Cover for front grill/radiator!

[IndigoBlueWagon]

16°F out is -9°C.... at such temperature I doubt your are getting 45°C engine temperature after 1/2 mile (0.8 km)... even with cover for front grill... my car has such setup, plug-in (500 W OEM) for 2 hours before departure every morning and I barely get 45°C engine temp after a 4 kms ride in city but it will get hot (90°C) after another 5 km ride on highway...

No offence, your product is really nice but don't push too far your arguments for selling and justifying a high price tag...

Didn't say that. I said I had heat in 1/2 mile, could have been mostly the electric heater. I usually drive my rotary pump cars (B4 Passat or A4 Jetta Wagon) and don't get heat that quickly in those cars. I was pleased with how quickly it warmed up once on the highway, but I don't drive this car a lot in cold weather so I don't have a basis for comparison.

I'd love to have feedback from others who are using the cover to see if they're getting good results. They'll probably have more data than I.

 

[Manu]

Drop me an email at sales@idparts.com with your order number and I'll do my best to give you a date. And we're not at this time making a separate version for cars with plates: the current one fits, and if you trim the plate bracket slightly it fits even better.

e-mail sent, thank you!

Not too concerned with the front plate, as long as it fits.

 

[ticketed2much]

16°F out is -9°C.... at such temperature I doubt your are getting 45°C engine temperature after 1/2 mile (0.8 km)... even with cover for front grill... my car has such setup, plug-in (500 W OEM) for 2 hours before departure every morning and I barely get 45°C engine temp after a 4 kms ride in city but it will get hot (90°C) after another 5 km ride on highway...
No offence, your product is really nice but don't push too far your arguments for selling and justifying a high price tag...

Just made my own set of these. Cost me $80 in materials and a lot of time. IMO the price is not unreasonable.

 

[evantful]

Agreed. Your getting something custom tailored for $100 that is low production volume. $100 isn't a lot. Like the above post states, it might cost anywhere from $50-$80 to make something comparable, and remember IDparts is a business, they have to make money on it.

Atleast someone is actually making solution for us. Thanks ID parts

 

[bobt2382]

Agreed. Your getting something custom tailored for $100 that is low production volume. $100 isn't a lot. Like the above post states, it might cost anywhere from $50-$80 to make something comparable, and remember IDparts is a business, they have to make money on it.

Atleast someone is actually making solution for us. Thanks ID parts

Well put. I agree. Looking forward to recieving mine.

 

[tdi90hp]

meh...drove all last cold( I drive to Quebec every 2 weeks....600kms in Cold frigid weather...snowstorms...icy roads...ya know) winter and every winter before that with no cover.....seems like a non starter to me....never had a heat issue and maybe used a liter or 2 more of fuel....maybe.....

 

[schultp]

I'm already seeing the winter dip in my fuel economy. My commute is 28 miles with about 60% highway, 40% country roads. My hope is that the winter cover will help with engine heating up to operating temp more quickly and leading to improved winter fuel economy. I'll post back here with info through the winter once I receive my covers from IDParts.

 

[Manu]

e-mail sent, thank you!

Not too concerned with the front plate, as long as it fits.

Received mine today, but front plate bracket is in the way. There are two tabs that clip into the grill. How do I trim them?
Cover sits lower than I would like it to, and leaves on slat open

Sent from my iPhone 5S using Tapatalk

 

[Cogen Man]

Received mine today, but front plate bracket is in the way. There are two tabs that clip into the grill. How do I trim them?
Cover sits lower than I would like it to, and leaves on slat open

Sent from my iPhone 5S using Tapatalk

Use some snips on the tabs. Look closer. There are 3 tabs to trim. They don't hold the plate bracket on the bumper. They look like they are there just so the lower part of the licence plate holder doesn't bend back from the wind when driving at warp speed. Snip them off. Your will have to get on your back to do this. A light source is good also. Mine looked just like yours until I snipped off these 3 support tabs. Two snips on each and it fits higher up just perfect. Are you going to use the upper covers ? I did.

 

[Manu]

Snip them off.
Are you going to use the upper covers ? I did.

I'm going to take the whole assembly off the bumper and see if I can just unclip them.
No, upper cover will not be used. Probably should as temperatures will nose dive tonight.

 

[Cogen Man]

I'm going to take the whole assembly off the bumper and see if I can just unclip them.
No, upper cover will not be used. Probably should as temperatures will nose dive tonight.

