As a grill blocker, what is temp max for efficiency

[patsparks]

Oh I wasn't thinking about your SO, I was thinking about me. (Selfish little bugga eh?)

[DaveinOlyWA]

problems with dash warning or "idiot" lights is that they dont actually warn you until its frequently too late.

high temps are one of the worst as well. seeing an increasing temp beyond the norm would prevent me from jumping on the freeway or passing that "last gas for 32 miles" sign. i wish i could monitor inverter temps or for that matter know what temp i need to be concerned about since i dont remember reading a consensus on that figure either.

i use scangauge which only does water granted, but hopefully that would be enough

[FireEngineer]

Thermostat starts to open at 80C, fully open at 88C, fans kick on between 98-100C. The warning light, don't worry about it.

Wayne

[DaveinOlyWA]

ok fan on at 98C is what i probably have seen. like i said, have seen 207F plenty of times but no fan that would be like 97ish... to be honest with ya, if OAT is like 45 or lower, the highest i ever see is 200 and its usually 185 and under.

i dont like to use heat until i hit 175

[bobjeri]

My interest in the Idiot Coolant Temp Light is a desire to have a simplistic 'Belt AND Suspenders' approach to monitoring engine temp while blocked.

Idiots Lights can be worthless .. spouse ruined the engine of an early 80's Toyota just after the oil change folks didn't tighten the drain plug. Light came on just AS IT WAS OBVIOUSLY knocking, wheezing and screaming in the final throes of cooking.

Then there's me ... I've seized two 2-cycle motorcycle engines while racing in the CA desert quite a few decades ago, with no excuse except youthful excess and ignorance.

In a little over a week we're driving from WA to CA for a few weeks ... thanks for the info. Will look into an analog or maybe scangage for MY mental health.

[a priori]

Originally Posted by DaveinOlyWA

i have seen temps above 90ºC with no fan... even had temps hit 206 F with no fan. i will have to check that again.

i had the fan on my 2004 come on one time but did not have anything to monitor it. this was on a trip to Montana, the OAT was 101º and i was averaging 75 mph with A/C set to 72º. the fan kicked on about 30 secs after i parked because i had gotten out of the car and was walking to grab a drink when it kicked in and it was pretty loud so i was a bit startled.

so i went back, popped the hood, but by the time i got it open, it had kicked off after running maybe 90 seconds or so. so i closed the hood and as i was walking away, it kicked on again, ran about 30-45 secs and kicked off again. when i came back out, the fan was off and stayed off

There's a fan?

[patsparks]

I just had a thought, a light connected to the fan, just a simple LED on the dash to warn that temps are on the rise and the fan has come on. Only problem is the AC switches the fan on too. Hmmm.

[hill]

Originally Posted by DaveinOlyWA

i have seen temps above 90ºC with no fan... even had temps hit 206 F with no fan. i will have to check that again.

i had the fan on my 2004 come on one time but did not have anything to monitor it. this was on a trip to Montana, the OAT was 101º and i was averaging 75 mph with A/C set to 72º. the fan kicked on about 30 secs after i parked because i had gotten out of the car and was walking to grab a drink when it kicked in and it was pretty loud so i was a bit startled.

. . . . . . . snip

+1

One other variable: Driving speed. Are you pulling a grade (say leaving Vegas) during 100+ degree summer temps? Or are you hyper mileing at 30mph when it's 90 degrees. The ICE isn't going to overheat at lower loads, even if it's 90 degrees, if it's only running for 30 second intervals. From other's experience on PC I've learned that lower speed driving, even when it's warm (90f and under), the ICE won't get too hot ... even with 100% grill block. If I'm going to jump on the freeway on a hot day though, I'll pull half the foam out. (caveat) Your results may vary.

[gillis-t]

Thanks guys, good ideas. Yesterday after posting question, temps were a little warmer here in Utah, approx. 45-50 degr., went about 5 miles city streets & finally about 8 miles on freeway @ 60 mph. With grill totally blocked (upper & lower). Water temp on S.G. got to 210 F. (99 C.), when I heard fans kicking in. Temp dropped back pretty fast, probably due to fans drawing air from bottem shrowd holes. Think I'll pull 2 or 3 twelve inch strips from bottom left corner which should feed inverter side anyway. Again thanks for help & info, Gillis-t.

[David Beale]

If I wasn't running with a Scangauge I'd remove the lower rad. blocking when the ambient temps got above 20C consistently. An odd day here or there up to 30C wouldn't make me remove it.

I'd remove the upper grill blocking when temps were consistently above 25C.

Both my grills are fully blocked, though there is an opening in each end, as the pipe insulation forms a hole at each end which I haven't bothered to block. I access the block heater plug through one of those holes.

All this after two years of observation with the Scangauge of course.

This is a "cold car". I'd be VERY surprised if anyone in Canada or the Northern US ever boiled the coolant (other than if something failed).

Because I use one piece of foam pipe insulation for each grill, with two zip ties each, it only takes a minute to install or remove the blocking. So doing that on trips is practical.