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Have You Ever Covered the Radiator in Cold Weather?

For those that kept track of the Insight Marathon, the radiator was covered, even though nightly lows in the fiftys is not remotely considered cold for many of you.

I've heard that many truckers do this as well.

It goes without saying that if you start thinking it would be more comfortable with the A/C on, remove the radiator block.

Since my modifications are generally of the "temporary nature" until I confirm its effectiveness, a cut Cardboard box was used last year -- the issue with the Integra is that air still flows into the engine compartment at highway speeds from underneath, so a weatherproof, aerodynamic, flexible baffle is planned in addition to the block.

I noticed what looked like rubber matting on an Insight in Tonkawa. Has that worked favorably?

RH77

RH77,

Don't know the extent of what the radiator cover did for the Insight Marathon, but it's probably like putting 60psi in the tires - a good hypermiling idea.

I keep my radiator completely covered when the temp is below 80F and have only a 4"x 4" opening in the grill at higher temps with no overheating problems, even when using the A/C. When you are hypermiling a car, you aren't producing large amounts of heat from the ICE that you need to get rid of.

worse comes to worse you can just turn the setting to HOT. ANd rob all the engine heat so that it doesn't need to cycle on the fan ;) that fan cycled once when I was fasing! its such a battery killer!

But those were the days I didn't have the block and would always put my setting to COLD (oh yes i got used to the cold too! but now things have been toasty so now I open my windows from time to time) but now I have an abundance of heat and I can fully block the grille without needing to have a hole like basjoos described since my fan was cycling on when I was fasing and when i was driving. Now no more! heat will be generously accepted into the passenger compartment :)

iam so TOTALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO WINTER. Cardboard has never made my car all happy and warm :D I better make copies of the cardboard before the rain hits! Then REAR WHEEL SKIRTS AND I"M IN COAST CITY!!!

oh yeah... that drat underbelly!

edit: forgot to add, I notice less wind noise too! if i had to guesstimate, blocking my grill improved my coasting ability by 3%, so i bleed 3% less speed.

worse comes to worse you can just turn the setting to HOT. ANd rob all the engine heat so that it doesn't need to cycle on the fan ;) that fan cycled once when I was fasing! its such a battery killer!

So far so good with the battery. In the summer here in KC, temps range from 95-100 with high humidity, so A/C is a must-have. When FASing I have the blower on recirc and hi -- strangely the Integra really holds onto the cool air in the evaporator coil when shut-down. Keying back on immediately always has both under-hood fans running. Then, when it's time to start back up, the blower is reduced and then onward.

The battery is about 4-years old and has a good charge -- just worried about Winter and cold cranking ability now that it's been taking a beating with all of the FASing this year. We'll see -- it might be a good excuse to get an Optima battery or something cool like that.

And also for safety, I always drive with my headlights on, so that's working the battery too when the ICE is off.

RH77

...And also for safety, I always drive with my headlights on, so that's working the battery too when the ICE is off.

In the bigger picture, avoiding a collision with a inattentive driver saves a lot of energy when you consider all the running around to get it fixed, using a rental that very likely uses more gas, etc....

Hi All:

___I do not block the Accord but did the Insight. I know it would not hurt at all but just haven’t done it yet. The Insight ICE is a 125 # chunk of aluminum whereas the Accord’s I4 is probably more around 250. More mass to retain heat and when it is running, she is burning about twice as much fuel. I never installed the block heater in the Insight or the Accord (had one in the box however) but have on the Ranger. Probably should have done that to but with the long commute, it would not help that much either :(

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Just thinking Wayne, maybe a thermal blanket completely around the Insight during the marathon might have helped more.

Hi Chuck:

___Randall has a wealth of ideas along with the thermal blanket but except for the night shifts and those days when it was below 65 degrees, it was the pavement temps that really effected our outcome, not the ICE’s condition itself. Randall, Louis, and I learned how the various variables were affecting mileage and believe it or not, pavement temps had a lot more to do with the results then you could have imagined.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Wayne,

Although not obvious, it does make sense - road pavement is much denser than air.

So...flame thrower mod? Would it count against my gas mileage if I use Ethanol? :D

So...flame thrower mod? Would it count against my gas mileage if I use Ethanol? :D

Try doing that in Yellowstone Nat Park....