is it safe to drive with the heater ducts off?

[SCWDP911]

I am in the middle of my heater backdate (83 cabriolet). I have both ducts off. I cannot finish right away, as I would like to take some time to clean the engine bay now that I can reach more things, but I may need to drive the car in the next couple of days.

1. Is it safe to drive the car liek this? I would think it is, but am I missing anything stupid?

2. Wow, is my engine dirty. I would like to really clean it up in there, but is it ok to spray water in there with the ducts off. I would of course take precautions for the electrical stuff,but wondering about anything else under the shroud that might need protected?

Thanks

[myfast911]

no! you won`t get proper cooling over the engine. your car will run hot . hot and aircooled, not good. if you need to drive it ,block them off with something.

[tshih]

If you are talking about the 2 hoses connecting the heat exchangers and the valves which lets hot air into the cabin area then it's OK to drive the car with them disconnected or removed.

[tcar]

Originally Posted by tshih

If you are talking about the 2 hoses connecting the heat exchangers and the valves which lets hot air into the cabin area then it's OK to drive the car with them disconnected or removed.

He's not. He's doing a backdate. You don't take those off w/ a backdate.

He's talking about the ones on top of the engine.

Running the car w/out those can seriously overheat the engine.

The cooling fan blows the cooling air out those openings instead of blowing it over the cylinder heads. Bad.

You NEED to block the openings off. Duct tape would probably work, but you'll have a mess w/ the adhesive when you take it off.

Let us know how you fix it.

[tshih]

I would suggest going to Home depot or Lowes and plug those openings with a PVC pipe cap of the correct size.

[Mike_Lettrich]

As a suggestion, they could be plugged with one of those plugs that consists of a piece of rubber sandwiched between two large washers with a bolt running through them. When you tighten the nut, the washers are squeezed in on one another, causing the rubber to bulge out, temporarily sealing the plug in the hole.

I'm not sure what they are called, but I'm using one to block off my pop off valve because I'm running a BAE turbo system. I either got the plug at an auto parts store or Lowes. It would work well in this application as well, I think.

[gtc]

If your block-off plates are still on you can drive it. I drove mine while I was waiting for my backdate duct to arrive. Just go easy on it... you'll still get air over the cylinders, but not quite as much. Kind of like having a 5-blade fan. Keep an eye on your temps (duh), and cap the pipes if possible.

[CharlesJones]

Why don't you just stick the old ducts back on for now? I don't know what they look like on the SC, but I'm doing a backdate on my Carerra and am waiting for the proper ducts to arrive. In the meantime I will just pop the old ducts back on - the right is just a blanking plate, but the left connects to the electic blower fan which I have removed, so I will just cover the the hole left by the removal of the electric fan with duct tape for now - that's easier than trying to mask off the whole opening. You could do something similar with your SC I'm sure.

[SCWDP911]

I just put the old ones back on ...no big deal. Hopefully I can get some time in the next day or two to finish up.

What about cleaning the area under the shroud?

[robert walsh]

i dont understand the cooling fan issue, i have run mine this way, although blower moter ports are blocked off, i never understood why? are you suppose to run the fan in the summer for cooling or is it on a thermstat? how would it cool better with those ports blocked? just not seeing the logic here. i have an '83 sc no temp problems at all, and i always ran my vw bugs without the hoses every summer and never had a problem, perhaps a poor comparison but similar basic angine design.

[tcar]

You don't need to block off the blower motor (2 small ports on an SC).

You SHOULD block off the port on the side of the engine cooling fan where the big plastic hose connects. If you don't, part of the engine cooling air just blows out the side of the fan instead of over the cylinder heads.

The other side of the cooling fan should be blocked off w/ a black sheet metal piece. If it's not, it need to be blocked off also.

The 2 hoses under the car (HE's to body) don't need to be blocked off either for engine cooling, but you need them if you want heat.

[Trotskyite]

Tuna can fits the left side perfectly and your right side is already blocked off.

[tcar]

Originally Posted by Trotskyite

Tuna can fits the left side perfectly and your right side is already blocked off.

Wash the can really, really well or your car will smell like a, uh,... well... ummm...

[RichMink76]

I used paint can caps to block the engine copartment openings.