How to block your front grill with pipe insulation

Zero10

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2004
Location
Calgary, AB
TDI
05 Golf TDI PD, Tiptronic
So for those doing this mod, do you need both 1/2" and 3/4" insulation? Or is it just one or the other?

Hoping if I stuff the grill on my golf my frost heater will do a better job of keeping the engine warm with these northerly winds we have been getting lately. Quicker warmup would be another great plus too.
 

NarfBLAST

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 3, 2002
Location
Waterdown, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2001 Golf 5MT
Zero10 said:
So for those doing this mod, do you need both 1/2" and 3/4" insulation? Or is it just one or the other?

Hoping if I stuff the grill on my golf my frost heater will do a better job of keeping the engine warm with these northerly winds we have been getting lately. Quicker warmup would be another great plus too.
Whichever is cheaper/comes in the darkest colour :)
 

Zero10

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Jan 16, 2004
Location
Calgary, AB
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05 Golf TDI PD, Tiptronic
So they both fit well then. Cool, will pick some up tonight and stuff the grill tomorrow :) Thanks!
 

shegel

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Joined
Jan 1, 2007
Location
bonney lake
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99.5 jetta 2015 Passat
this may be a stupid question but isnt the job of the thermostat to prevent the coolant from entering the radiator untill the engine is warm?

if that is the case then how would this benefit warm up times.


it would make more sense to me if the thermostat had been removed in these cars.
 

JB05

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Oct 20, 2005
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Il.USA
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Golf,2005,anthracite blue
I think you mean eliminating the radiator all together, otherwise removing the T-stat would only make warm-up time much much longer. I would leave the cooling system as is, and possibly blocking off the air to the radiator if the ambient is that cold.
 

Zero10

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Jan 16, 2004
Location
Calgary, AB
TDI
05 Golf TDI PD, Tiptronic
This blocks the cold air that comes through the radiator and over the engine. Also, some heat is transferred across the thermostat through conduction. This helps to reduce the cooling of the fluid on the other side of the thermostat heated by this method and will also help keep the engine warm this way.

I blocked 3 of the lower vents today before my hands got so numb I couldn't cut or stuff the foam any more. Gonna stuff the last lower one and 2 of the upper vents later, but with even just the bottom 3 blocked warmup is noticeably quicker.
 

shegel

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Jan 1, 2007
Location
bonney lake
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99.5 jetta 2015 Passat
jbo5 basicly what i was trying to say is wouldnt it be wasted to cover the front if the thermostat is in place but zero 10 cleared it up for me. kinda common sence when i thought about it.
 

Bosley

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Joined
Apr 28, 2006
Location
Rideau Lakes, ON
TDI
06 TDI Wagon (A4)
shagin'wagen said:
I put the foam in my grill a few weeks ago, and I have to say that it was the best $3 I've ever spent on my car.:D
That can be taken so many ways:) post your results shagin. Warm or not?
 

shagin'wagen

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Aug 20, 2007
Location
Sherwood Park, AB
TDI
Bora
Bosley said:
That can be taken so many ways:) post your results shagin. Warm or not?
Yes, warm. Before, the car would take quite a few miles to get warm, say 10 minutes of driving worth. Now it is more like 5.:cool: It's been hovering around -30*C here for over a week and doing the mod is well worth it.
 

JustBlaze

Active member
Joined
Aug 10, 2008
Location
Quebec
TDI
Jetta 2002
Thanks

Thanks for this mod.

For me it works wonder !!
never my tdi as stayed warm while city driving..now she does :p
 

Zero10

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Joined
Jan 16, 2004
Location
Calgary, AB
TDI
05 Golf TDI PD, Tiptronic
I filled in all but the top radiator vent and the air intake vent today. It was basically no different from only having 3 of the bottom ones blocked. I was hoping for the same margin of improvement again. None the less, excellent mod and well worth the 20 minutes and $5 worth of foam and zip ties it cost me :)

For anybody else working on this, I picked up 2 6' sticks of 1/2" pipe insulation and it did the lower 4 slats and 2 of the upper ones. I still have 1 6' stick left but it definitely won't take all of it to block the last 2 sections.
 

