depot (high dollar Porsche upgrade). Cut them to shape and then install them by drilling small holes through the part of the grille that you can't see when it's installed (see pictures

) . Then screw the mesh to the grilles using small screws and those flat trim retainers (again, see pictures, and you'll recognize them). Pop the grilles back in and you're done. I did the intake vents also after desnorkling because of the possibility of sucking in birds and small children. If you want them in black, spray them black before you install them. Easy.

See where my leaves get stuck?

10-03-2006, 12:03 PM

That looks cool, but I have tried to pull the vents out of the front bumper, but I could not do it. Is there some sort of trick to it? Does anyone have directions or is it even possible to do without taking off your bumper? If I can do it without taking off the bumper I will definately do it and put mesh behind there (also but a black gloss paint of the vents themselves).

RandallNeighbour · 10-03-2006, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grizzly

I did the intake vents also after desnorkling because of the possibility of sucking in birds and small children.

Ah the power of a word picture. I needed a good laugh this afternoon

MNBoxster · 10-03-2006, 01:27 PM

Hi,

Good Stuff! Seeing is believing! I have been recommending this to people ever since I joined this board.

My Esprit also has a low (3.5") front mounted radiator and cleaning it is an annual drill. Boxster owners should slate this maintenance at least every other year.

Contrary to what's been stated, adding mesh to the front of the radiators will not prevent this type of debris from accumulating in the radiators. It may prevent the largest debris from entering, and extend the maintenance period, but that's all. Just look at OHBox's pictures and see how much of that debris would easily have passed through a mesh of any sort to see what I mean. And, these types of mesh do restrict the airflow to the radiators to some degree, which in a warm weather climate can make a difference on operating temps. These have been tried and rejected by the Esprit crowd years ago for just these reasons.

And, one should be sure to backflush the debris with water or compressed air as quite a bit of it will only lodge tighter between the fins if you try to remove it from the front of the radiator/condenser. I would venture to say that properly cleaned radiators will reduce the operating temp of the car some 5°F - 10°F. This alone justifies the work. Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

kabel · 10-03-2006, 03:12 PM

I did this back in July and had much the same reaction. It is astonishing how much accumulates between the two radiators. You just don't believe all the hype until you do this yourself. I actually think removing and reinstalling the bumper to be the easiest part of this task.

Grizzly · 10-03-2006, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MNBoxster

Hi,

Good Stuff! Seeing is believing! I have been recommending this to people ever since I joined this board.

My Esprit also has a low (3.5") front mounted radiator and cleaning it is an annual drill. Boxster owners should slate this maintenance at least every other year.

Contrary to what's been stated, adding mesh to the front of the radiators will not prevent this type of debris from accumulating in the radiators. It may prevent the largest debris from entering, and extend the maintenance period, but that's all. Just look at OHBox's pictures and see how much of that debris would easily have passed through a mesh of any sort to see what I mean. And, these types of mesh do restrict the airflow to the radiators to some degree, which in a warm weather climate can make a difference on operating temps. These have been tried and rejected by the Esprit crowd years ago for just these reasons.

And, one should be sure to backflush the debris with water or compressed air as quite a bit of it will only lodge tighter between the fins if you try to remove it from the front of the radiator/condenser. I would venture to say that properly cleaned radiators will reduce the operating temp of the car some 5°F - 10°F. This alone justifies the work. Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

When I removed the bumper to install the mesh the first time, I had much the same mess that Ohio found today. When I changed the bumper, everything looked pretty clean. Still, some grit needed to be flushed out, but nothing like the first time. As soon as I get my third bumper painted, I'm going to change it again (car got hit). Stay tuned, I'll let you know what I find...

I can't comment on the possible airflow restriction due to the mesh installation, other than I haven't noticed a temperature change. It seems to me that some pretty reputable manufacturers have chosen to use it on their high performance offerings.

Adam · 10-03-2006, 08:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grizzly

I did the intake vents also after desnorkling because of the possibility of sucking in birds and small children.

See where my leaves get stuck?

lol, I had a cardinal stuck in there once. I noticed him after I started to smell something awful and when I tried to pull him out by his leg it broke off

MNBoxster · 10-04-2006, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam

lol, I had a cardinal stuck in there once. I noticed him after I started to smell something awful and when I tried to pull him out by his leg it broke off

Hi,

WOW! That's a first. Using a mesh would have probably prevented that.

@ Grizzly, as I said, the Mesh will prevent larger particles from entering the intake. But, much of the debris which clogs the radiator fins is likely to be small enough to enter (sand, mud, etc.). My main issue with the Mesh is that it will lull people into thinking that they've eliminated the need to do a bi-annual cleaning (unless you live in very dusty, rural conditions, then annually). And, if you took the dimension of the wire in the mesh and multiplied it by the number of wires crossing the opening, it's likely that this will equal 10% of the total area of the opening. That means, you are effectively making the Intake 10% smaller. Is this enough to significantly reduce the airflow? I haven't measured it. But, you are certainly reducing the Intake size by 10% and some effect is probable...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

Perfectlap · 10-04-2006, 09:56 AM

at long last I'll be changing my front bumper to the GT3 version that has been sitting in the corner forever. Gonna get it painted them put on my self.

someone posted this which is usefull for changing the bumper or just cleaning.

http://www.realtime.net/~rentner/Porsche/Radiator/Radiator.html

kabel · 10-04-2006, 12:13 PM

I saw no change on my temp gauge after the cleaning, but I have convinced myself that it is at least operating much more efficiently now. The link the the write-up PerfectLap posted is the one i used and it was not difficult to follow. I even did this with out removing the front tires, though admit-ably it would have been much much easier had I removed them (had the car in the air before I realized I forgot to loosen the lugs). I think the hardest part of the job was getting some of those fasteners off.

MNBoxster · 10-04-2006, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kabel

I saw no change on my temp gauge after the cleaning, but I have convinced myself that it is at least operating much more efficiently now. The link the the write-up PerfectLap posted is the one i used and it was not difficult to follow. I even did this with out removing the front tires, though admit-ably it would have been much much easier had I removed them (had the car in the air before I realized I forgot to loosen the lugs). I think the hardest part of the job was getting some of those fasteners off.

Hi,

I'm not surprised that you didn't see a change on the temp gauge. There are only graduations at 180° and 235°, so a 5°-10° difference would be nearly impossible to detect with no reference marks (and who says the gauge is linear?). But, I'm sure that with increased airflow, temp decreased, that's how it works...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99