Lower grille blocked
 

I finally blocked the lower grille on the Honda using Corrugated Plastic and duct tape. I also looked up towing in the owners manual and it gave a distance that it could be towed (EOC) after the transmission had been run to circulate the fluid. I'm keeping the mud flaps on for now.

So, on my short almost daily run where I would get 22-24 mpg (best), I got 26.2 mpg (ScanGageII) for both runs. Highly unscientific, but obvious to me. I think these were good changes.

Joggernot

Better get that duct tape off and use blue painters tape. What was the towing distance?

you DO NOT want to Engine Off Coast with an automatic. period.
Numerous discussions on this topic.
Towing has NOTHING to do with Engine off coasting.

Automatic tranny coast in neutral with engine ON.

Duct tape changed to blue painters tape. The silver duct tape on a silver truck and car looked a lot better, though.

The owners manual says towing with front wheels down for 50 miles at 35 mph. My EOC is at 35 or less, so I "assumed" it would be ok. Since you people are the experts, I'll limit myself to Engine On coasting.

Thanks for the fast and pertinent responses!

duct tape tends t oleave a sticky mess. hard to clean off.

Yes, I knew about cleaning off the duct tape, but normally acetone works, as it did this time. Hope there isn't a problem with the blue tape. Just for info...naptha works on almost all other tape residues/glues, but not on duct tape.

I EOC the auto in my 95 accord, sometimes up to 70mph and for distances over 2 miles.

With the temperatures in the 30s I blocked off the upper grill as well. That was too much. Temperature went over 220°F, so I had to stop and pull out the foam blocking the upper grill. Next experiment will be to block the upper and open the lower to see what the water temperature does.