When you remove your licence plate you will see I think 3 black plastic push buttons. About the size of a nickle. These will have to be removed. They fasten the bracket to the plastic bumper skin. I was going to do that on mine also but with my luck I figured I break them and be FUBAR'ED. Thats why I used the snips on the 3 lower supports. Good luck.

 

[Manu]

Removed the plate, and installed the cover late last night. This morning it was -15C, and noticed no improvement in warm up time. Temperature gauge got to 90 at the same spot more or less as the morning before. Same temperatures, same time. Same on my way back home after work, car reached full temperature at about the same location as yesterday, again, same conditions as today. I'm on the fence with the cover, I may just remove it and forget about it.

I'm using the lower cover only btw.


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[IndigoBlueWagon]

I think you should try all three pieces together. I have good luck with the lower cover only here, but it's at least 30 degrees warmer here than where you are. At our temperatures I bet enough cold air gets in through the upper grill to keep the car from warming up quickly.

 

[steve05ram360]

Drawing in cold air from the front grille will also slow warmup times. I blocked mine & took the airbox lid off (AFE kit) to draw in warmer air. I have not gone back to look at actual warm up times yet but I have data for before & after in the log files I get daily. With my lower grille blocked from behind I am seeing 15-30*f changes in IAT's where as before it was maybe 5~10*f. (keep in mind my ambients in the morning are 35~40*f)

Also, with both blocks in place you would force the motor to draw air in from the engine compartment which should help warm up times I would think...

 

[Cogen Man]

Yes, use the upper covers also. It makes a difference in reducing warm up times. A lot of cold air is going through those upper vents. You bought the kit. Why not use it all and get the full benefit from it. I'm seeing the same ambient temps. as you are and I see a marked reduction in warm up times on the coolant temp. Mind you I use a ScanGauge II to monitor my coolant temp. and not the cluster gauge. Which shows 90*C when the SGII shows only about 175*F a difference of 15*F between the two. I tend to believe the SGII temp more than the cluster gauge.

 

[RES]

Drawing in cold air from the front grille will also slow warmup times. I blocked mine & took the airbox lid off (AFE kit) to draw in warmer air. I have not gone back to look at actual warm up times yet but I have data for before & after in the log files I get daily. With my lower grille blocked from behind I am seeing 15-30*f changes in IAT's where as before it was maybe 5~10*f. (keep in mind my ambients in the morning are 35~40*f)

Also, with both blocks in place you would force the motor to draw air in from the engine compartment which should help warm up times I would think...

Is it better to just remove the air box lid or to remove the whole front section of the airbox? If you just remove the lid should you block the air inlet portion of the airbox even with the top grill cover on. I am confused by the term "AFE kit". Is there a kit available that neatly reroutes the air inlet?

 

[steve05ram360]

If you have the stock airbox & filter you cant remove the airbox cover as it wont seal properly. The afe kit uses a cone type filter on the end of a replacement tube sk the cover can be removed. What i would suggest in that case would be to pull the u shaped tube that connects the box connected to the cold air inlet and the airbox. That would forct the airbox to draw from the intake manifold area which should be warmer than ambient.

.

 

[RES]

If you have the stock airbox & filter you cant remove the airbox cover as it wont seal properly. The afe kit uses a cone type filter on the end of a replacement tube sk the cover can be removed. What i would suggest in that case would be to pull the u shaped tube that connects the box connected to the cold air inlet and the airbox. That would forct the airbox to draw from the intake manifold area which should be warmer than ambient.

I looked up the AFE system and understand what you mean by taking off the top cover. By doing so are you bypassing the whole intercooler since air would follow the easiest path by entering the air filter from the top?

 

[schultp]

Outside air enters the system at the air intake and filter box whether it is OEM or aftermarket. The turbo and intercooler are downstream from the air intake. There is no bypassing of the intercooler by simply removing the air filter cover.

Early on, prior to the intercooler kits, dealer mechanics were known to remove the cold air intake so that air was pulled preferentially from the warmer engine compartment. This was (and is) a poor attempt at avoiding moist/cold outside air from entering the air intake and making its way to the intercooler where the moisture would condense and freeze. Now that there is a TSB regarding the intercooler issue, dealer mechanics don't do the air intake mod very often, if at all.

 

[mac5155]

Is it bad to let snow/ice build up on the outside of the intercooler? I noticed today there was a good bit on mine after driving 75 miles in a blizzard. Wondering if I should invest in one of these just for some added protection.

