Dust cover?

[Seanmannino]

Hey everyone long time no write! Guess my caddy has been running well enough that I don't check in every day like I used to I need to get back on here more often love reading what you folks are saying and the respect that everyone gets from here!

I am having a problem locating a part for the front end of my 97 De Ville. It's the "dust cover" that goes under the vehicle at the very front of the car. it's attached to the bumper and what appears to be the cross mount? I did a stupid thing the other day and have been doing ever since even with being very careful not to pull up to close to the parking stops I always seem to hit the darn thing and then have to back up slowly. After doing this several times I have ripped the rubber looking material and it now drags the ground. I do pick it and shove back under there even opening the hood and placing the holes that are okay (not ripped) back on the retaining plugs since I drive the highway most every day the wind sucks it back out.... am I looking for the right thing? I have always called it a dust cover because it keeps dust from getting up there..... anyway sorry about the ramblings anyone know where I can locate this part?

Thank you all in advance!

Sean

[adallak]

Air dam?

[Cadillac Jim]

The plastic push-in fasteners used to hold the tar-paper like sheet can be obtained at hardware stores, auto parts stores, or at the dealer. This tar paper sheet serves multiple purposes:

• Keeping radiator air up and forcing it through the radiator, not letting it pass under the radiator, A/C condenser, and power steering cooler.
• Keeping road water from washing the front of the engine, and all its electrical connectors, in the rain.
• Keeping road debris out of the A/C condenser, radiator, and power steering cooler.

[Ranger]

You might be talking about the radiator air baffle. Part #12

http://www.gmpartsgiant.com/online/Page_Product/PartDetail.aspx?modelYear=1997&model=Deville&make=Cadillac&catalogCode=65O&modelCode=6KD69&seriesCode=6KD&bodyStyleCode=69&engineCode=LD8&transCode=MH1&majorIndexID=08&minorIndexID=6K0802501&isBigPicture=True

[rockfangd]

I also broke mine last year after hitting a pile of snow that a plow left across the intersection of a highway. I was so mad because they are hard to find and they serve multiple purposes

[Seanmannino]

rockfangd -

were you able to find one? If so where at.

Ranger -

That doesn't look like it, it appears to be as JimS states made out of a tar paper looking substance. Not a metal piece as it appears in that pic. I will most likely head to the dealer tomorrow and see if they can tell me what this is and the cost of it.

Thank you all!

Sean

[rockfangd]

noo but I really want to find one, my condensor being my main concern as I love my AC. and It is made out of rubber and looks like tar paper

[Cadillac Jim]

I would make one out of tar paper from the hardware store, and attach it using OEM-style push-in nylon fasteners, also from the hardware store.

[rockfangd]

that is along the lines of what I was thinking, but I was going to use thick rubber

[Cadillac Jim]

Thick rubber? No reason not to improve on the original! I would consider 1/4" marine plywood, with a polyurethane sealer and a black cover coat. I would keep the fasteners if they work, othewise I would go to nylon bolts.

[hjb981]

How about going to a junk yard and finding a DeVille with the part in question intact? Should be inexpensive too.

/Jonas

[Cadillac Jim]

The problem with getting an air dam at a recycling yard is that the air dam is a throwaway part, important but constantly exposed to parking lot barriers, snow, and high-camber driveways. Thus its push-in plastic fasteners, which can be brushed away against concrete without damage to underlying metal supporting structure, and its inexpensive tar paper construction. It's just about the most damaged part on a car, even more than scratches on the bumpers, and a really good one is a very unlikely find in a recycling yard.

Getting one from the dealer is expensive because it is made in Detroit or Taiwan or Brazil or whatever, tracked with the GM parts stocking and shipping system, and they are heavy and take a lot of space. I would just make one up from tar paper from the hardware store, and buy a quarter pound of the push-in fasteners and keep the spares in a jar.

