Winter Grill Blocking Cover - Anyone?

The A4s guys are stuffing cardboard in their radiatior "cause it works"

Using foam insulation for water pipe work flawlessly and without tyraps. You need 3/4 inch I think.

I done it for my 2011 last year and it took like 5 min less to gain full working temp at -25 celsius. This paired with the block heater and you are good to save fuel this winter.

I dunno... I seem to get plenty of heat in reasonable time from my JSW here in cold NH. Heated seats fill the short time to warm-up pretty well. Come to think of it, my B4 wasn't too bad either. Maybe I'm just cold blooded?

nhdude said:

I dunno... I seem to get plenty of heat in reasonable time from my JSW here in cold NH. Heated seats fill the short time to warm-up pretty. Come to think of it, my B4 wasn't too bad either. Maybe I'm just cold blooded?

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I feel ya man the heated seats make me sweat even in the cold with the heat off

I also do the foam pipe insulation. It definitely helps, and doesn't seem to restrict airflow to the dpf too much

+1 for the foam pipe insulation. If you do it right, it is very hard to tell anything is there.

J

Which area do you guys block with the foam insulation? The bottom part of the grill or the part where the VW logo is?

Thanks!

Bottom part.

OK, that's what I've been doing too, though it didn't help me with my IC not freezing up and then water being ingested into the engine. So I'm not really sure how much of an effect it really has. That's why I was wondering if you were blocking the top part instead.

IDParts has a design for the 2010+ Golf TDI in the works. Should be ready by the end of the month.

cevans said:

IDParts has a design for the 2010+ Golf TDI in the works. Should be ready by the end of the month.

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Great....

Cold Weather Covers

I have been corresponding with Tim at Velocity Upholstery regarding covers. Somewhere there are pictures of covers he has made for other models. They look great and are reasonably priced. He even offers to do an embroidered TDI logo. The catch is he hasn't made a set yet to fit JSWs so he needs to make a pattern. If anyone is within a reasonable distance of him - Vancouver area - and will be the test/fitting vehicle please contact him.
www.velocityupholstery.com

Found this little gem when I was researching blocking my front.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=336270

^+1. After seeing that thread last year I gave it a try and it worked out really well for me, and you cant hardly tell the foam is there. Only thing that really got in my way was the dang front license plate holder. Less than $10 in parts and 15min of DIY work, can't complain about that. The PITA part of using the foam is getting it notched in the right spots so that it can fit in flush, other than that, worked and looked great.

Also, no need to use the adhesive that comes on the tubing, it wedges it's self in there pretty good. Over several months of use I didn't run into a single instance of it trying to come off, or even coming close to come off.

good luck.
J

SomeJ said:

^+1. After seeing that thread last year I gave it a try and it worked out really well for me, and you cant hardly tell the foam is there. Only thing that really got in my way was the dang front license plate holder. Less than $10 in parts and 15min of DIY work, can't complain about that.

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Did mine yesterday after the storm finally moved out and I'll say, you can hardly notice. I just took the plate holder off so I didn't have to monkey with trying to get the foam behind it. 4 phillips headed screws is all that holds it on my '09. Not sure about the '11s though.

Does anybody use the electric heater in there cars?..

I just tried the foam in the grill test. I did a test using the temp sensor (not the guage). Car sat all night, 32 degrees both days, same trip, same driving. No difference. Car did not warm-up any faster. This makes me think that the thermostat is working. Would be interested in someone wlse doing a test.

With 32F outside temps you probably are not going to see a big difference. Blocking air flow to the radiator works in the extreme cold situations (zero F or lower) or at high speeds with slightly 'warmer' temps.

Also, air flow restriction helps eliminate _slow_ warm up of the engine. It does not increase the speed of warming up. Where it is perceived to increase the speed/time to warm up is when it is cold enough to have a slow warm up interval without the airflow restriction. You likely did not have these conditions so would not notice a difference.

Plus, while the DIY foam or commercial grill covers help they don't restrict all air flow. So, if the foam has enough gaps it won't lead to as noticeable a benefit unless the outside temps are extremely low.

Finally, the modern VAG TDI engines warm up much more like a gas engine. The days of long waits for the temp needle to move enough to get warm air from the heater are behind us IMO. It may not be quite as rapid as a modern gasser engine but it is pretty darn close.

I have a frostheater set-up on my MK3 Jetta. I don't feel I'll be needing a similar set up with my JSW. But, I'll continue to evaluate as the temps get really cold in the next couple of months!

My car took 16 miles on the highway to warm up this morning. I believe it was about 8ºF outside. Oh and i use my electric heater hymato.

I get heat in 5 mins with my thermostat turned up to max.

Some mornings on my 30 mile commute, I can hardly get to full OT. Even with my grill fully blocked with foam (top and bottom), and 3 hours on the FrostHeater, it can be 18 minutes in 0*F weather to get up to 190*F. Coasting down hills it will drop in that weather as well. Any blocking I can get helps.

Oh yeah. This is my first year with no EGR either.... did NOT help the warm up situation...

cevans said:

IDParts has a design for the 2010+ Golf TDI in the works. Should be ready by the end of the month.

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Any word on this, I'm very interested in what you guys have come up with. I'm currently convinced the foam insulation isn't sealing it up enough.

We're working on it, but we've been delayed a bit because of the overwhelming number of A4 front orders. We had no idea these would be so popular. I think we'll be able to work on this in the next few weeks.

DZL_Damon said:

Oh yeah. This is my first year with no EGR either.... did NOT help the warm up situation...

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I'm in the same boat. No egr and front grill completely blocked. Takes 20 min to get up to temp on real cold days.

I have the frostheater and while it's hasn't gotten to -30 it's a help for sure. I may look into this foam as well.

hymato said:

I get heat in 5 mins with my thermostat turned up to max.

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That's because your HVAC system has a built-in electric heater in it, to give you heat before the engine warms up.

lou95gts said:

I'm in the same boat. No egr and front grill completely blocked. Takes 20 min to get up to temp on real cold days.

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Well that makes me feel a little better, Lou. I was almost starting to think there is something wrong with my car, but you are the 2nd person with EGR delete on a cold weather CR car to confirm the same symptoms.

Are you running your grill COMPLETELY blocked, or just doing the foam thing like me? The foam still allows far too much air through for anything below 10*F in my opinion. I'm contemplating inserting some cardboard behind the grill, but that isn't as easy to remove when it jumps in the 40's like it has the past 3 days here in Maine.

frugality said:

That's because your HVAC system has a built-in electric heater in it, to give you heat before the engine warms up.

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Everyone keeps saying this, but my car clearly does not. The hvac blows cold until I have at least some operating temp in the engine. Either that, or mine is broken.

I drove 1000 miles from Denver to Huntsville, TX 2 weeks ago and it was 8F when I left the house. I barely got 37mpg over the trip averaging 75mph. When I got to my parents' house my Dad had some 3/4" insulation. I blocked off the bottom grill and managed to get the same 37mpg going home (uphill) in roughly the same temperature. So, I'd say it works.

veedubfreak said:

Everyone keeps saying this, but my car clearly does not. The hvac blows cold until I have at least some operating temp in the engine. Either that, or mine is broken.

I drove 1000 miles from Denver to Huntsville, TX 2 weeks ago and it was 8F when I left the house. I barely got 37mpg over the trip averaging 75mph. When I got to my parents' house my Dad had some 3/4" insulation. I blocked off the bottom grill and managed to get the same 37mpg going home (uphill) in roughly the same temperature. So, I'd say it works.

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I haven't run into any evidence that there is an electric HVAC heater either. My air blows cold until the temp needle starts to move.