CMB430

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Oct 22, 2008
Location
HQ of "get nothing done"
TDI
2009 Jetta TDI
I would not be afraid to cover the whole thing. My 08 F350 has a heavy quilt grill cover from FIA on it, and no air gets in unless it comes from under the truck or leaks around the hood/grill. Big trucks always run like this, and no issues. How could the Jetta be any different? I like the idea, and will go to the store tomorrow to get some foam and do it...but I will cover all the holes and use zip-ties as I run though the car wash quite often.
 

CMB430

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HQ of "get nothing done"
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2009 Jetta TDI
It works well indeed. Home Depot only had the gray stuff for me too, unless I wanted to jump from $2 each to $7.50! So I have gray to match the silver :). Cut the slits in the foam where the supports on the grill are, and the foam fits very nice.

I was ready to scream...the VW circle on the grill popped out! It only clips in place like a pop lid with a 10* turn. I may have to glue that in as it seems an easy theft target and probably costs $100 from VW.
 
Joined
Dec 17, 2008
Location
Frankfort, Illinois
TDI
2005 Beetle
No to add a sour note, but I duct taped off my grill one winter day. Traveling from Toledo to Detroit Metro airport, I overheated. My Bug just has an idoit light. Installed a cheapee temperature gauge at the radiator.

I have to tell you that my Bug will blow heat pretty quickly even tho the coolant will stay around 150 F when OAT is 10 degrees F.

Question, do you have a temp guage or an idiot light? Becareful if going on long hauls.

2005 TDI Pump Duese Bug
75,000 miles
Frankfort, IL (burb of Chicago)
 
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RacerTodd

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Joined
Jun 28, 2007
Location
Kirkland, WA
TDI
2001 Golf TDI
Did the pipe insulation "winter front" the last two weeks for our once-every-twenty-years Snow-mageddon (or was it Snow-pocalypse?) here in Seattle. High temps were in the upper 20's, a couple of morning starts were in the 13-16deg range. Ran it today in 37deg weather with no problems.
I did blocked all the bottom grilles and all but the top slot of the upper grille so as not to block the engine air intake. Car warmed up faster than it did in 40deg weather, good heat in stop&go traffic, gauge parked on 190 at all times as usual. Looked like this:


BTW - studded Hakka 5's rock! 6-8" of snow on compact snow/ice or wet slush and the car was unstoppable up and down any of our barely plowed hills. I was surprised how few times I saw the ESP or ASR light flash and how few times the ABS kicked in.
 

redlinedave

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Oct 29, 2007
Location
whitby ont cnd
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03 jetta wagon
Brock_from_WI said:
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.

I just Saran Wrap them
 

2td

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Dec 17, 2006
Location
Iowa
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Jettas 2 rabbits4 plus tractors 360 subaru parts van
I agree with Bruce, My last car had more tube than fins thanks to salt. Till the robin sings, my bottom grill is sealed with coroplast. To the top I was going to use velcro something,,but I like your pipe insulation idea in case the weather spikes.. My friend in Fargo uses a full tarp.. He has no ground effects on his l989,, I don't think I could get away with that since my 06 has a full bottom pan.. I'm thinking the only place to grab a data bit would be to somehow know when the main fan cycles....
 

2td

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Dec 17, 2006
Location
Iowa
TDI
Jettas 2 rabbits4 plus tractors 360 subaru parts van
Thanks cmb4 I was wandering how to take out the vw hole, I want to put a projection driving lamp in its place.. Tucker tdi....
 

brucep

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Joined
Oct 1, 2002
Location
Vermont, USA
TDI
peebs4u2
Brock_from_WI said:
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.


It appears that you have covered the intercooler intake. You may wish to reconsider what you have done and uncover the intercooler intake.
 

NarfBLAST

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Location
Waterdown, Ontario, Canada
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2001 Golf 5MT
2td said:
I'm thinking the only place to grab a data bit would be to somehow know when the main fan cycles....
ScangaugeII gives your precise coolant temperature. Also records the maximum temperature this trip, today, yesterday, and this tank.
 

