Amazed when my car does something I didn't know it did.

[Briebee72]

So, on long trip today across state , git behind a flippin dumptruck droppin crap. Stop at rest area, use bathroom come out remote start car and then think oh let me check front. While im looking at front I hear this sound and think jesus now whats wrong with my new car? So I look in front grill and there are these window blind looking things opening and closeing on their own. I figure some sort of motorized radiator air fins? What are these for? I figured closed to help heat car then open to let air through? Why were might just opening and closeing? I figured maybe at heat range it couldnt make up mind?

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[Shifting_Gears]

Active grille shutters directs the amount of airflow over the radiator. I believe they stay shut during warmup until a certain temp is reached like you said.

Maybe they’re timed to shut off and they re activate with key activity if they’re still within the “open” temp range.

 

[Briebee72]

Active grille shutters directs the amount of airflow over the radiator. I believe they stay shut during warmup until a certain temp is reached.

Awesome, I was looking all over for info. I was just like oh wow thats cool. There is transformer crap happening in my car.

 

[Shifting_Gears]

Awesome, I was looking all over for info. I was just like oh wow thats cool. There is transformer crap happening in my car.

Lol. EPA garbage to please the pollution police.

 

[Briebee72]

Lol. EPA garbage to please the pollution police.

Well now i know their name. I looked them up. Says they are on all non pp cars. They shut at high speed to send air over and around car instead of into engine bsy to reduce drag. Hows that epa? Curious.

 

[Dfeeds]

Well now i know their name. I looked them up. Says they are on all non pp cars. They shut at high speed to send air over and around car instead of into engine bsy to reduce drag. Hows that epa? Curious.

Less drag = better fuel economy.

 

[kent0464]

Active grille shutters directs the amount of airflow over the radiator. I believe they stay shut during warmup until a certain temp is reached like you said.

Maybe they’re timed to shut off and they re activate with key activity if they’re still within the “open” temp range.

Yep! These are found on many cars from several different makers, and are one of the stupidest things I’ve seen in a while, the feds lost their minds with this one. Why? Well I’ve had several cars come into the shop with overheating problems.....mounted in the front of the car these things get pinged by bugs, rocks, leafs, etc so they get jammed, stuck, etc or the actuator just stops working......and get stuck in the closed position meaning almost zero air for cooling, leading to all sorts of overheating problems. In the last 1.5 months I’ve seen 2 toasted motors, 5 radiators with popped seams, various hose leaks etc all stemming from these wiz-bang shutters.
So, check them frequently for cleanliness and function. Or take them out, they are out of my wife’s Camry and most customers agree to have them removed once they cause an issue.

 

[Briebee72]

Well one good thing about car forums. Think something is neet and they will quickly tell you its stupid lol. So ok grill shutters = stupid got it.

 

[Dfeeds]

Well one good thing about car forums. Think something is neet and they will quickly tell you its stupid lol. So ok grill shutters = stupid got it.

They're not wrong, though. It's a cool idea on paper. Some cars are utilizing similar ideas with the side scoops for the brakes and such, to increase aerodynamics (open when braking, close when acceleraying). So it's not "stupid" but the execution is poor. If the owner of said vehicle made sure the shutters were properly functioning then at least overheating due to malfunction could be prevented. However, your average owner can't even be bothered to check their own oil.

What I'm curious about is what event triggers the shutters to open up. If it's purely speed dependent, and someone decided to womp on it at high speeds, then they're in for a world of trouble. These engines get toasty. Even with the larger radiator on the pp1 I still can get elevated temps on the Expressway (oil temps, coolant temps don't budge).

 

[TheReaper]

Well one good thing about car forums. Think something is neet and they will quickly tell you its stupid lol. So ok grill shutters = stupid got it.

Not stupid, they work well when going over 150mph. It feels no different than 70 mph.

 

[Blue Moon]

I do a lot of highway driving, so aerodynamics is important to me. But I was skeptical of how well the AGS worked, so I removed the whole assembly about a month ago. I haven't seen any change in my mileage. So I figure I just lightened the car's nose by a few pounds with no appreciable difference to the coefficient of drag.

 

[Shifting_Gears]

Well now i know their name. I looked them up. Says they are on all non pp cars. They shut at high speed to send air over and around car instead of into engine bsy to reduce drag. Hows that epa? Curious.

I was not aware it was done for aerodynamic purposes on the Mustang, but other platforms it’s to reduce airflow over the radiator to bring a cold engine up to operating temp sooner, therefore reducing the amount of time and extra fuel compensated by the ECU to warm the engine up.

 

[Norm Peterson]

I would assume that mfrs who use these shutters are using them for both reasons. What they may choose to emphasize for purposes of public consumption is a separate matter.


Norm

 

[TheSnowmanMafia]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but the active grill shutters don't exist on PP1/2 cars right?

 

[Briebee72]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but the active grill shutters don't exist on PP1/2 cars right?

Correct. From what I read they are not on performance pack cars.

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