How to block your front grill with pipe insulation

scurvy

Good Ol' Boy
Joined
Feb 21, 2006
Location
Chicago IL USA
TDI
2006 Golf
It's that time of the year again, when plummeting temperatures send us scrambling to dose our fuel and crank our seat heaters to 11. Ever wanted to block off part of your radiator to help your engine warm up faster? It's very easy to do and can help you get better fuel economy, perhaps lower engine wear but most importantly get heat to the passenger cabin faster. This is very easy & cheap, but I thought some of the less imaginative or mechanically inclined may benefit from some pictures. This was done on my 2006 MkIV Golf TDI.

Go to your local hardware store and buy 3 meters (9') of foam pipe insulation for 13mm (1/2") copper pipe (or 10mm iron pipe - pipe sizing is weird, but pipe threading is even weirder). I found it at my local Menards for the whopping sum of $1.64. Menards is a midwestern chain of giant hardware stores, kinda like Home Depot or Lowes, but without all the suck. The pipe insulation usually comes in 2 meter lengths (6') but for some bizarre reason, it was in a bag of four (4) one meter lengths. Whatever. It costs less than $2 total and more than you need.



Note that this is dark grey, which blends in better. Sometimes it is brown or black. It will still work fine. Don't worry. Have a homebrew. Also notice the package is half French. That's because this stuff was hecho-en-Canadia.

Take out a piece of it and notice there's a slit down one side. That's how you would put it around a pipe. And that's how you're going to put it on your grille. Open up the slit by running a finger down it:


Then slide it in place over a slat in your upper grille, and trim to length with your pocketknife:


Repeat three times, and the upper grille is done.


Give it all a nice push to get it settled in there.

Now do the same thing on the lower grille slats. Don't bother with the bottom-most as it doesn't actually go through.

But before you slide those in place, I like to cut some slits to match up with the vertical grille bits, shown below.


Those help it sit nice and far back into the grille openings and block out that awful cold air.

Do that for both lower grille slats and you're done, honkey.


It may seem a little flimsy but I've never had a piece become dislodged for any of the past 3 winters.

Enjoy!

scurvy
 
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SoaceMunky

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2005
Location
Webster, TX
TDI
Blue Anthracite Golf IV, 13 miles and counting ;)
i'm curious....exactly how much of an effect will this have? it doesent get THAT cold around here, but I'm always up for messing with the car!
 
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MikeS_18

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 18, 2005
Location
Bow, NH
TDI
'03 Jetta Wagon, '13 Passat SE, '64 Ford Econoline
Hey, and if you spray paint the insulation black it will flake right off so don't bother. Trust me on this one...

I hope that really does help, because I'd hate t drive around looking like that if it had no effect. ;) j/k
 

RabbitGTI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 20, 1997
Location
Wisconsin
TDI
B4 Passat Sedan
I just buy six rolls of cheap duct tape and cover the entire front of my car. I block off everything but the headlights. Just make sure to keep a knife in the car in case you have to get the hood open.
 

weedeater

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 17, 2001
Location
Reston, VA
TDI
Jetta, 2001, Baltic Green
IIRC, that lowest slot does not go through.

I place the slit of the insulation over the fins of the grate. That uses less stuff, and the two pieces (top/bottom) hold each other together.
 

RabbitGTI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 20, 1997
Location
Wisconsin
TDI
B4 Passat Sedan
Seriously, I just use pieces of a 1/2 inch think backpacking mat and put them in front of the radiator. Works great.
 

Outbound

Active member
Joined
Jun 11, 2006
Location
Port Huron, MI
TDI
99.5 Jetta
A/C Cover

99.5 Jetta -- I noticed that my A/C fan died and really had not worked for some time so I pitched it --- my A/C worked fine and it would blow cold on the hot summer days. I also noticed that the large hole in the rad cover where the fan attached would be a great place to cover over for the winter -- for faster warm-up and getting a little more heat. I cut a cover out of plastic and screwed it into the same holes as the fan mount. The rad cover has a divider in the middle so the cover closes off half of the rad. I did not do an eng'r test on this project to see how much faster it warms up, but it seems to get heat faster and holds the temp better on slow around town driving. I have run the x-way at speeds of 75mph in weather temps of 70 degrees and the motor has not overheated. Now that it is getting much colder I have placed another cover over the front lower part of the rad -- 6" high by the length of the rad. The motor warms up pretty well now --- even slow town driving. I see 180 most of the time now on my Scan - even with the heater blowing hard.
 

scurvy

Good Ol' Boy
Joined
Feb 21, 2006
Location
Chicago IL USA
TDI
2006 Golf
So far, so good

Made it a good 75 miles since I installed it in subfreezing weather at highway speeds - so sign of movement.

