Do you all run with the fender splash shield?

I was thinking of leaving the alternator splash shield off. The one that shields the belts etc from water.

I don't think that would be good for aerodynamics or water, but I do think it would be better for cooling, ease of maintainence, and my level of laziness.

Do any of you run without it?

Thanks!

 

My car doesn't have any of the under "shields" left and it hasnt caused me a problem for the 2 years ive owned it.....

 

Hey thanks again man...after that alternator swap, I am not going to lie. I am truly lazy! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

ha ha, they cant hurt to have on there, but they are a pain to deal with. Mine were hacked to hell and/or missing when I got the car and it hasn't been a problem not having them on there. I guess the only risk you run is kicking up some water or a rock into your belt or alternator.

 

[belize1334]

I like to keep the inboard splash shields as they keep the engine and transmission from getting doused with water every time I drive through a puddle. But, the forward splash shields have long since rubbed through from my tires so I pulled them out. The passanger side one doesn't do anything as far as I can tell. The driver's side keeps debris out of the space where the abs brick used to live but since I no longer have that thing I don't see any harm in letting that space be open to the environment.

 

[Hertz]

I ran without mine for 5 years.

I think it's a bad idea... I've also been through 3 alternators.

 

[fuel]

I'm missing the gearbox side splash shield but do have the engine side splash shield in place. I notice the end of the gearbox is quite dusty whereas the rest of the box is nice and clean, so that alone is a good reason to run a shield.

 

The first thing I did was rip mine out and throw them in the trash. The only negative I've had from it is a 2 second belt squeal when I go "puddle jumping".

 

Lol, fate has made a decision for me. My autozone reman has lasted me all of 1 day! I didn't even have the time to think about weighing this out before the "new"
alternator died!

 

[turbowop]

A quick search would have yielded tons of info regarding how long the Autozone or other box store alternators last in our cars. I'm surprised you even tried one.

 

Oh I searched plenty. Guess some people have to find out for themselves. It isn't like there are many great options though. I weighed my options carefully for a few days and lost. I think it's kind of annoying having something like an alternator shipped over to me when this is a type of part that is supposed to be available locally. I was considering the Saturn and Mitsubishi options but don't like the idea of going to the junkyard only to find out that I got a bad part. Also, with remanned versions of each, I don't think my parts store guy would warranty an alternator that was ground down to fit. I expected to get a year out of the alternators like some. I guess I learned something. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif