Control shutters on front Bumper broken

[Jerrytball]

The black plastic section doesn't flex. It lists for ~$700. Requires hours of labor to remove lower lip, bumper, then black section and replace it. If fins break, but mechanism and mounting is intact, they can be replaced.

So today I was just sitting in front of the car. I’ve never really paid attention to that area, but do they actually open and close while you’re driving?

Sorry, posted that a little too early about those little doors. I saw the post so I went out there and plugged in for a second they work lol

Sorry I didn’t know I was at the end of the thread. I caught the part where it said plug into test them so I did sorry guys. Here’s my video.

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[dtbaker61]

This happened to me - I have no idea how but my theory is that there was ice frozen to the shutters after a recent New England ice storm and it tried to open on being plugged in - cracking the top vane in the process and causing the whole assembly to fall apart.

Local dealer quoted me 1600 dollars to fix it - when all I needed was a new top LH vane. I think this is because Ford doesn’t list each vane as a part number - you have to buy the whole front grille shutter assembly and then they have to install it.

I considered 3D printing a new part, or buying the assembly on eBay (found one for under 300 bucks) but lucky me, I reached my arm inside the bumper and found the broken piece.

I researched plastic welding on YouTube and bought a plastic weld kit on Amazon.

My weld came out quite good - though I recommend doing this in a well ventilated place. Even with a nearby window open my house smelled like plastic.

I made a simple jig by drilling some holes in a block of wood to hold the pieces together, and cut a piece of wire to match the piece:

Then I melted the plastic with the weld tool:

After cleaning it up with some sandpaper, it was ready to reinstall. I was able to snap in the bottom vane, then the top, but to put the middle one back in I really needed to doors to open.

I had to take the car to a fast charger to get that to happen and stay open long enough for me to snap the middle vane back in.

All better - took it home and tested it by plugging in and watching the self test:

Problem solved - spent 40 bucks and learned a valuable skill instead of giving a dealer 1600 dollars.

nice job! I think if mine ever breaks I would remove the whole thing and put in a fixed metal grille with smaller holes to protect the radiator from rocks and bugs.

we get snow, slush, rocks from dirt roads, rabbits, and tumbleweeds which can do a number on a grille/radiator if you hit one at 80mph.

 

[Jerrytball]

nice job! I think if mine ever breaks I would remove the whole thing and put in a fixed metal grille with smaller holes to protect the radiator from rocks and bugs.

we get snow, slush, rocks from dirt roads, rabbits, and tumbleweeds which can do a number on a grille/radiator if you hit one at 80mph.

Now that I see how they cycle open and close after you plug in do these like stay closed when it’s cold outside when it gets warmer, they open to a certain degree or do they open all the way, what kind of conditions they open and close either all the way or partial

 

[RickMachE]

Now that I see how they cycle open and close after you plug in do these like stay closed when it’s cold outside when it gets warmer, they open to a certain degree or do they open all the way, what kind of conditions they open and close either all the way or partial

They open when they need to, and close when they need to, and are partially open when they, well, need to be.

 

[Jerrytball]

They open when they need to, and close when they need to, and are partially open when they, well, need to be.

Thank you, Rick. Always love your answers!

 

[AndyR]

Now that I see how they cycle open and close after you plug in do these like stay closed when it’s cold outside when it gets warmer, they open to a certain degree or do they open all the way, what kind of conditions they open and close either all the way or partial

They do open and close when they feel the need.

If you have one of those ODB2 dongles, you can actually see the percentage that the car calls for opening them, it can be any percent up to 100%.

 

[pr0t0c0l_dr01d]

nice job! I think if mine ever breaks I would remove the whole thing and put in a fixed metal grille with smaller holes to protect the radiator from rocks and bugs.

we get snow, slush, rocks from dirt roads, rabbits, and tumbleweeds which can do a number on a grille/radiator if you hit one at 80mph.

I had the same thought - I definitely wasn’t going to pay 1600 to fix this. Some custom made metal grilles would probably work fine. I’m assuming Ford came up with the active shutters to keep the car aerodynamic while on the road. But I would happily introduce drag to save myself that much cash on a plastic panel.

 

[Luke]

Someone in the forum (I believe EV Vida or Vita) posted the 3d print files for these shutters. If you have a 3d ringer or know someone who does, you can get new ones printed. You might need to play with paint to match the color. But at least it would be functional.
But it seems you already fixed it.

 

[Jerrytball]

Thank you, Rick. Always love your answers!

Hey Rick, so it’s finally at a point where it was about 75 when I got ready to takeoff in the car today where it’s been floating in the 40s and low 60s. So today was the first time when I started the car I saw the flaps open and you could actually hear the car, running like an internal combustion car. I’m guessing that a fan of some sort Still , I’m still learning. But anyways, they were open you can hear the car running and on the road doing 65 at the temperature of 75 compared to yesterday when it was 60 the trip was running at 3.0 and above 5.1 if I was going about 45 on the country Road, but definitely used a lot less energy than the day before because it took quite a while for it to drop down from 90 to even 86%

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