Air Conditioning Condensor Fins are Damaged? Is this Normal? What do You Think?

RED2001GT · Sep 30, 2006

I looked under the front of my 2002 Mustang this afternoon and I realized that the a lot of the Air Conditioning Condensor Fins beginning from the lower middle part of the A/C Condensor to the lower left part of the A/C Condensor are all banged up and/or dinged and/or flattened out & pushed in. I noticed that a lot of them are flattened out and that they are pushed in a little. I know that I've been doing about 5 years of daily driving with my V6 and that I've driven the car during the last 5 winters up here in New England.
Do you think that all the road salt and the pebbles and the little rocks on the road could have done this much damage and wear to the A/C Condensor Fins? I've NEVER touched the A/C Condensor fins and I've NEVER ran over anything or hit anything that could of banged them up like this.
The A/C Condensor Fins look more pushed in and flattened towards the lower middle part of the A/C Condensor and on the Driver's side of the A/C Condensor than they do on the passenger side.
Is this normal? My car only has alomost 37,000 miles on it and I've owned it since brand new.
Are the A/C Condensor Fins supposed to look like this after a few years of "careful" and "normal" driving?

Mustang5L5 · Sep 30, 2006

That's normal. The mustang has a wide open grill and anything that flies through at speed will bend the soft metal fins.

Usually rocks, bugs and other small stuff only damages a few fins. Bigger stuff like bumble bees can take out a large number.
They sell a toll to help straighten them back out.

RED2001GT · Sep 30, 2006

Is it very common for the "lower middle" and the "lower Left Driver's side" area of the A/C Condensor Fins to get damaged more than the lower Passenger Side condensor fins?
I see that the Fins on the lower middle and on the lower driver's side are more banged up and pushed in than the lower passenger side fins. Is it because the middle part and the driver's side part of the fins see more road debris?

I also noticed that the bar that holds the A/C Condensor which runs under the A/C Condensor is starting to corrode and rust. This particular piece is painted the color of the car (which is Torch Red), but it's starting to show a lot of surface rust on it. There are no holes or anything like that on it yet, but I saw some really deep pitting rust starting to form on it. This particular support piece that holds the A/C Condensor will not fall off anytime in the future if the rust gets worse will it?

Mustang5L5 · Sep 30, 2006

It all depends on what you hit. Maybe you nailed a bird or something on that side? There are a lot of factors...some of which is just pure chance.

RED2001GT · Sep 30, 2006

I am 100% sure that I did not hit anything big, but there are many more flattened fins in many areas on the lower driver's side and towards the lower middle part of the A/C Condensor. The lower passenger side has a lot less flattened and damaged fins. I find this very odd.

trinity_gt · Oct 1, 2006

Mine were exactly the same way: flattened mainly on the lower driver's side. I don't know why exactly because the paint on the fascia doesn't show witness marks from many more stone hits in that region than elsewhere.

I spent a tedious 20-30 minutes with an exacto blade carefully straightening what I could but one has to be careful: the fins are like tinfoil and easily cut... Not really sure it was worth it in the end: the car had no cooling issues and the AC blew cold in spite of the problem. I just didn't like it like that.

sgarlic · Oct 1, 2006

If you really don't like reshaping the fins, what we used to do back home where there are tons of rocks everywhere was to get some screen door repair material from Lowe's or Home Depot and put it behind your grille.. it'll keep some of the stuff out like big bees, etc, but rocks and heavier things will poke right through it. It's sort of neat to look at it after a long drive to see how many huge bugs it atomizes.

Air Conditioning Condensor Fins are Damaged? Is this Normal? What do You Think?

RED2001GT

Mustang5L5

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

RED2001GT

Mustang5L5

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

RED2001GT

trinity_gt

sgarlic

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