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Not sure of the cause, but discovered my drivers side air dam was flopping. Examination showed the following damage to the panel it mounts to:
To repair, one has to replace the entire wheel well liner. The one I received from Cultrag Performance is the only one available and is not the same as what was on my 2014. It only has one of the cutout areas and is missing the inside speed nut for the inner most mounting screw.
Don't understand what exactly the issue is, but I have to ask......why wouldn't it be a warranty claim? If you didn't cause the issue, the warranty should cover it, no?
You hit something. In one of my freeway encounters with debris in my C6, it took out not only the air deflector but also the fender liner. I expect the C7 will also have chance encounters with all kind of neat things left behind on the road.
No, they are not useless but for regular road use they have only a minor effect. At track speeds or speeds over 100 the front becomes lighter without these installed.
Only reason for air defector is Corporate Average Fuel Economy
Great for wind tunnel numbers...totally useless in the real world 22922352 splitter...practical/functional/stylish
NEW 3pc air delfector w/hardware for sale $50
Don't understand what exactly the issue is, but I have to ask......why wouldn't it be a warranty claim? If you didn't cause the issue, the warranty should cover it, no?
You’d have to "prove" it wasn’t caused by hitting a truck tire tread etc. etc. in the road. That would not leave a lot of physical damage. However:
In my C6 when there was hole in my air-conditioner condenser after about 6 months and I was told GM won’t cover it, it was caused by a rock. Paid $800 and had it replaced. Asked for it back and with a 10X eye magnifier found the hole was created from the inside not from the outside! There were flaps coming out from what looked like a crack not an inward punctured hole! Also found the condenser was bent and quoted the dealer mechanic who said he did not bend it nor was it dropped after it was removed.
Wrote a report with pics and suggested the condenser was no doubt dropped before it was installed probably by the vendor (didn’t want to blame Bowling Green!) and had a defect that cracked after a short while from vibration. After GM accepted my explanation the Dealer reimbursed my $800! Worth a try!
Can't see from this pic but at 10X clearly showed crack was opened from the inside. Had a pic of a burst natural gas pipe with a crack that looked the same and included that pic in the report. Indicated if they wanted, GM could check for themselves.
Best evidence of my postulate of how it happened was this pic of the bent condenser.
This was my suggestion of possibly how it happened at the vendor! No rock could cause this!
The car has not been lowered. I assume it was caused by some impact where I didn't observe any damage and long since forgot the impact. I posted the pics to let others know this area is more fragile than I would have expected and to let you know the replacement is not a direct match for what was on my car. I had to drill a hole through the plastic for the third screw and it has no metal speed nut backup, which raises concerns for longevity. If you have any impact - curb, roadkill, highway alligators, etc, be sure to check that the air dam is not wobbling fore and aft.
Only reason for air defector is Corporate Average Fuel Economy
Great for wind tunnel numbers...totally useless in the real world 22922352 splitter...practical/functional/stylish
NEW 3pc air delfector w/hardware for sale $50
I took them off to stop the scrape. I also added the splitter to complete the front end look. The dams are useless to me as I don't race the car.
Just a suggestion. These plastic undercarriage parts are really easy to replace. Autocrossing took a pretty good toll on these parts, including the wheelhouse liners. For example :
Ultimately, I had to replace all of these parts, as well as the entire passenger side wheelhouse liner:
The estimate for the work from a dealer was well over $1K. I paid about $250 for parts (delivered next day) and did the work myself in a couple of hours.
Oh, and I am also one who removed his air dams long ago. For me, they are basically just a nuisance.
Edit: I just re-read the string and see that you already did it yourself. You're right. They are pretty fragile. Another hint: I have some luck with epoxy when the part is split but not destroyed.
Last edited by Magister Ludi; 04-03-2015 at 05:08 PM.
Edit: I just re-read the string and see that you already did it yourself. You're right. They are pretty fragile. Another hint: I have some luck with epoxy when the part is split but not destroyed.
Thanks for the post. I was thinking black silicone adhesive sealant would be better than epoxy for small cuts on the side spoiler. Have you tried that?
04-02-2015, 11:06 PM
Z51 air dam problem alert
as long as it wasn't caused by running the air dam into an object.