 

[Conrad -JSW]

I've had my winter fronts installed for a couple of weeks now. There's no doubt in my mind that, when using both the tops and bottom, the warm up time is reduced. My wife works ~5 miles from home and when it's really cold (10f degrees or less) without the winter fronts the car might reach operating temps by the time she gets to work. With the fronts installed the temp gauge in the dash shows 190 in about 3 miles (with a 2 minute 'warm up' idle time in the garage).

I'm not crazy about using velcro stick ons and straps to secure the fronts but it does work and these things DO help.

 

[Samcar222]

When trimming the license plate tabs one of them slipped out of my fingers and fell into the grill down under the IC. Probably sitting on the bottom plastic piece that gets scraped if you pull up to far. Any ideas to remove it? If I put the car in the air and remove the belly pan, can I access whatever is ahead of the intercooler? Now I'm paranoid that I'm going to have a sharp plastic piece on the bellypan floor until spring service... Although I do have a friend with a lift...

 

[Cogen Man]

When trimming the license plate tabs one of them slipped out of my fingers and fell into the grill down under the IC. Probably sitting on the bottom plastic piece that gets scraped if you pull up to far. Any ideas to remove it? If I put the car in the air and remove the belly pan, can I access whatever is ahead of the intercooler? Now I'm paranoid that I'm going to have a sharp plastic piece on the bellypan floor until spring service... Although I do have a friend with a lift...

It won't hurt anything. I'd just leave it. My $0.02.

 

[Samcar222]

Yeah, I'm just worried about it being blown around (i.e. belts.....), but I can run the grille block now so that should stop most of the airflow, but like you said I doubt it will move anyway. I still have all of january break (college) to deal with it.

 

[poweredbytdi]

With -11F ambient, the id parts cover worked like a charm - thermostat moved off of 0 at 3 miles of highway driving. If only it would help the car wanting to start - took 6 tries to get it to go. On the way home I will cycle the glow plugs 10 times to see how it affects the starting ability. Fun experiment day!

 

[RES]

Unexpected Experience with Covers

I purchased covers for both my JSW and my son's 2000 Jetta TDI. My son claims it took longer for the car to heat up on his short trip to work with both top and bottom covers on his 2000 Jetta. Is this possible? I am just wondering if a cold radiator (no covers on) would keep the thermostat from opening whereas a somewhat warm radiator (covers on) would allow it to open sooner.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

My son claims it took longer for the car to heat up on his short trip to work with both top and bottom covers on his 2000 Jetta. Is this possible? I am just wondering if a cold radiator (no covers on) would keep the thermostat from opening whereas a somewhat warm radiator (covers on) would allow it to open sooner.

Short answer is no. Perhaps adding the cover caused you son to be more attentive to warm up times, and that, along with the cold weather we've had lately, has led him to believe warm-up time is slower. The thermostat stays closed until the coolant is warm enough to open it, it will work the same with or without the cover.

 

[RES]

Short answer is no. Perhaps adding the cover caused you son to be more attentive to warm up times, and that, along with the cold weather we've had lately, has led him to believe warm-up time is slower. The thermostat stays closed until the coolant is warm enough to open it, it will work the same with or without the cover.

If the thermostat stays closed until the coolant is warm enough to open it, then the covers will not improve engine warm up. The coolant in the engine remains isolated from the radiator coolant until it becomes so hot that it needs some radiator coolant to maintain the proper engine operating temperature. The covers keep the radiator temperature somewhat warmer since it is not being drenched with cold air. Eventually some manner of equilibrium is reached with a warmer radiator because of the covers. This warmer radiator may help to prevent intercooler icing. I am not sure how it will effect cabin warming. Another advantage of the covers are that it keeps the heat in the engine compartment longer. Does this all make sense?

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

No. Cold air is let in through the grilles and passes through the radiator as well as cooling the rest of the engine compartment. If you block that flow the engine will warm faster because it's in a warmer environment. And when the thermostat does open the radiator and the coolant in it are also warmer than they would be otherwise, causing them to come up to operating temperature faster, keeping in mind they're still in that warmer engine bay. I don't think there's any way that blocking cold airflow to the radiator and engine compartment can do anything other than speed warm-up and help the engine maintain temperature.

If the coolant is warmer and can sustain its temperature because it's warmer in the engine bay and there's less direct airflow on the radiator, the coolant running through the heater core will be warm sooner, and will stay warm more easily. That will improve cabin warming.

 

[RES]

I may be wrong but I don't think that the engine is cooled that much from cold air coming into the engine compartment. You have the radiator, air conditioner condenser and intercooler blocking the flow and it is sealed on the sides and on top and below. There may be some improvement in warmup but I don't think it is significant. My son will try to get some data with his scan tool which more accurately reads temperatures.