The black rubber curved air dam as seen in the pic of my car.... what is it for? Does it serve any practical purpose and why are there different shaped ones for the different models?


I ran over some tire debris on the highway and it just ripped mine off. It appears to be attached by plastic "welds". Unlike most other cars that have them and are made of hard plastic, I guess this way the rubber will rip off like mine instead of cracking the entire piece - but still the same for repair as you have to order the whole piece either way!


Its a $200 part. I'm debating whether to replace it. But I don't know exactly what benefit it will have versus not having one. It sort of looks naked with nothing underneath the front. Is it supposed to keep water away from the bottom of the engine when driving in rain?

 

It's a deflector that pushes the air out of the way of the tires. At highway speeds, this makes a enough of a difference, actually, or they'd not have bothered. Mayhaps even at boulevard speeds (say, 40-45MPH?) it could have some impact.

Why would you want to do this? Drag=MPG loss. Anything to get that drag down. Because CAFE.

If you don't have this on the car, then the air that goes under it slams directly into the tires/suspension, and that air bounces around and causes drag. They wouldn't have put it on the car if they didn't do the engineering and testing to ensure it's worth it.

However... The only way to ensure you need it is to see if your MPG goes down enough to warrant the cost. $200 part... at $2.50 a gallon (let's just say) and your MPG goes down maybe 1 MPG total per tank?

Lessee... Ok, for grins... If you went 10 gallons between fillups, and got 200 miles on those 10 gallons, that's 20 MPG. You lose 1 MPG on that, and now you get 19 MPG, or 190 miles for 10 gallons.

Each gallon costs $2.50 (let's say), so each fill is $25 bucks. You lose 10 miles, and that's 20 fill ups before that becomes a realized loss, and causes the extra fill up, which is, you got it, $25 bucks additional.

Airdam on bill: $500

Airdam off bill: $525

It's up to you, but I'm thinkin' that thing can be left off.

/someone check mah maths, but I'm pretty close, I'd say.

 

It's a 21st Century version of a curb feeler.

 

I had mine partially come off and I didn't know it until I was getting violent hood shake at highway speeds. I ended up using wire ties and slots I cut into the plastic to keep it mounted in place. That plastic prevents turbulence in the engine bay and hood shake.
At $200 for a piece of plastic I used wire ties.

 

Oooh. Now that's info I didn't have. Same idea, deflection of the air, but... wow, that's kinda amazing, really. Good info!

 

Luckily the plastic shield is still tightly in place. But I think I did notice a drop in gas mileage between fill ups on 7/30 and 8/7. According to my math, not the car's computer, I only did 20.5 mpg. I was consistently getting 23-24 and change in my normal routine (mostly going to work which involves around 30-40 miles a day on the highway). I can't think of anything different that I did during that period. The rubber piece came off during that period....

 

Ok, I need some help with this. I ordered the part online but I checked the number with a parts counter, and also with the official Ford parts website. Its called a Valance Panel, part # 17626. The whole plastic thing with rubber attached. It arrived today and 2 things are different: the rubber strip is about an inch shorter vertically, and it is attached to the 2nd groove that can be seen in my picture in the original post. The groove that goes around the front smoothly not out to the edge in the middle like mine from the factory. I think there were different placements of the rubber for the V6, EB, and GT models. But I see only 1 part number - just checked on the diagram again. I am confused.

There is a sticker on the back of the part that says FR3B-6A975-BC with the name "cover.engine.bottom.bulk.asm" but on the box it says FR3Z-17626-B "DEFLECTOR". There is no listing anywhere for the engine cover number.

So, is there really a different part or is this the only thing Ford sells thru service parts?

 

When I was looking to replace mine the part number I found was DR3Z-17626B. Since it was so expensive for a piece of plastic I just used wire ties.

My part# is for a 2014. I don't know if the the FR and DR at the beginning of the part # means it's for a different car year or not.

 

I looked it up and apparently it is the same part but different year. 17626.

 

Hi all, the rubber thing came off of mine. Pony007, did you end up finding the correct part?

 

No. See my post above. I ordered the 17626-B part and installed that. I thought about sending it back and trying to get them to see if there's a different one but I decided not to. This part is the same one that is used on the GT so I just went with this one. I am thinking that since the rubber on this is a little higher it won't tend to hit road debris and curbs as much.

 

Thanks. I am going to drive without the air deflector for a week or so and see if it makes a difference. I am not noticing any unusual movement of the hood like the other guy reported. I just hope it has nothing to do with the radiator.

 

Hi all.

The rubber thing came off of mine as well a couple of days ago. Did anyone end up finding the correct part, without having to order the whole plastic thing?

 

No, the rubber part is unfortunately "welded" to the plastic piece. I never did figure out if the one with the original shape is available.

 

Thank you Pony07.

I went through Ford's online catalogue and it seems that the rubber lip comes with the valance panel. I cannot figure out how to order it separately. However, I did a little search and I found two items on ebay that may do the job: one is called Rhino Lip and the other one Aero Lip. They seem to be exactly what I need and they can both be easily attached underneathe the valance panel. I post this as I am sure that many others will have the same problem replacing a damaged rubber piece.

 

Thanks for the thread, i was thinking of cutting mine off, since it looks awful underneath the car when you look from the side, but I guess I will keep it, if it means cooling for the front wheels and protection for parts under.