I wasn't entirely tongue-in-cheek about making one up out of quarter-inch exterior grade plywood and using nylon bolts. The idea of using sheet rubber is good, too, but you might need some kind of support to keep it from sagging because the fasteners aren't too close together except in the front, where the air dam may need to get by with less than a full complement of fasteners quite often. Just don't ever show a plywood air dam with polyurethane coat and black cover paint, held on with black nylon bolts, to a Goodwrench tech. Those guys are generally a surly lot and don't take well to hard-core innovative DIY work.

[rockfangd]

The problem with getting an air dam at a recycling yard is that the air dam is a throwaway part, important but constantly exposed to parking lot barriers, snow, and high-camber driveways. Thus its push-in plastic fasteners, which can be brushed away against concrete without damage to underlying metal supporting structure, and its inexpensive tar paper construction. It's just about the most damaged part on a car, even more than scratches on the bumpers, and a really good one is a very unlikely find in a recycling yard.

Getting one from the dealer is expensive because it is made in Detroit or Taiwan or Brazil or whatever, tracked with the GM parts stocking and shipping system, and they are heavy and take a lot of space. I would just make one up from tar paper from the hardware store, and buy a quarter pound of the push-in fasteners and keep the spares in a jar.

I wasn't entirely tongue-in-cheek about making one up out of quarter-inch exterior grade plywood and using nylon bolts. The idea of using sheet rubber is good, too, but you might need some kind of support to keep it from sagging because the fasteners aren't too close together except in the front, where the air dam may need to get by with less than a full complement of fasteners quite often. Just don't ever show a plywood air dam with polyurethane coat and black cover paint, held on with black nylon bolts, to a Goodwrench tech. Those guys are generally a surly lot and don't take well to hard-core innovative DIY work.

to thisI say lol, and to this day I have not seen one worth saving in a salvage yard.

[Seanmannino]

okay, after being rudely told no that I cannot get that information from my local dealer (asked for the name of the part or a part number) I went to an old contact that I have for a Cadillac dealer in Kentucky they sang like birds and even offered to order and ship it to me.

The part is: 25690454 Cooling - Radiator and components - Air baffle - Lower center 1997 - 1999 looks like the part is around 70.00 to 90.00 US from the few sites that I have visited.

btw Ranger you were right, it just didn't look right in the pic, I bow to you and your knowledge!

[adallak]

okay, after being rudely told no that I cannot get that information from my local dealer (asked for the name of the part or a part number) I went to an old contact that I have for a Cadillac dealer in Kentucky they sang like birds and even offered to order and ship it to me.

The part is: 25690454 Cooling - Radiator and components - Air baffle - Lower center 1997 - 1999 looks like the part is around 70.00 to 90.00 US from the few sites that I have visited.

btw Ranger you were right, it just didn't look right in the pic, I bow to you and your knowledge!

Check out this site:

http://www.gmpartsdirect.com/results.cfm

GM PART # 25690454

CATEGORY: Radiator Air Deflector/Baffle

PACK QTY: 1

CORE CHARGE: $0.00

GM LIST: $88.03

OUR PRICE: $51.94

[Ranger]

GM LIST: $88.03

OUR PRICE: $51.94

FYI, GM Partsdirect will get you on the shipping.

[adallak]

GM LIST: $88.03

OUR PRICE: $51.94

FYI, GM Partsdirect will get you on the shipping.

Right. $13 to my zip. Still better than 90 plus tax.

[KHE]

The OE shield looks like it IS made of tarpaper. The only problem with making one yourself is you'd need to install some grommets on the tarpaper as reinforcement so it wouldn't rip out from the fasteners. I think $90 for a piece of tarpaper with grommets is absolutely obscene....

[Cadillac Jim]

The "obscene" cost is due to the storage, shipping, stock number and inventory tracking, and handling of this large, heavy, cumbersome part that cannot be folded. I suppose that you could roll it up, so long as the roll is large and you don't curl the material too severely.

As I said, I would simply make one out of tar paper from the hardware store. If you don't plan to scrub off the plastic fasteners in parking lots, you could consider upgrades such as a better material than tar paper, to include marine plywood. I would stay with plastic fasteners to avoid damage to the mounting holes should you do scrape the bottom of the front end on a driveway or parking lot tire bumper.

