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does taking the skid plate off make a difference in operating tempature?

hehe -I didn't even know these things exsisted until I did my 3rd transmission swap. My car doesn't have it, and with all the hard driving I've put my 3L through, I've never had a problem with it getting warm. The only time I've ever seen the temp gauge get past the halfway mark was when I was fooling around in the cities running 3rd gear all the way out a few times when it was triple digits outside. I wouldn't worry about it - you probably wont notice anything. If your waterpump is on it's way out or dies, the deflector wont save your motor.
 
I took mine out and I almost lost my front grille on the bottom. Hopefully you guys are talking about the piece under the motor.. :D Kinda new
 
ms62007 said:
I took mine out and I almost lost my front grille on the bottom. Hopefully you guys are talking about the piece under the motor....
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Yes, we are. Yes, you can usually hear the grinding sound from the deflector when you park too close to (or over) those concrete "stops". Without the deflector, you will probably hear the grill scraping instead of the deflector. :laugh:

ms6207, welcome to CEG.
 
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98TredSVT said:
there is no way that will cause your engine to overheat
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Under the right conditions it can.

A cooling system has to be sized for the worst case cooling conditions, such as a very hot humid environment while the car is being run very hard up a hill. Not the most common scenario, but a very real one. The addition of proper radiatior ducting can improve cooling efficiency and in harsh conditions can mean the difference between overheating or not. I'd venture that in difficult conditions the CSVT undertray is likely worth an additional 10-15 deg worth of water temperature cooling.

Also, something less obvious, but related to airflow management, is that the undertray will decrease both front end lift and drag compared to not having it. This means improved fuel economy as well as theoretical top speed.
 
BoSoxBruin said:
Junk yard time then (maybe) LOL... Is it made of one or two pieces? Mine definaly looks like a stock piece with nice edges and stuff, no sign of a break... Maybe the '95 GL's and the newer SVT's are different :shrug:
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Just noticed this thread LOL. Just to clarify, my deflector doesn't stretch across the entirety of the car, it is snugged up mostly towards the driver's side. It must be a pre98 thing :shrug:
 
BoSoxBruin said:
Why do you want to take it off so badly, LOL...


PS: Not to hijack a thread or anything, but since we are on this subject...

Ok, there is a plastic lip on the back side (twords center of car) of the fiberboad sheet which is bolted on along with the fiberboard sheet... Is the plastic lip supposed to run all the way across? Mine is only on the drivers side of the fiberboard sheet which I think is odd...
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if your talking about the little plastic lip that juts down from the deflector, its not supposed to go all the way across the car. the deflector does as its supposed to connect to both fender liners.
 
Oh I thought we were talking about the plastic lip? I'm SO CONFUSED. Yeah that fiber-ish thing (people are calling it the deflector?) IS supposed to extend the whole length of the car. I actually duct taped mine because some idiot mechanic must have tore it into to pieces on the driver's side :nonono:
 
zorrex said:
Oh I thought we were talking about the plastic lip? I'm SO CONFUSED. Yeah that fiber-ish thing (people are calling it the deflector?) IS supposed to extend the whole length of the car. I actually duct taped mine because some idiot mechanic must have tore it into to pieces on the driver's side :nonono:
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my whole deflector on both the 97 and the 00 are solid one piece plastic pieces. :shrug:
 
striker2 said:
the lip that sticks down under the car is part of the deflector. its all one piece. i can get pics of the one from the 97 off the car tonight.
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The lip is a separate piece on my car. There are three holes in the fiber piece, and the lip has three clips that clip to itself through the holes. I took off the lip while I was duct taping the fiber piece...:shrug:
 
zorrex said:
The lip is a separate piece on my car. There are three holes in the fiber piece, and the lip has three clips that clip to itself through the holes. I took off the lip while I was duct taping the fiber piece...:shrug:
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i wonder if thats not an early pre98 deal then. cause my 97 is all plastic. one solid piece.:shrug:
 
Ray said:
Maybe not as you are assuming...

like I said, there are a TON of variables.. any of which can fail to cause overheating.

a failing waterpump with DECREASED flow would last LONGER with the deflector on.

remove the deflector and then have a WP start losing its ability to flow, your car overheats much faster. Was it caused by the deflector? not 100%, but it helped... more/less than you think, maybe?
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all of you have some very interesting points and i think i am going to put it back on the only problem is it makes it hard to change the fog lamp bulbs and do a radiator flush! plus i car came with only a few plastic snap in`s where can i get more?
 
svtcontour666 said:
... i think i am going to put it back on the only problem is it makes it hard to change the fog lamp bulbs and do a radiator flush! plus i car came with only a few plastic snap in`s where can i get more?
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How often do you change your fog lamp bulbs? How often do you flush the radiator? If you don't do either of this every few months or so, the deflector issue should not be an issue at all.

Pick up plastic snaps from Autozone, Advance or dealership.
 
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