Temperature controlled grille block - Page 2 - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

vtec-e · 11-02-2008, 04:58 PM

I was tricking around with the civic today and thought of using the recirc lever to control a door covering the remaining opening to the rad. Got the door built and installed but need a long cable to operate it. Will try a bike shop for some gear cable. Also i discovered that the recirc valve is operated by a servo motor so..........

If not i'll just use a small lever to operate it. I've decided to not use the intake vac to open/shut the radiator door as it would close it when i go up a steep hill at almost WOT. Not that it happens much...
Temp control would be awesome but where would it read the temp from? The block? It would need some serious amount of testing and maybe emergency roadside mods!!
I'll try post a pic of my radiator door tomorrow.

ollie

TestDrive · 11-02-2008, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vtec-e

Got the door built and installed but need a long cable to operate it. Will try a bike shop for some gear cable.

If you have trouble finding long enough, a manual choke/throttle cable from NAPA, CarQuest ... might do the trick.

vtec-e · 11-03-2008, 03:32 PM

Thanks. Got some bike gear cable that was just long enough. Access to the servo is tricky but not impossible. Here's a pic of my grille block:

It's taped up at the moment. More to do tomorrow!

ollie

Peter7307 · 11-03-2008, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

It's hard for me to believe that I'm the first one to think of this, but I couldn't find a relevant post. So has anyone already discussed this? Any comments?

A good idea but not a new one as you rightly suggested.

The earliest example which worked was by Rolls - Royce about 1920 or so. They coupled a wax filled thermostat to a lever which opened and closed the slats on the radiator. Closed at low temps and fully open at higher temps.
Maintenance was a pain and many garages simply disconnected the lever and locked the slats permanently open. The slats were vertical so only a small amount of effort was needed to move them.

Some current trucks use a similar set up.

Mercedes Benz experimented with a single flush fitting door on the front of their cars.
At low temps the door was a flush fitting panel. At higher temps the panel (hinged at the leading edge) opened to allow air flow to the radiator.

Many aircraft also have had variable geometry cooling exhaust flaps.

Good luck with yours too.

Cheers , Pete.

aerohead · 11-06-2008, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

[aerohead], it sounds neat, but my poor imagination is elsewhere at the moment. Could you give some drawings or pictures? Thanks

Piwoslaw,I thought I had a photo of the T-100's grille at maxmpg but I tried to go to that site and it no longer exists.I tried to do a search for my own photos here at ecomodder and can't get to them either.The site keeps expanding and materials get pushed around.------------- Maybe this Saturday I can get help to scan and email some photos to ecomodder.I'll give it a go.

MetroMPG · 11-06-2008, 07:19 PM

Phil, I remember posting a pic of your t-100 showing the aero grille in another thread. Here it is:

tasdrouille · 11-06-2008, 10:54 PM

Well...I just bought an AutoSpeed universal temperature switch and some NiTi wire. I'm gonna build something nice for the Elantra.

i_am_socket · 11-07-2008, 10:36 AM

Can't wait to see what you do with it

aerohead · 11-08-2008, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Phil, I remember posting a pic of your t-100 showing the aero grille in another thread. Here it is:

Darin,thanks for continually baling me out on photos! I've got some time today so I'm gonna check out photo bucket and see if I can begin to get a handle on it.Thanks mucho! Phil.