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    Radiator:Can Stones Strand You At The Roadside?

    Was checking car and noticed a "huge" impact to the front radiator (photo below). What's crazy is it _seems_ the stone was NOT a big one either.

    I don't know the guage of the horizontal channels but it's gotta be pretty light. When you see this in person you'll wonder at how close it seems to have gotten to puncturing the aluminum core; the core is the cratered horizontal component in photo.

    Now I'm thinking of sliding some 1/4 inch (7mm) galvanized wire screening in there to protect the lightweight (and therefore delicate?) radiator.

    Up until now I thought only the consequences of a stone hitting our paint or windshield could be bad!

    What do you guys think/know?

    Oops! Forgot to mention this is the center radiator on my Turbo. But nevertheless, Carreras with Tips and others should be aware... .

    Re: Radiator:Can Stones Strand You At The Roadside?

    The fins are just fins. It's the tubes you're worried about, and they're sturdier than you may think... I wouldn't worry...

    Re: Radiator:Can Stones Strand You At The Roadside?

    That's normal. They're designed to take impacts like that. Mine has a few bent fins already.

    Re: Radiator:Can Stones Strand You At The Roadside

    Quote:
    atomic80 said:
    That's normal. They're designed to take impacts like that. Mine has a few bent fins already.



    I'm not too concerned with the fins; though I feel like straightening them . It's this circled area which looks _almost_ punctured.

    But I guess, as long as the guage isn't like aluminum foil, the __radius__ of the core (the circled edge that got hit) is probably rather robust because I believe aluminum hardens as it's formed (bent) like that (?).


    Re: Radiator:Can Stones Strand You At The Roadside

    Can't believe you got hit by a goldfish.

    Re: Radiator:Can Stones Strand You At The Roadside

    I've always thought that center radiator was very exposed to road debris. It's just straght in and 'pow'. I don't have Tiptronic so I don't have a center radiator. Both my side radiators have picked up some debris damage, but nothing like this.

    I think Performance Products sells protective grills. They will sort of detract from the styling though and require the front bumper to be removed. Search for grill inserts.

    Re: Radiator:Can Stones Strand You At The Roadside

    protective grills are a good thing to have

    Re: Radiator:Can Stones Strand You At The Roadside

    I've been thinking on getting some for my car since the X51 has a center radiator on it too. I've seen some on carnewal.com and on eBay. I do think they'll spoil the style a bit but I also consider the bent fins on the radiators an eyesore, probably more bothersome than to have some grill inserts.

    Re: Radiator:Can Stones Strand You At The Roadside

    Quote:
    cibergypsy said:
    I've been thinking on getting some for my car since the X51 has a center radiator on it too. I've seen some on carnewal.com and on eBay. I do think they'll spoil the style a bit but I also consider the bent fins on the radiators an eyesore, probably more bothersome than to have some grill inserts.



    Yes, where it's hot and buggy in FL, it might be very smart.

    I bet bugs and dents in fins will deter airflow more than the mesh screen of the grilles.

    Paint grilles matt black?


    Re: Radiator:Can Stones Strand You At The Roadside

    Quote:
    MMD said:
    Quote:
    cibergypsy said:
    I've been thinking on getting some for my car since the X51 has a center radiator on it too. I've seen some on carnewal.com and on eBay. I do think they'll spoil the style a bit but I also consider the bent fins on the radiators an eyesore, probably more bothersome than to have some grill inserts.



    Yes, where it's hot and buggy in FL, it might be very smart.

    I bet bugs and dents in fins will deter airflow more than the mesh screen of the grilles.

    Paint grilles matt black?




    MMD, I don't know if you're familiar with Florida's "lovebugs." I really hate them and now we're on full swing in the second of their twice-a-year season. I've found bees, lovebugs, cigarette butts and dragonflies, just to name a few, stuck on the radiators or lodged in where I cannot get them out. I am going to buy the grills and straighten the fins on the radiators all at the same time. Maybe I'll wait until March, when my 20K mile service is due so that I can have the guys take the bumper out too get to all the nooks and crannies.

    Re: Radiator:Can Stones Strand You At The Roadside

    Yes, heard about the lovebugs. Almost as bad as those toads in Australia which come out in the millions and you run over them no matter how hard you try to avoid them. YUCK!

    I betcha you can find some black plastic mesh on net somewhere. stuff that is flexible like fabric so you can installe it without removing bumper/grille. Attach it discretely to slats on grille (on Turbo, not sure about Carrera) with small black cable ties (?). Trouble is you'd probably have to by a thousand times more than you need.

    Re: Radiator:Can Stones Strand You At The Roadside

    I would put the protective grille in. I had my radiator out to clean it and there is a lot of debris that collects in there, including sand that really lessen the efficiency of the cooling.

    Re: Radiator:Can Stones Strand You At The Roadside

    How about dental picks? Anybody try them to get bugs out?

    This is making me think of going OCD nuts with dental picks and then installing protective grille and then forget about this whole issue.

    Otherwise, over time, there's too many bugs "checking in but not checking out."

    Re: Radiator:Can Stones Strand You At The Roadside

    Does anyone know wether or not there are any grilles available from Porsche, maybe from their Motorsports division? I know they aren't on the Tequipment catalogue.

    Re: Radiator:Can Stones Strand You At The Roadside

    Quote:
    cibergypsy said:
    Does anyone know wether or not there are any grilles available from Porsche, maybe from their Motorsports division? I know they aren't on the Tequipment catalogue.



    Probably not. Just a guess on my part. Why? Because the car's cooling system is under warrenty in any climate AS IS. Restricting airflow with a grilles can cause problems in a hot desert or something like that and, if Porsche sold them and the car burned up they'd have to repair the car for free.

    Re: Radiator:Can Stones Strand You At The Roadside

    The love bugs in Florida are horrendous, but IMHO, adding a mesh grille is counterproductive...

    The bugs are very "soft", and there's not much to them.. A strong hose will remove the lion's share from your radiator fins, and whatever's left out-of-site will super-heat and soon decompose and disappear prior to the next season... It's not much of an issue with radiators, as long as you give them a good flush with a strong hose each time you wash the car..

    But they are an immense issue with the exterior of the vehicle... Adding another cosmetic/functional feature, i.e. a grille, would only add one more piece of cosmetics that you have to wash and pick and finger-nail bugs off of....

    I'd find it less work to let 'em fly into the radiator, and then hose them out, rather than put something pretty (or not, depending on your taste for such add-ons) in-between the bugs and the rad..

    Re: Radiator:Can Stones Strand You At The Roadside

    Protective screen for the rocks not the critters

    As far as disturbing the air a lot, i doubt it. My 928 had its A/C condensor/radiator thing right in front of the radiator plus the tranny fluid mini Rad.

    If porsche thought all that crap wouldn't bother the radiator function too much, i think you're ok with a large holed screen.

    After using a karcher water sprayer and a leaf blower on my rad it still had [beep] in there.

    Re: Radiator:Can Stones Strand You At The Roadside

    I believe the Porsche cooling systems are extremely good. I have heard stories of guys being in the desert with AC on full blast and in bumper to bumber stop-and-go traffic without even getting significantly warmer on the temp guage.


     
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