[KHE]

The "obscene" cost is due to the storage, shipping, stock number and inventory tracking, and handling of this large, heavy, cumbersome part that cannot be folded. I suppose that you could roll it up, so long as the roll is large and you don't curl the material too severely.

That part would be rolled up for packaging and storage. $90.00 IS obscene - It does not cost anywhere near that kind of money to store/inventory/handle that kind of part. It is a five dollar part that may have another $5.00 in logistics attached to it. Realistically, it should be a $25.00 - 30.00 part.

[Cadillac Jim]

The "obscene" cost is due to the storage, shipping, stock number and inventory tracking, and handling of this large, heavy, cumbersome part that cannot be folded. I suppose that you could roll it up, so long as the roll is large and you don't curl the material too severely.

That part would be rolled up for packaging and storage. $90.00 IS obscene - It does not cost anywhere near that kind of money to store/inventory/handle that kind of part. It is a five dollar part that may have another $5.00 in logistics attached to it. Realistically, it should be a $25.00 - 30.00 part.

Maybe with the Goodwrench warranty, they figure that they are going to have to put in three for each one that they replace on request of the owner?

[KHE]

The "obscene" cost is due to the storage, shipping, stock number and inventory tracking, and handling of this large, heavy, cumbersome part that cannot be folded. I suppose that you could roll it up, so long as the roll is large and you don't curl the material too severely.

That part would be rolled up for packaging and storage. $90.00 IS obscene - It does not cost anywhere near that kind of money to store/inventory/handle that kind of part. It is a five dollar part that may have another $5.00 in logistics attached to it. Realistically, it should be a $25.00 - 30.00 part.

Maybe with the Goodwrench warranty, they figure that they are going to have to put in three for each one that they replace on request of the owner?

I dunno??? but I purchase all different kinds of parts where I work - forgings, stampings, injection molded parts, etc. and the cover in question would be a $5.00 pat at best from a wholoesale point. After all the markups, $25.00 would be a fair price to the retail market. $90.00 is just a ripoff....

[Cadillac Jim]

The "obscene" cost is due to the storage, shipping, stock number and inventory tracking, and handling of this large, heavy, cumbersome part that cannot be folded. I suppose that you could roll it up, so long as the roll is large and you don't curl the material too severely.

That part would be rolled up for packaging and storage. $90.00 IS obscene - It does not cost anywhere near that kind of money to store/inventory/handle that kind of part. It is a five dollar part that may have another $5.00 in logistics attached to it. Realistically, it should be a $25.00 - 30.00 part.

Maybe with the Goodwrench warranty, they figure that they are going to have to put in three for each one that they replace on request of the owner?

I dunno??? but I purchase all different kinds of parts where I work - forgings, stampings, injection molded parts, etc. and the cover in question would be a $5.00 pat at best from a wholoesale point. After all the markups, $25.00 would be a fair price to the retail market. $90.00 is just a ripoff....

Maybe so. I just ordered an EBTCM module from RockAuto "Warehouse close-out, 30-day warranty" for $301.79, and the local dealer wanted $1K+ for the same AC/Delco part number, 16265346, which I know is correct for my car because I got the same part number from my VIN at another web site. Its just that usually there is a reason for the price of things, and the Goodwrench warranty may be one of them. I think that dealer parts pricing may be based on the premise that the dealer will be doing the installation and backing the product and installation for a year, or for the life of the car in some cases. And, with a 1-year warranty, the same part is twice the price, about $600, from multiple sources.

[sonjaab]

Even better idea...............Google the part number.

Any dealer that has it/or can get it and doing mail order

will show up along with the price and shipping cost.

That GM parts direct charges a LOT to ship while most others

offer the same price and cheaper shipping.

I almost got boned for $50 shipping on a $112 GM storage bin from

them ! I googled the part number and hooked up with a Fla. dealer

for the same $112 plus ONLY $16 bucks to ship!