Got a ticket a while back for no front plate.

Bolts were broken off in the front bumper support, so I flipped the bracket over, used self tapping screws slightly behind the factory bolt holes, and secured the front plate in front of the radiator opening.

I just got a good bumper skin. I'm not gonna drill holes in it.

While I had the front of the car up for this, I decided to put my undertray back on because it had been removed previously. Temp gauge was starting to read up past half when I got on it hard. (Without undertray and without front plate.)

Now my temps are still getting up above halfway (With undertray and front plate.)


Would a front plate block THAT much air to affect cooling that badly? I'd think it'd make the fan work harder, but if the fan is good it shouldn't cause temps to spike that high.

Factory cooling system and engine on an S4 GXL.

Temp sits around a quarter to a third of the way up when idling in the driveway or driving around at low speeds.



I'd hate to throw out coolant I just put in there last summer... But it'd be nice to shop for a good deal on a Koyo.

 

There is no way the plate is blocking that much. If you still have AC that condenser will block much more air. If you don't use it pull that condenser out. I saw a massive temp drop just by taking out the condenser.

 

GXL is a luxury cruiser... I'm gonna ditch the Power Steering before i ditch the A/C...

I guess the radiator is weak then. Time to shop for a Koyo!

 

you could try a thermostat, if you havent already

my s4 gxl is doing the same thing, i get like 15 minutes if its over 65 degrees. under 65 i can beat the crap out of it, and it stays cool.

 

Just Swiss cheese your plate. Or louver it like the hoods of hot rods
If they bring them back here in Alberta (it's being talked about), I won't drill my bumper cover for it, or block my air intake or brake ducts. I might hang it with some wire from the bottom of the front lip - maybe low enough to drag a little - lol.

 

I was planning on making a hinged plate bracket, but it'd hit the grill.

 

Go to http://www.cris.com/~Asam/index.html Click on the "And Finally" link. Scroll down to the 4th picture.

I got an old license plate bracket from a 1972 GM car. They came with a fold-down license-plate holder that covered the gas tank filler. That's what you'll see in the picture. The plate is held in a horizontal position by a plastic clip (from and old Tercel, but any clip should work).

Whenever I got stopped by cops (4 times in ten years), I would look puzzled, walk to the front of the car, squat down and look as though I was trying to figure out what happened, then pull the plate to a vertical position and suggest that it must have hit a bird or some rubbish.

Every cop, except the last one, apologized for bothering me. The last one - who was more suspicious or just more of an @sshole - said that if he saw me again and couldn't see the plate, he would write a ticket. That never happened.