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Old 01-19-2009, 05:04 PM   #9 (permalink)
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Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: South Dakota
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WonderWagon - '94 Ford Escort LX
Last 3: 51.52 mpg (US)

DaBluOne - '99 Ford Escort SE
90 day: 48.97 mpg (US)

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Quote:
Originally Posted by malibuguy View Post
at first, the opening under the tag was not there, until after the first drive, the car kept getting over 200* & kicking the fan on, i thought the small gaps on the sides would be enough...so i slowly trimmed a hole under the tag until i notice the fan basically only really comes on in slow moving traffic...is that acceptable??

whats the rule of thumb?

if i had more material left over from the Caliber's undertray, i would have filled up the whole grille without the gaps on the sides
The opening(s) for the grille block will yield the most cooling per square inch if they are directly in front of the radiator fan. Better to block the sides, and open the center.

How much over 200* F? Does the fan cycle on an off in slow moving traffic or just run constantly? I'd want the former or be d**m sure my temperature gauge read accurately and never climbed over 202* F??? (No good source/reason for choosing that number. But there would be a number and it sure would be well under 210* F.)

If you go to History : Weather Underground, you can page through charts of the high/low temperature for you're area during the last year - like this -


and thus make an educated guess if size of the current opening will be a reasonable compromise for the next couple of months.
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