Engine warm-up FAIL

[user removed]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Bet you never looked at a Gen1 Insight, then :-) In cold weather, it simply won't warm up to full operating temperature at idle. Even with a radiator block, it takes 10+ miles of driving at 50-60 mph to get up to temp. (On level roads, of course: the couple of miles of 5-6% grade going the other way from my house get it close.) Which of course means that idling to warm up the engine is pretty useless.


Though I have to say that I'm not real impressed with the article overall. Take the crap about Not allowing adequate separation from other cars (and things like deer & cows) is what forces you to brake hard. Plenty of places around here where I could do 100 mph (were I so inclined :-)), and never have to touch the brakes at all.

Owned one, drove it 35k miles and $7k in warranty repairs. Nothing different as far as engine operating temperature with a properly functioning thermostat. Maybe you should check yours out better.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/em-fuel-l...vehicleid=3656

regards
mech

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

Nothing different as far as engine operating temperature with a properly functioning thermostat. Maybe you should check yours out better.

Humm... "Location: williamsburg, virginia". Maybe you Southerners just have a different idea of what constitutes cold weather?

[Frank Lee]

-22F this morning FTW!

[campisi]

No you got that wrong! It was +43F this morning here .... during a 'cold snap'. THAT, my friend, is called FTW!!

[ksa8907]

Originally Posted by Hightower119

Without properly warming up your cars engine will suffer long term term damage from the effects of running too cold.

This really only applies if you use the wrong oil for the season or you allow water to build up in the oil. Other than that the catalytic converters will probably need replaced sooner.

[RedDevil]

My Green Oil is very thin; after a few months of cold starts I can say it does make a difference in fuel consumption in the first few miles.
At least I don't have to worry about it being too thick to lubricate the engine.

My biggest concern however is the windscreen fogging up.
On clear nights the top of the car, including the windscreen and boot glass, get colder than ambient.
As soon as the blower gets on a thin layer of ice covers it and reduces visibility to naught.
That is why I sometimes have to let the engine idle a while.

Unless I had used my sunscreen; shiny front, foam backing.
That keeps the glass from getting colder than the rest.
Pity it could not cover all of it. And it was falling apart.

My wife bought me a new one which turned out to be too narrow.
Either one was not strong enough to hold up against the wind we often have here.
I needed something better than a sunscreen.

Meet the modder of all sunscreens:

Two sunscreens held together with double sided tape, covering the whole window and held tight by the doors and wipers that won't freeze stuck to the windscreen.

Now the windscreen gets no colder than the interior, and even that retains just a bit more warmth than it would without the screen, so even the other windows have less ice on them.
Off in seconds, drive ready.

[Miller88]

We had a bit of a cold snap here! It was ~25F yesterday morning and ~11F this morning on the way to work.

Yesterday, per usual, the car got up to 180 in a reasonable amount of time ... but didn't throw heat. By the time I go to work, I would describe the heat as luke warm.

I bought some pipe insulation and put that around the grille opening on the top grille. Then, there is a honeycomb material on the upper grille that I never could get to block right - it would always have the tape peel off. I stuffed some of the pipe insulation behind there for now.

I also blocked off the third section of the lower grille.

I started running the HVAC on hot (but no heat obviously at first) when I started out because the windows were frosty. I had luke warm heat about half way in - which isn't bad considering I never turn my heat on until I'm almost to work. By the time I got to work, I had quite acceptable heat.

Not too bad considering it was a lower temperature and I had the HVAC on the whole way.

I think I let the car run for 1 minute this morning.

My fuel economy is a bit lower this winter - I believe that could be from running a 5w-20 synthetic blend opposed to the 0w-20 I usually run.

[user removed]

Crack the drivers window less that .5 inch and use reciriculate defrost (without ac), conserve the heat. Reheating the air will significnatly warm things up since you get multiple opportunities to heat the same air.

regards
mech

[Miller88]

I usually drive with the drivers window cracked a bit - or one of the back windows. Unfortunately, whenever defrost is selected (recirc or not), this car runs the AC compressor. One of these days, when it's out of warranty, I'll put a switch on the pressure sensor wire. If the pressure sensor is disconnected, it won't run the AC.

[Cobb]

You know, the crack the window does work for reduce or eliminate the inside fogging when heater on recycle without the ac running. I seem to find running the heat on recirculate when cold makes the car warm up slightly slower than with it on outside air and flipping to recirculate once it approaches normal operating temp.

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

Crack the drivers window less that .5 inch and use reciriculate defrost (without ac), conserve the heat. Reheating the air will significnatly warm things up since you get multiple opportunities to heat the same air.

regards
mech