This morning it was 8F (-13C). Driving carefully and easy, keeping RPMs below 2500, I was off the bottom 3 lines in 1.5 miles, full-on 190F (90C) straight up on the temp gauge 2.5 miles later (4 miles elapsed) on city streets. This is an improvement from previous days, when it wouldn't be fully hot before I got on the Dan Ryan expressway.

I like it.
 

brucep

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2002
Location
Vermont, USA
TDI
peebs4u2
Another benifet of covering the grille is to keep out the SALT SPRAY (Chloride, Calcium, Uride...whatever they use in your area) which comes off of the wheels of the car in front of you.

I have see radiator fins turn to dust after a few winters of salt-spray on them.

I also, in the spring, use copious amounts of water from the garden hose to rinse off my radiator. Otherwise, that salt will stay there and munch away at the fins all summer when it gets humid.
 

Audiofyl

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2005
Location
Chicago
TDI
Golf GLS 05 indigo blue
I did mine, but in a different way. I used some slightly larger insulation and fit it over the horizontal bars of the lower big grille, as if the horizontal bars were the pipe that the insulation was designed for. Prior to the fitting, I cut some vertical slits in the insulation to fit around the vertical bars in the grille. Before the final placement, I wrapped a wire tie around a couple of the horizontal bars so the unattached ends were poking out the front of the grille. Once the insulation was fitted, the ties can be attached and trimmed to prevent any movement. I did this with only one long piece of the insulation as it only has to cover 2 horizontal bars.

I agree with scurvy as the temp increase is immediately apparent in the cold climates.
 

Nitrowolf

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 22, 2005
Location
Kansas City
TDI
White 2003 Jetta TDI
scurvy said:
Made it a good 75 miles since I installed it in subfreezing weather at highway speeds - so sign of movement.
You, my friend, are a god. Anyone that can install something on the front of their car in subzero weather while traveling at 65+ MPH without wrecking is a god. I bow before you.
 

scurvy

Good Ol' Boy
Joined
Feb 21, 2006
Location
Chicago IL USA
TDI
2006 Golf
Nitrowolf said:
Anyone that can install something on the front of their car in subzero weather while traveling at 65+ MPH without wrecking is a god.
Didn't really seem like that big of a deal to me at the time... guess I've just got long arms. :D

Yeah, that was an awkward sentence to write and to parse. Me fail English? That's unpossible! Lemme rephrase it... "After installing the pipe insulation on my front lower grill, I drove at least 75 miles at interstate speeds in subfreezing weather and the insulation has shown no sign of movement."

It was 5F (-15C) this morning - same story as before. Off the three hash marks after about 1.5 miles, full heat by 4 miles. I like the other methods mentioned, but this one seem like by far the laziest and appears to work well.

scurvy
 

kharmin

Veteran Member
Joined
May 10, 2006
Location
East-ish St Paul, MN
TDI
'06 Jetta, DSG, Package 0
I'm completely staying out of the grammar discussion, but the pipe insulation in the grille Does make a noticeable difference in warm-up time! My gauge was off dead-cold and moving up in less than 2 miles yesterday, as well.
Thanks for the suggestion, scurvy!
I did top and bottom of the center grilles. The brown-ish color didn't look real promising in the store to me either, but on the car it's fine.
 

badgolfer

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2006
Location
Illinois
TDI
2006 Jetta
That's a great idea! My temp gauge hasn't hit 190 the last few mornings for the entire ride home from my night shifts, and it's a 35 mile ride.
 

MikeS_18

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 18, 2005
Location
Bow, NH
TDI
'03 Jetta Wagon, '13 Passat SE, '64 Ford Econoline
Okay, I was at the Home Depot today and they also have this in BLACK....
 

JB05

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 20, 2005
Location
Il.USA
TDI
Golf,2005,anthracite blue
I found black at the local Ace Hardware in Arlington Heights @ $1.99.
I bought the one inch size and opened up the tubing to wrap around
the horizontal part of the lower grill after cutting slots for the vertical.
Now I'm due for a test drive. While at the store I looked around for other
ideas, but this approach seems to be more logical. From far away it's
hardly noticeable. Scurvy, thanx for the idea.
JB
 

Audiofyl

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2005
Location
Chicago
TDI
Golf GLS 05 indigo blue
I did mine last year and just put them on again for this year about a week ago when the extreme cold hit.
 

TDIdenver

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2003
Location
New York, NY, USA
TDI
Jetta, 99.5, Black(traded in); Jetta 06, Platinum; Jetta 11, Platinum
I have done this through Vermont winters and NY winters, and I highly recommend it. Yeah, it may look a little weird, but it looks better than a wreath. Works like a charm. The engine is able to warm up faster and thus, the interior is warm MUCH faster. I do recommend using some zipties to keep them attached. I got a warning from a state police officer when one fell off in front of him. The warning was for littering. GRRRR.
 

