718 Radiators & Screens - The Backside!

[blueline]

There's been a significant amount of discussion at times in the What did you do with your 718 this week? thread regarding the benefits of front screens for 718's. However, I'm set in that regard (or so I thought) since they are standard on a GT4. While some smaller matter will get through, the radiator front can generally be cleaned out without bumper removal surgery.

However, during a track day at NCM I found a new vulnerability - the backside of where the fans are located.

I came off track with a clicking/buzzing from the left front radiator, kind of like the playing cards in the bicycle spokes upgrade I did as a kid wanting "motor" noise.

I looked and there were several chunks of tire rubber that had gotten wedged in the front-facing slats of the fender liner that protect the backsides of the fans. One of those rubber pieces had been slung violently enough to be pushed through a slat into the fan. One end was sticking out in the wheel well and the other end was lodged behind the slat being hit by the fan blades

Anyway, I pulled out quite a number of rubber pieces, but as quick paddock fix it wasn't very elegant because several pieces broke off and fell back inside as I tried to get them out. Many were wedged significantly. (One broken piece got eaten thoroughly - 718 chipper service.)

This situation has not happened to me before (that I'm aware of, anyway) and I'm wondering if it could have something to do with the smaller diameter 19" Apex wheels vs 20" OEM. Does the smaller size give more room for a different throw angle and higher velocity slinging of rubber and debris? I guess it's possible but it doesn't really fit the MO. Not a big deal - just an idle thought.

Anyway, unlike GT3's which have a screen in place of the slats, the 718's (or at least my GT4) only has the vertical slats with significant gaps. Apparently the pieces of tire rubber are easily flung into the slats. I think I'm going to look into replacing those fender liner slats with GT3 screens. They may even be interchangeable. I'll find out!

Pics below were after the arriving home this evening and after cleaning out yet more rubber pieces from subsequent laps run after the earlier quick paddock clean out. (I didn't think about taking a picture until almost all the pieces had been removed.)

PXL_20231003_230314654 edit.jpg (2.47 MiB) Viewed 1681 times

PXL_20231003_230600145.jpg (3.1 MiB) Viewed 1681 times

[Larry C]

Hi Tim,
If the GT3 screen doesn’t fit I can see Tom firing up his 3D printer . You may want to check with @Crazy Eddie to see if he’s encountered the same issue. I believe he has two GT4’s and a GT4 RS. I don’t know what wheel sizes he’s running.
Best,
Larry

[Crazy Eddie]

Hi Tim,
If the GT3 screen doesn’t fit I can see Tom firing up his 3D printer . You may want to check with @Crazy Eddie to see if he’s encountered the same issue. I believe he has two GT4’s and a GT4 RS. I don’t know what wheel sizes he’s running.
Best,
Larry

I haven’t encountered this problem I did track one of my GT4’s a number of times and I did notice tons of Clagg, but most of that was in the wheel well. the vents seem to be fine.

[J-Dub]

Hi Tim,
I have not noticed and rubber getting stuck in my vents but can say that the CGTS vents are quite a bit wider, the fender liner is flat with just large openings. No raised vents like your pictures show. As far as if I had gotten any rubber in there, after washing the car and lightly spraying those areas i do see rubber chunks on the ground however I have never noticed them get stuck in a way that they get hit by the fan like you experienced. I will try again this weekend thought and see if I can get that achievement

[Larry C]

Hi Tim,
If the GT3 screen doesn’t fit I can see Tom firing up his 3D printer . You may want to check with @Crazy Eddie to see if he’s encountered the same issue. I believe he has two GT4’s and a GT4 RS. I don’t know what wheel sizes he’s running.
Best,
Larry

I haven’t encountered this problem I did track one of my GT4’s a number of times and I did notice tons of Clagg, but most of that was in the wheel well. the vents seem to be fine.

Ed,
Are you running 19 or 20 inch wheels?
Larry

[marin]

I would get rubber thrown in there when I tracked my 991 GTS. I think the GT3 switched to using screens because it had slats before, and the rubber would get stuck in there and cause the fan to get lodged and break.

I just checked my 4RS and it also has slats.

I wish someone made a simple screen fix for the rear, similar to how the front screens are done.

[Crazy Eddie]

Hi Tim,
If the GT3 screen doesn’t fit I can see Tom firing up his 3D printer . You may want to check with @Crazy Eddie to see if he’s encountered the same issue. I believe he has two GT4’s and a GT4 RS. I don’t know what wheel sizes he’s running.
Best,
Larry

I haven’t encountered this problem I did track one of my GT4’s a number of times and I did notice tons of Clagg, but most of that was in the wheel well. the vents seem to be fine.

Ed,
Are you running 19 or 20 inch wheels?
Larry

I’m running the stock wheels on all my cars
I’ll have to look into this screen thing Marin got me going…

[TRSCobra]

Funny I just saw this thread after pulling rubber from the same slots on my GT4. I had stock cup2's on and it collected a ton of rubber. Tomorrow I plan to remove the grates and getting any pieces that are inside.

[blueline]

Funny I just saw this thread after pulling rubber from the same slots on my GT4. I had stock cup2's on and it collected a ton of rubber. Tomorrow I plan to remove the grates and getting any pieces that are inside.

Thank you a bunch for that input - apparently it's a more common problem than many of us thought. I'm going to do the same as you when I pull the wheels this weekend.

By the way, welcome to Carpokes!

[Chonson]

This also happened to me this past weekend at COTA. '22 GT4 with 19 inch Apex wheels. LOTS of clag wedged in those slats at the end of the weekend.