2013 Honda Fit lower grille block

[Andrei_ierdnA]

I know it's an older thread, but I'm wondering what you did during the summer of 2015, which was a pretty hot one at times. Did you add extra holes in the coroplast, or remove it completely?

Congrats on the awesome high mpg Fat Charlie. I'm amazed you pulled that out of a 2nd gen Fit. Hope I can squeeze even 50mpg out of mine soon.

[Fat Charlie]

I chickened out and drilled 3 or 4 holes in it with a half inch bit when I did it, but nothing else afterwards. Since low rpms don't burn much gas, P&G burns even less and EOC burns zero, there's less heat being generated in there than under normal operation.

Watching the temps can get a little scary, but I never saw it get past 213/214 degrees. The thermostat seems to start opening in the 177-179 range, and the fan seems to come on around 192-195. Maybe around 212 the fan ups its speed or something. But in my climate, on my roads, under my traffic conditions and with my driving style, it never created a problem.

It looks like my second year with the car will be 1.5 mpg higher than the first year- 10 months of that with the grille block.

[Andrei_ierdnA]

Thanks Charlie for the clarification.
Has the high-temperature light came up on your dash at 215 F ?
Does anyone know what engine/coolant temp will cause the "idiot-light" to come on?
I know the oil can handle quite a bit more heat, but would other engine components suffer at temps in the range of 220-250 F?

Maybe your 1.5 mph higher is from the car ageing a bit and increasing its internal efficiencies? Or improved driving skills?

[Fat Charlie]

I've never had the light, and it's never hung out that high for long.

I'm crediting the grille block. I haven't gotten any better at driving in the last year, and I don't think the car broke in too much- and I did see some better glides after I did it.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by Andrei_ierdnA

Thanks Charlie for the clarification.
Has the high-temperature light came up on your dash at 215 F ?
Does anyone know what engine/coolant temp will cause the "idiot-light" to come on?
I know the oil can handle quite a bit more heat, but would other engine components suffer at temps in the range of 220-250 F?

Maybe your 1.5 mph higher is from the car ageing a bit and increasing its internal efficiencies? Or improved driving skills?

Some GM products had 255-F as normal operating temps.I don't think engine oils break down until into the 400+ F range.My VW runs around 350-F.

[California98Civic]

This "stealthy" lower grill block is a great example of clean, quick, effective modding.

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

Well, the brutally cold winter is gone, so yesterday I finally got around to making my grille block. Makes sense.

Here's a good look at how bad the stock opening is:



It went pretty easily, I just had to pull some retainers off the shroud above the grilles (around the hood latch) and could see right into the cavernous space inside the fascia. It looked like I could just drop the block in and secure it at the top center with a zip tie through two holes in a beam that was there.

I had a broken piece of plexiglass that looked about the right size. So I slipped it in, took careful measurements with my fingers, then trimmed one side straight and put it back in. It fit great. I managed to get my drill in there to put two holes in the top center... and shattered it. Maybe a flat surface and some masking tape would have helped, but whatever. Plan B was to find the 2x3 piece of coroplast I had bought God knows how long ago to make a grille block out of- last year's Plan A. I used the plexi mess as a template to cut it down then used the zip tie as a handle while I sprayed it black with my other hand. A windy driveway isn't a fun spray booth, but you can stay away from other things and the paint dries fast. I slipped it back into the car, zip tied the top to the bracket and sealed around it with duct tape.

And here's what it looks like now:



I've only had one run with it, but the butt wind tunnel (a horrifying name for the areo equivalent of the butt dyno) says it's an improvement. I don't have a huge scoop ducting air under the car any more. Weather and traffic conditions are hard to account for, but a couple signifigant glides didn't lose speed the way I'm used to and I was seeing higher instant mpg numbers than expected with the cruise set to 62 mph.

Temps were higher at times. Normal temp is 177-179, and it got up there pretty quickly. A long uphill stretch would bring it up to the mid 190s, which it would take a while to come down from. Stopped in traffic brought it up to 205-206. I'm going to have to keep an eye on that as things warm up.

Quick and effective, neat and stealthy. I'm happy with it. Now I have to get on procrastinating my belly pan!