Is your grill block robbing you?

[justme1969]

no longer on.
This is a popular mod and im sure Ill be scorched for my post

[user removed]

I think scorching should be moved to it's appropriate subtitle, then deleted after a month.

I blocked my lower grille but left the upper open. Mileage is up so that would indicate that my fan is not pulling more energy than I am saving. The Fiesta has no temperature gauge and I have no additional instrumentation other than what Ford installed. Let them flame me, I bought the car. I heard my fan running when I stopped after coming off the Interstate. Takes a little time for the heat generation to slow down after running at 60-65 MPH. Ambient was close to 70 F.

I understand what you are saying and it should be a concern. You want to avoid fan cycling which wastes energy. I want my engine to run as hot as it does in summer. When I hear the fan cycling more, I'll pull one of the pieces of foam pipe insulation out and wrap it around the spare tire.

Lots of smart people here, I enjoy a discussion, to a point.

regards
Mech

[MetroMPG]

How do you know? easy drive normal route and after 5 miles or so turn car off then turn key to on without cranking it.

That's not quite a valid test of what you're looking for.

It's normal for coolant temperature at the sensor (and in the water jacket generally) to spike when you shut off the engine, because the coolant is still absorbing heat from the engine, but it's not circulating through the radiator.

I can hear if my Firefly/Metro's fan is running during low speed (city) driving. And the fan never comes on. Yet it will come on after I shut off the engine and turn the key back to "ON" as you describe.

EDIT: I'm not saying you don't have a point! If you can't hear your car's fan while driving, it may not be good.

But a better approach would be to monitor your fan status by installing an LED indicator so you know when it's on.

EG: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...elp-24108.html

.

[cbaber]

You have a valid point, but most members who have advanced to a grille block also have instrumentation like a ScanGauge that allows them to constantly monitor coolant temperature, a lot more accurately than the stock gauge can display. For example, on my Civics dash temp gauge I cannot tell the difference between 185 and 210 degrees.

This is important because you should know at what temp. your fan will turn on. In my Civic it's around 206 degrees. If I had a grille block I would know if it was blocked too much if my temps were always around that mark, and the fan would be trying to keep them under control. Many also use a fan light in addition to constant temp monitoring, and this way you know exactly when the fan is on.

[NeilBlanchard]

The scale of energy used by the electric fan running once in a while vs the aero drag losses of leaving the grill open are probably an order of magnitude different. I have not heard of even one person here on EM who has reported a FE loss due to a cooling fan having to run. And I very much doubt that the occasional electrical load of the cooling fan can possibly show up in the FE.

[Fat Charlie]

It's a great area for study, even though any real numbers will only apply to that platform/powertrain/climate/driving style. It's worth thinking about even if once you do, you decide that it won't matter to your situation.

[MetroMPG]

No argument against your points.

Except: use tools to increase the driver's awareness of what's going on. Grille blocks need monitoring, especially newly installed ones (or "aggressive" ones, as the weather changes).

If noobs get that message, all's well.

[Cobb]

Not exactly what I expected to read. I thought this was going to be about transmission/engine oil/ power steering cooler issues. Most cars with an automatic or cvt use a cooler that is inside the radiator. Back in the day when I was an active mechanic in the 90s it was common to have transmission damage in a car that was over heated which used a radiator internal cooler vs an external cooler.

I dont really buy this. The power used to power the fan is way less than what is needed to overcome air resistance.

Having said that I know the gen 2 insight starts to retard timing and notice a lack of performance as the water temp passed 185. I had undo part of my gril block and tried water wetter. It made the difference so I can cover up againand get the savings plus make the cooling system work better.

[NeilBlanchard]

How was the 400W consumption measured? That sounds high to me. It must be pretty similar to the ventilation fan in the car? Headlights are *barely* noticeable at 55W each, and I never really notice when the vent fan is running.

A point that needs to be made is that with a very small grill opening, it helps to have modified the chin area; where on my xA anyway, there is a large opening that lets the *excess* air that came through the stock grill escape. This puts all the air that does come through the reduced opening through the radiator; making the most of what air does come through the grill.

[Cobb]

I think he said in another thread he has a short in his fan and measured a higher than normal load. Of course you can buy a smaller fan or hook the 2 in serial vs parallel so they draw less, but give good flow.

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

How was the 400W consumption measured?