Grille Shutter Delete? Want to maximize cooling

[snake2332]

Someone actually did get it to work (allegedly).
But won't divulge the process freely do to liability. It's on the forum somewhere.

Oh well, too late for me now, ha! The whole liability thing is laughable. CompuStar already has a method to make it safe (reservation mode). Modern manual vehicles all have a neutral safety switch, where it's +12V while in neutral so even if the switch failed, the car wouldn't start.

I can't get the stupid CompuStar to remote-start in my '04 Forester. Clutch is bypassed, CompuStar enters "reservation mode", it gives no errors which means it is sending the start signal, but nada. It's tough to troubleshoot since no one will help with it, so I gave up for now. I do have the F-LOCK which is just a relay in the starter wire with a "ground while armed" wire controlled by the CompuStar, but I can feel the relay click when it should so I don't think it's the problem. I am going to remove it and try again, but I don't really care that much...I say that now but wait until it's -20°F and a blizzard out there and my Airlift tank freezes up and the ride height is stuck too low to drive in the deep snow.

My other Forester had a working remote-start when it was auto, but the automatic broke and I manual-swapped it to a 5MT and the CompuStar in it is not manual-compatible (no reservation mode).

Anyway, wife's rig has it so I'm gonna leave it parked outside against her will, wish me luck!

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[GI_Jo_Nathan]

Oh well, too late for me now, ha! The whole liability thing is laughable. CompuStar already has a method to make it safe (reservation mode). Modern manual vehicles all have a neutral safety switch, where it's +12V while in neutral so even if the switch failed, the car wouldn't start.

I can't get the stupid CompuStar to remote-start in my '04 Forester. Clutch is bypassed, CompuStar enters "reservation mode", it gives no errors which means it is sending the start signal, but nada. It's tough to troubleshoot since no one will help with it, so I gave up for now. I do have the F-LOCK which is just a relay in the starter wire with a "ground while armed" wire controlled by the CompuStar, but I can feel the relay click when it should so I don't think it's the problem. I am going to remove it and try again, but I don't really care that much...I say that now but wait until it's -20°F and a blizzard out there and my Airlift tank freezes up and the ride height is stuck too low to drive in the deep snow.

My other Forester had a working remote-start when it was auto, but the automatic broke and I manual-swapped it to a 5MT and the CompuStar in it is not manual-compatible (no reservation mode).

Anyway, wife's rig has it so I'm gonna leave it parked outside against her will, wish me luck!

Yeah the remote start manual stuff can be a mess. I decided not to worry about it on mine. But it stays in a garage and I don't had to worry about snow luckily.

 

[snake2332]

I saw the 70°F threshold in action a lot on a little 980 mile trip I just took. When outside air was mid-60s, oil temp was 220°F - 225°F. Trans temp 208°F or so. As soon as ambient air was over 70°F, oil temp was more like 198°F, louvers surely opened.

A/C on or off didn't matter. Maybe it does at slower speeds, like if it causes the the cooling fan run more which is helpful at slow speeds.

Going up hills with outside air in mid-60s, oil temp was 235°F even if I used more RPM and less boost. Seems unnecessarily high and I wonder at what point the louvers will ignore ambient air temps and open up.

On the bright side, I did get 20.2 MPG with 35" KO2's at 35-40psi (35psi cold, 41psi hot). Also on the bright side, I snagged Hoss 3.0 struts/springs for $800 and a brand new OEM soft-top for just $200. Made the trip worthwhile. The views leaving Jackson, WY were also pretty awesome.

I sure wish I could change the 70°F threshold to 50°F...
I'm contemplating adding a switch to kill power to the louver motors so I can force them to remain open all summer then let them close during winter. From what I've read, this won't cause a CEL but will cause a warning/alert in the Ford Pass app.

Side-note: Another annoying thing is the recirculating air turning off after 2 or 3 minutes, over and over. I was driving through some really smokey air and it gives me a headache, but the stupid HVAC wouldn't just let me keep it on recirculating. Later, when it was warmer outside, it did stay on for hours at a time, but for a while there I was hitting the button every 5 minutes.

Makes me wonder if these things could be changed in Forscan if someone knew the memory addresses for them. Oh well, 1st world problems.

 

[BruceAZ]

I know this is an old thread, but I hope someone will respond if they have deleted their upper shutter. Mine is mangled along with the grill and drivers side headlight due to an encounter with a deer at 65mph. I'm thinking about removing that upper shutter, but the bottom tab on the headlights on both sides is bolted to a piece of the upper plastic shutter. If you removed your upper shutter, what did you do about that lower mounting tab on each headlight? Thank you. (PS. Badlands with 2.3L)

 

[Ducati1098]

I know this is an old thread, but I hope someone will respond if they have deleted their upper shutter. Mine is mangled along with the grill and drivers side headlight due to an encounter with a deer at 65mph. I'm thinking about removing that upper shutter, but the bottom tab on the headlights on both sides is bolted to a piece of the upper plastic shutter. If you removed your upper shutter, what did you do about that lower mounting tab on each headlight? Thank you. (PS. Badlands with 2.3L)

Just remove all the actual shutters and leave the outer frame in place. Or is the whole thing that damaged?

 

[BruceAZ]

Just remove all the actual shutters and leave the outer frame in place. Or is the whole thing that damaged?

Thank you, but yes, the whole drivers side is broken/trashed. I'm thinking that without replacing it, even tho I would just as soon forgo the shutter, I need it to mount the headlights?

 

[Ducati1098]

Thank you, but yes, the whole drivers side is broken/trashed. I'm thinking that without replacing it, even tho I would just as soon forgo the shutter, I need it to mount the headlights?

Ah okay. Then yes. To make sure the headlight is mounted securely/correctly, you probably need to replace it.
I would check eBay or something for used ones. May be able to find something cheap, especially if you aren’t worried about the shutters actually working.

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