so this is a "air dam"?

[JumpInTheFire.com]

i've been confused as to what a air dam is. so i did a google image search and found this below. so its the black piece that is under the car. my 98 firebird 3.8 doesnt have one..so could that be why it overheats? i took the one of my 97 camaro 3.8 and i'm gonna install it later. its the piece that some people put "BLACKHAWK" lettering on right?


[I]A great pic of a cool '92 Firehawk. Notice the air dam installed up underneath the car. This dam was put in place to force cool air up into the radiator to help with cooling.[/I]

[97rs4life]

Re: so this is a "air dam"?

yes it is the black thing under the radiator. And yea it can cause you to overheat if you have no air being forced up over the radiator to cool it down

[RadRacer]

Re: so this is a "air dam"?

Yep, that's probably why your car overheats. Air's not being pushed up through the radiator to cool off the coolant, so the hot coolant is circulating through the engine again and not cooling it any.

[Blue02]

Re: so this is a "air dam"?

I call :bs:
Even if you don't have the air dam on, you still have a cooling fan to cool the coolant...

[nimrod.sixty9]

Re: so this is a "air dam"?

WTF? You've been driving without that? Im suprised the transmission works! Get it in ASAP!

[nimrod.sixty9]

Re: so this is a "air dam"?

I call :bs:
Even if you don't have the air dam on, you still have a cooling fan to cool the coolant...

Sorry buddy but not BS. Ive seen it kill many trannys. Only because we didnt know why...

[tmon930]

Re: so this is a "air dam"?

Sorry buddy but not BS. Ive seen it kill many trannys. Only because we didnt know why...

i dont know, but i'm kinda with blue02. i didn't have my air dam in for two weeks or so and didn't notice a difference at all. i dont race or anything so it's not like i push my car to it's limits soooo...

[ssms5411]

Re: so this is a "air dam"?

Go on a 2 hour drive without the air dam on there in summer time, you will notice your cars engine going to SH!T because your temp gauge is in the red. GM put it on there for a reason to cool the radiator while going at higher speeds. If you live in higher temps like AZ you will notice the affects for having the air dam on. Believe me it cools the car at higher speeds. No Camaro/Firebird in AZ wolud still be on the road if it didn't have the air dam on it. But if you want to go ahead run it without it and see what happens.

[Smoke Panther]

Re: so this is a "air dam"?

I call :bs:
Even if you don't have the air dam on, you still have a cooling fan to cool the coolant...

At high cruising speeds, the capacity of the two fans are greatly inferior to the cooling ability of the diverted air. In order for your car's cooling system to work, it needs to have alot of air flowing over it, pretty much constantly...When it comes to cooling down, your fans are your car's last-ditch option, not it's first choice.

i dont know, but i'm kinda with blue02. i didn't have my air dam in for two weeks or so and didn't notice a difference at all. i dont race or anything so it's not like i push my car to it's limits soooo...

What environment were you driving in? I can promise you that at no time during those two weeks, was your car ever on the highway

[JumpInTheFire.com]

Re: so this is a "air dam"?

how come other cars dont have them?

[97rs4life]

Re: so this is a "air dam"?

how come other cars dont have them?

what car doesn't have one?

[Smoke Panther]

Re: so this is a "air dam"?

how come other cars dont have them?

because they're designed differently. With regards to F-bodies, they need them

[JumpInTheFire.com]

Re: so this is a "air dam"?

my 87 and 97 mustang doesnt have them that i know of

[97rs4life]

Re: so this is a "air dam"?

my 87 and 97 mustang doesnt have them that i know of

take pics of the front end. Do they have any openings in the front to get air in?

[JumpInTheFire.com]

Re: so this is a "air dam"?

its not like the firebird camaro air dam.

but 94-04 mustangs have an open grill where the hood latch is. then an open spot at the bottom of the bumper

pre 94 fox body mustangs have the opening at the bottom of the bumper