Brock_from_WI

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2002
Location
Green Bay, WI USA
TDI
2003 wagon
I had been doing the pipe insulation trick but wanted to do a better block since my trip is only 11 miles to and from work at 40 mph max, it never warms up. I put cardboard behind the upper grill and popped out the lower grills and used gaff tape (a black duct tape that leaves no residue) to cover them. I now have spares so if I have to do any highway driving or a longer trip I can pop out the covered ones and pop in the regular one, although just taking them out would work as well. I am now thinking of using something like clear packing tape; I wonder how that might look? But since I have spare grills packing tape sticking wouldn't bother me to much.

 

Fix_Until_Broke

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 8, 2004
Location
Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, USA
TDI
03 Jetta, 03 TT TDI
Brock - Clear packing tape works, but starts to look bad after a month or two - gets road crap behinnd it. This is what I used/tried last winter. I like the looks and idea of seperate grills in black.

Another thing to use is backing rod - it's used to put behind gaps in things (concrete usually) so when you seal it up it does not take as much sealant. My local hardware store had it in sizes ranging from 1/4" to 1-1/2" - works well. Can use this to block the horizontal bars between the headlights - it tucks up in there nicely and you have to be on the ground looking at the grill to see it. Just cut a notch in the backing rod where there is a vertical protrusion so it does not bulge like some of the other pics on this thread.

Covering the intercooler inlet (passenger side bottom grill) might also help the car warm up faster - I noticed that my EGT's are ~100F hotter with this blocked off. Probably hurts high load for long duration performance, but, I rarely do that anyway.
 

burpod

teh stallionz!!1
Joined
Nov 27, 2004
Location
cape cod, ma
TDI
82 rabbit vnt ahu, 98 jetta vnt ahu, 05 parts car, 88 scirocco.. :/
i just did half of this mod today, in my golf and jetta... i've only done the upper grill - but left the top part open just to keep more air going to the intake...

golf:


jetta (in the dark):
 

mechanicalbrew

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2007
Location
Mansfield, OH
TDI
99.5 Golf GL Manual Tranny
should just the "lower" grille be covered or the lower and upper? i am not going to cover the lower sides due to the intercooler and intake
 

MikeS_18

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 18, 2005
Location
Bow, NH
TDI
'03 Jetta Wagon, '13 Passat SE, '64 Ford Econoline
upper and lower is okay as far as i know. It all allows the cold air in when you are trying to get warmed up.

and you're right on the lower left and right too.
 

Fix_Until_Broke

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 8, 2004
Location
Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, USA
TDI
03 Jetta, 03 TT TDI
The lower left is blocked off already, the lower right (intercooler inlet) can be blocked off as well. A little bit warmer air from the turbo will help the car warm up, and as long as you're not trying to pull a trailer over the rocky mountians, there won't be a significant performance change.

I run mine blocked off all summer and the only time I noticed anything different was when I was pulling the trailer when it was 80F out and the A/C was on. (IAT's were ~225F). I stopped and removed the lower center and intercooler grills and the temps dropped to ~125F.

For the most effective result, block all frontal passages.
 

iBran

Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2008
Location
Minneapolis, MN USA
TDI
2003 Golf
I just did this to my gasser last night. I blocked all of the grille sections except for the lowest set of slats. I took it out for a drive right away--the engine was still warm, so I can't report on faster heat yet--but at least it didn't overheat.

I'll report back later... I'm about to leave for work, and the engine will be cold from sitting all night. Hopefully we'll see a quicker warmup!
 

NarfBLAST

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 3, 2002
Location
Waterdown, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2001 Golf 5MT
did my uppers with pipe insulation
did the lower removeable grille with solid duct tape (has lasted a month! will probably leave a mess, if I ever remove it)
also removed the crome from the VW logo and duct taped it solid behind the crome
left the single slot in the black plastic lower piece open... hey thats where my TDIHeater cord hangs out anyway

I think it makes a difference.
 

climbtheplanet

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 22, 2008
Location
Boulder, CO
TDI
2001 Golf
It is now between 0 degrees and 40 degrees F here now depending on weather conditions and nightime/daytime, so. . .

I just installed the "pipe insulation" method and I noticed an immediate positive difference. My engine warms up much quicker, my heater works far faster and does not decrease my coolant temps when driving at low speeds with the blower on high and my SVO fuel temperature increases far faster and stays hotter. In fact, it works so well I am going to keep a close eye on my coolant temps to make sure it does not work too well. Plus it all cost me about 6 bucks. I would recommend cutting slits for the vertical bars in the grill and used zip ties to secure the foam to the grill. Thanks for the tip everyone!
 
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