//// Am i missing pieces under my car ?////

Hi All,

Recently did grill blocks and intercooler drain on the car and that got me to thinking i may be missing some parts under my car ....

Is there supposed to be a cover of some sort that Bridges the gap between the front bumper to the area under the intercooler to the passenger side wheel well liner?

It would seem to me (if there was a plate there ) the intercooler would be better cooled by air rushing through the opening in the bumper instead of having an area to escape before going through the intercooler (FWIW i have a vented fender liner on the passenger side).

I put the pic to show the general area i thought maybe should be covered ....

Actually im not sure how to post a pic but will try to add it later if i get it figured out

Thanks

There is an 'air guide' duct that directs air between the RH lower grill and the intercooler. It attaches to the intercooler. No other cover goes under that.

Here is a shot of it with the bumper cover off:

JETaah said:

Here is a shot of it with the bumper cover off:

Click to expand...

Hi

Thanks for the pictures ...

I looked again underneath my car and I do have to cone piece that seems to funnel air to the intercooler but I was thinking there was another piece missing ( or maybe it's an opportunity to put a panel in for better aerodynamics if it's not a factory piece that is missing ( my picture is not super good since I had to do it from ground level and not on any jack stands. ... it looks as though there are some holes present for the possibility of a panel and that's what got me to thinking I may be missing a panel).

I had to figure out how to post a picture but I think I have the way to do it so I'll post it here ....

**

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Hope the picture makes sense if not maybe I can run the car up on some jack stands tomorrow and get a better picture ( originally when I drill the holes for the screw you see in the intercooler I had it on jack stands).

Thanks

Hummm ... it did not work apparantly...

Pic attempt ...
[url=http://pics.tdiclub.com/showphoto.php?photo=133645&title=missing-panel-3f&cat=500][/URL]

Here is a better pic ....

http://pics.tdiclub.com/showphoto.php?photo=133646&title=missing-panel-3f&cat=500] [/url]

Not sure why my picture attempts are not working out very well but they are in my member album also I did learn how to do at least that much thanks

Now that I think about it, in 2003 or 2004 VW did put an extension to the black plastic valence on the bottom of the bumper cover. It screwed onto the valence with something like 8 screws and tied onto the bottom engine cover in a couple of places.

It still did not completely cover the intercooler area underneath. Most that I see come into the shop are torn up or lack the screws to mount it completely like it was when new.

Is this what you are trying to do? Go to where it says "linked thumbnail" and click on the little yellow colored frame icon to the right of the link. That will open 2 more links at the bottom of the page. Copy and paste the "linked medium" link into your reply and you will see what I just posted.

Looks the same as my Golf. I had easy access to the small hose from the IC that I had to replace.

JETaah said:

Is this what you are trying to do? Go to where it says "linked thumbnail" and click on the little yellow colored frame icon to the right of the link. That will open 2 more links at the bottom of the page. Copy and paste the "linked medium" link into your reply and you will see what I just posted.

Click to expand...

Hi

Yes that's the one I could not post for whatever reason....

Thanks for helping and out .... I'll have to practice with pics!

Andrew

JETaah said:

Now that I think about it, in 2003 or 2004 VW did put an extension to the black plastic valence on the bottom of the bumper cover. It screwed onto the valence with something like 8 screws and tied onto the bottom engine cover in a couple of places.

It still did not completely cover the intercooler area underneath. Most that I see come into the shop are torn up or lack the screws to mount it completely like it was when new.

Click to expand...

Hi,

Yes , seemed like there were some extra holes for a reason ...

I suppose if I feel ambitious I may try to rig up a cover from leftover plexiglass from my winter Grill block project.

Thanks

I don't know that I would cover the bottom of the intercooler area completely. You need somewhere for the air to go on the aft side of the intercooler so there is a path for the air to flow. Some cars that come in have the passenger side fender liner with a louvered openings. I dont know if that was purchased in the aftermarket or was done by VW for a brief production run. Some look like they were hacked into the fender liner by the owner.