[XYZ]

Originally Posted by Mudgey

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.

I have the same problem: short, essential trips and the car hardly ever gets up to operating temp. For those of us with this situation a block heater is useless.

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?

The potential problem is that it might get too hot, even in winter, if you travel any distance that is longer than your usual short distance.

If you wrap the engine in any sort of wrap, your insulating blanket will certainly become very dirty. And you will need to remove all the intricacies of however it is attached during warmer weather.

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?

Maybe. But it wouldn't be good to find out the hard way, that it's detrimental.

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.

Is it A/T or manual?

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.

IMHO the blanketing idea is too cumbersome and potentially problematic, because it's difficult to uninstall it. Consider easier options: A grille block that is easily removable that can be attached over the exterior grille. Another very inexpensive and easily removable, yet highly effective item is that of simply putting a sheet of cardboard or formica panel to block the radiator. The nice part is that if the temp gets too hot you can quickly and easily remove it while on the road - and put it back when the engine cools down.

Another strategy you might want to consider is changing the spark plugs to the next step hotter in heat range. If you are constantly doing cold trips while not up to operating temp, this may help. I've done it and found it beneficial for the vehicle I use mostly in winter, for short runs. Plus the good old cardboard radiator block...