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Mudgey · 01-05-2014, 02:46 PM

Hello,

The car:
Supercharged K20 Prelude.

The problem:
I tend to do about 4 very short journeys each day, approximately 2.5m each! The car then sits on average 3 hours between each journey. The car hardly ever gets warm enough to open the thermostat and this must be killing the fuel economy and of course is also not good for the engine! By the time I get to work the engine may be 65c but is close to ambient again within those 3 hours! Currently the weather is approx 3c but can get as cold as -5.

Potential solution:
I thought about making and installing a vacuum flask/insulated container for engine coolant, but then thought why not just insulate the whole engine? So I am thinking about creating an engine blanket to cover the whole motor & possibly gearbox too. One issue is the supercharger and they have a max operating temperature so it may be worth insulating around the inlet manifold only with the charger exposed. I am thinking I will insulate the non cooling parts of the radiator and the water pipes also. I also have an engine pre heater to install but has anybody ever done anything like this and what sort of results have you had?

1. I imagine if the whole engine is covered in a blanket everything within that is going to warm up to approx coolant temp which is 85c, is it detrimental to the wiring or any other part of the engine for everything to be this hot?

2. Is the gearbox ok working at a sustained higher temp? I feel if this part was left expose it would essentially act as a heat sink.

3. Whats the best thing to do about the exhaust? I was thinking of tailer making something to have an inch gap or something around the exhaust headers so the insulation doesn't get too hot though it would have to hug the block around the exhaust area so it doesn't touch it.

01-05-2014, 02:46 PM	#1 (permalink)
Mudgey EcoModding Lurker Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: UK Posts: 12 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Engine Insulation Hello, The car: Supercharged K20 Prelude. The problem: I tend to do about 4 very short journeys each day, approximately 2.5m each! The car then sits on average 3 hours between each journey. The car hardly ever gets warm enough to open the thermostat and this must be killing the fuel economy and of course is also not good for the engine! By the time I get to work the engine may be 65c but is close to ambient again within those 3 hours! Currently the weather is approx 3c but can get as cold as -5. Potential solution: I thought about making and installing a vacuum flask/insulated container for engine coolant, but then thought why not just insulate the whole engine? So I am thinking about creating an engine blanket to cover the whole motor & possibly gearbox too. One issue is the supercharger and they have a max operating temperature so it may be worth insulating around the inlet manifold only with the charger exposed. I am thinking I will insulate the non cooling parts of the radiator and the water pipes also. I also have an engine pre heater to install but has anybody ever done anything like this and what sort of results have you had? 1. I imagine if the whole engine is covered in a blanket everything within that is going to warm up to approx coolant temp which is 85c, is it detrimental to the wiring or any other part of the engine for everything to be this hot? 2. Is the gearbox ok working at a sustained higher temp? I feel if this part was left expose it would essentially act as a heat sink. 3. Whats the best thing to do about the exhaust? I was thinking of tailer making something to have an inch gap or something around the exhaust headers so the insulation doesn't get too hot though it would have to hug the block around the exhaust area so it doesn't touch it.