make car warmer faster idea

[americasfuture2k]

my little 08 aveo dosnt really warm for anything. good and bad. these last 2 days it has been below freezing here and my car doesnt seem to warm as much as it did when it was in the 40's and 50's. just today it was at the normal operating temp, parked it and sat in the car before work and the temp needle started dropping. ive never had a car this small with this small of an engine.

so i google make car warmer and turned up a result in a reply to the same question on a message board or something of the sorts. it was said to use some cardboard like from a beer box to block off half of your radiator. is this a good idea or no? any other ideas how to make it warmer in the car?

[lunarhighway]

good idea, search for grill brock on this forum

[blueflame]

Its good for your engine, not bad

[NeilBlanchard]

Hi,

I have about 3/4 of my grill blocked off, and I gain in two ways: the engine warms up faster, and there is a large aerodynamic improvement; by having the blocks on the outside.

[Daox]

There is no problem at all with blocking off the radiator. As Neil said, grill blocks (on the exterior) are superior as they help with aerodynamics. But, radiator blocks are incredibly easy and will help with warm up. Just make sure you don't block off too much, and make sure you remove it when it starts to warm up. If its blocked off too much or gets too warm up you do run the risk of overheating, so keep an eye on your coolant temperature.

[MazdaMatt]

"and make sure you remove it when it starts to warm up."

He means remove it when the weather starts to warm up, not your car.

[Daox]

Yes, haha. Don't stop on the side of the road every time your car warms up to take the block out!

[blueflame]

Or hauling a big load like a trailer or boat

[taco]

Originally Posted by blueflame

Or hauling a big load like a trailer or boat

i really dont see an aveo hauling or towing much

[vtec-e]

I retired the civic recently and in its place i have a 1.4D4D yaris. Oh boy......
Anyway, we had a bit of a freeze recently too so i blocked up the rest of my grille so i had no opening at all. This resulted in the car warming up quicker and allowing me to be toasty inside without mpg suffering. Now, it didn't start melting the dash vents or anything!! Just a little cooler than the civic used to be at the same setting. I guess it uses so little fuel that it's difficult to warm up. Being a diesel doesn't help either. I havent wired up the fan light so when it's not freezing i open up the radiator to a 4" x 4" opening, just in case.

ollie