Pat Dolan

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Apr 19, 2002
Location
Martensville, SK
TDI
2003 A4 Variant, 2015 Q7
Why bother with all of the tape/insulation/backing strips? Call a Canadian cold-country dealer (MB/SK/AB) and order a winter front for your car. Here is a thread on this forum http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=126834 but nothing near as nice as what we get from out dealer (sorry, no pics on their site). We have a soft cloth backed vinyl cover that clips underneath the lower edge of the front bumper glove and behind the top edge of the grille insert (under the hood). That completely covers all of the center are air intakes (leaving IC duct open). I imagine that they sell NB as well as the omnipresent Golf/Jetta covers.

Since this is one of the coldest-blooded cars made since the Bug, you can't even BEGIN to think of driving one in this part of the country without a proper winter front and max value thermostat (aftermarket couple of degrees higher than VW doesn't run the fan constantly).
 

TDIFLIP

Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Location
Charleston, SC
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI
I just did this today on my 09 TDI, bought 3/4 inch insulation from Home Depot for $1.34, picked up 4 for a grand total of $5.36. No need to buy the more expensive insulation with pre-cut slits (lengthwise) and adhesive, just buy the cheaper kind. I only used less than 2 of the 6 foot insulation and will use the extra insulation just in case I lose the installed ones. Just a tip....(for lower grill) measure the vertical slits using the insulation and cut a little past the halfway point. After doing this on all the vertical slits, test on the grill to make sure it fits. Remove and use this as a guide for the 3 remaining grills. All the vertical slits lined up at the same location, all you need to do is trim the ends of each insulation as the length slightly shortens as you go down. You can also do this for the top grill, you just need to flip the insulation so the slits line up. It seems the deeper you cut slits without completely tearing it off the better it fits, you push the insulation in better and looks better (no bulges).

Total time: Less than an hour (I was miticulous with the cutting)

I haven't tested it yet, I'll find out tomorrow when I go to work and I will let you guys know if I notice a difference.

Good luck to those thinking of doing this in the future.
 

RacerTodd

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Jun 28, 2007
Location
Kirkland, WA
TDI
2001 Golf TDI
Pat Dolan said:
Why bother with all of the tape/insulation/backing strips? Call a Canadian cold-country dealer (MB/SK/AB) and order a winter front for your car.
One: The factory winter front completely covers the upper grille, but it only covers 1 of the 3 openings in the large lower grille and none of the smaller grille below that. Pipe insulation or other methods can cover up the lower grilles.

Two: Some of use are plain cheap. I paid $3 for two 6' lengths of insulation versus $30 for the factory front. The difference in cost is almost a full tank of fuel.
 

cdnhawk

Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2008
Location
Ontario, Orono
TDI
2000 VW GOLF TDI GLS
Just did this easy mod on Saturday.. works VERY well. No more freezing to death for me. Thanks TDI club once again!

Happy New Year all.

Jason
 

Nevada_TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 17, 2008
Location
Reno, sort of...
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI
I too have pipe insulation blocking the grille openings in my Jetta. My Intercooler inlet grille is uncovered to allow some movement of air just in case.
I only got 180* water temps (taken with GC coolant sensor) even with a hour of driving time, so I half covered the condenser with a flexible cutting board from the dollar store; I got another 10* to 190 or so. No overheating occurs when driving in town too.

Shabat Shalom!
 

hobbyshop

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Nov 17, 2004
Location
Toronto
TDI
Jetta TDI Sport, 2004, Platinum Grey
quick question.. i have a FMIC.. so i'm guessing i can't really block off anything since my intercooler sits right in front of the rad...
 

Nevada_TDI

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Aug 17, 2008
Location
Reno, sort of...
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2001 Jetta TDI
hobbyshop, if your FMIC sits in front of your condenser, you insert the "grille block" between the condenser and the radiator. The only reason I didn't put the block between the rad and the condenser on mine was; I was in a hurry that day and didn't put zip tie handles in them to fish them back out.
 
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