Struggling for Temperature

[robchalmers]

Chug, my Diesel VW, has been struggling in the last few days. Its the first couple of days in our first cold snap here in the UK (-5degC or below) and Chug just can seem to get up to his normal 90degC operationg temp, most of the time its around 80-85 while on the motorway and Odd, when I stop at lights, the temp drops to 75ish!

I removed my grille block in Autumn because it didn't seem to be doing much but I was thinking about putting it back on to reduce the cold air getting to the engine bay, the thermostat shouldn't open until 90 anyway so its like the engine is going all air-cooled on me!

Any suggestions for bringing back the temp??

[euromodder]

You put in less heat at idle than when driving it.
With the cold air temps, blocking air from getting into the engine compartment is the way to go.


I'm only running around 80°C , so that's probably a bit too low as well.
What temps are you getting, Piwoslaw ?

[Piwoslaw]

Mine stays at 78°C, even in the summer. Going up an overpass may bring it to 82°, but not for long. When the Wife is driving (no advanced techniques) the temp stays around 82°. Stop and go traffic in the summer sees 95°, but a few kms of EO(n)C brings it back down. I dunno what temperature I'd see after a long idle since I off the engine at long red lights.

I'm thinking about blocking the rest of my grille for the winter and seeing if that makes a difference.

[Arragonis]

I've been monitoring mine with the block on just in case - as noted it goes up and down. From the heater output on these cold mornings even with the block I suspect my thermostat is not opening until I finally get onto the bypass and go faster - at that point my heater output gets much hotter.

It hovers about 82-90 most of the time.

[320touring]

Looking at My Bro's recently aquired 1.9d 6n, I can see that the front grills do let an awful lot of air in- def worth bringing the grillblock back!

on an aside- any hints or tips re the Glowplugs? got 1 and 2 done- but fingers too fat to get into 3 and 4- and I dont want to have to take fuel system or throttle system off...

Much appreciated

[comptiger5000]

I'd put the grill block back in. Some diesel trucks and buses have to run them just to get cabin heat in the winter. Being efficient, most diesels don't produce a lot of heat when not being worked hard. In cold weather, it's entirely possible to lose enough to the heater and through the exhaust to prevent the engine from ever warming up enough to open the t-stat.

[robchalmers]

I haven't changed mine was thinking about getting them done when I get the belt changed in a few months time