Automatic grill shutter prototype

[Frank Lee]

Just run a cable to the dash- like the old manual choke cables- for a couple bux and be done with it.

[gone-ot]

...do they still make mechanical push/pull cables that long?

[lunarhighway]

i'm thinking of going for a window locking motor (couple of bucks on ebay)
that's tied to the fan when the fan comes on the shutters open, when it goes of the shutters close. from previous experiments with solid blocks i've gathered that even with an almost full block the fan only comes on when the cars in stop go traffic on a hot day, and under this condition the fan would come on at some point anyway.

[slowmover]

I could potentally add a partial grill block to the lower grill, even under worst case desert heat conditions and maintain proper temps.

Will speak to the obvious here:

Testing will need to include truck loaded to GVWR for solo runs. And towing a representative trailer maximum (weight, frontal area, length), properly hitched, for GCWR.

I suggest the following. For anyone's testing.

The SAE J2807 standards (a snippet) include:

Highway Gradeability

To merit a particular TWR (Tow Weight Rating), a vehicle must be capable of maintaining a minimum cruising speed while climbing the grade at Davis Dam on State Roads 68 and 163 in Arizona & Nevada. This 12-mile-long run originating in Bullhead City, Arizona, involves grades that vary between 3- and 7-percent with an average over 5-percent. During this test, the minimum acceptable ambient temperature is 100-degrees F, and A/C systems must be operating on the maximum cold setting with no recirculation and the blower at the highest possible setting.

Single rear wheel vehicles must be able to maintain an average of at least 40 mph on this grade at GCWR.

To pass these hot-ambient-temperature, steep-grade challenges, there can be no vehicle component failures, no warning lamps, and no diagnostic codes alerting the driver. In addition, the tow vehicle cannot lose any engine coolant. The vehicle under test must be equipped with the lowest numerical axle ratio available from the manufacturer.

A similar "run" may be closer to home.


Vernier Control Cable

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[Cd]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Just run a cable to the dash- like the old manual choke cables- for a couple bux and be done with it.

If I recall correctly, Andrew J did this quite some time ago.

[Frank Lee]

I thought someone did it, and I thought "right on! "

[slowmover]

ANDREWJ

[khafra]

I, for one, like the cheap, reliable, automated 80% solution that errs on the side of safety. After watching my temps for a while in the Florida summer I don't know if I can afford to block my grill even partially at highway speeds; but I'd still like to see the build process and performance, when you get that youtube video up.

[gone-ot]

...as a retired electronics engineer, let ME be the first to say that electronic devices are NOT 100% infallible--with "Murphy" as my witness and albatross!

[CigaR007]

Originally Posted by Old Tele man

...as a retired electronics engineer, let ME be the first to say that electronic devices are NOT 100% infallible

True, but I am still leaning towards an electronic control of my future adjustable grille block. It all boils down to the conceptual design and execution imo.