Front air spoiler on 96 SW1 needed?

Hi all,

The low front air spoiler on this car came loose and I pulled it off. It
appears to have no function other than scraping on curbstones as I park. Is
it doing something I don't know about, or can I just throw it away?

TIA,
Chuck Connell
781-939-0505 (office)
http://www.chc-3.com -- My home page

The air dam directs air flow up to the radiator to cool the engine. It
probably to a lesser extent is designed to improve the vehicle's
aerodynamics and improve fuel mileage.

I have no idea how much less air flow you'll get to the radiator or if this
will be a problem. You might be able to find one in a salvage yard.

Bob

"Chuck Connell" > wrote in message
...
> Hi all,
>
> The low front air spoiler on this car came loose and I pulled it off. It
> appears to have no function other than scraping on curbstones as I park.
Is
> it doing something I don't know about, or can I just throw it away?
>
> TIA,
> Chuck Connell
> 781-939-0505 (office)
> http://www.chc-3.com -- My home page
>
>

On Mon, 15 Nov 2004 11:22:03 -0500, "Chuck Connell"
> wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>The low front air spoiler on this car came loose and I pulled it off. It
>appears to have no function other than scraping on curbstones as I park. Is
>it doing something I don't know about, or can I just throw it away?

As already noted, it's very important to getting airflow over your
radiator. I knocked mine off in summer of last year; my temp gauge
spent most of its time over 3/4 until I got a new one.

The air dam and mounting springs cost me $25 at the dealer; a new set
of just the springs was about $9. (I drive a '94 SW2.)

Dav2.718

"Chuck Connell" > wrote in message >...
> Hi all,
>
> The low front air spoiler on this car came loose and I pulled it off. It
> appears to have no function other than scraping on curbstones as I park. Is
> it doing something I don't know about, or can I just throw it away?

Is this car equipped with air conditioning?

In my case (SL1 96 w/o Air), The dealer told me that this part was not
required on my car and that it even came originally without it... but
that can also be a canadian exception.

Car temp behaves normally, and the cracked cylinder head I had
shouldn't be related to this.