I cleaned out the snow screen last summer, so I hope it's still clear. Still worth mentioning though.
Bump for cold Passats with low mpg caused by the unusually low temperatures this 2012-2013 winter.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
Can you please edit your one-line post to remove the full quote of my original post? It's silly to have six pictures and several paragraphs of text quoted and only put one line below it.
Classic lazy thermostat. Same thing happened to mine this year... despite the dash idiot gauge showing 90ºC, my SGII wouldn't get above 77ºC. Replaced it and I now build full coolant temperature quickly.
I agree. If the thermostat is functioning there's no need for blocking the grill off.....the TDI thermostat doesn't open in cold temperatures (lower radiator hose is ice old even after a 50 mile drive), so to block off the grill is really only blocking the cold air from going through an already cold radiator.
So 19 pages of discussion of people saying their cars warm up faster with the grill blocked means all these people are imagining this?I agree. If the thermostat is functioning there's no need for blocking the grill off.....the TDI thermostat doesn't open in cold temperatures (lower radiator hose is ice old even after a 50 mile drive), so to block off the grill is really only blocking the cold air from going through an already cold radiator.
Maybe I'm seeing it differently, but that's not how I parsed this post:
I understand 77 K20's post as agreeing that Jolee had a bad thermostat. Which I agree with. My Golf did the same thing when the thermostat got lazy and was opening too soon.
), the car does warm up and provide usable heat faster with the grill blocked off than it does without.Ostructing airflow to the raditator will not result in quicker cabin heat in a TDI unless the thermostat is bad? You actually believe this?I agree. If the thermostat is functioning there's no need for blocking the grill off.....the TDI thermostat doesn't open in cold temperatures (lower radiator hose is ice old even after a 50 mile drive), so to block off the grill is really only blocking the cold air from going through an already cold radiator.
You saw it correctly- Jolee has a bad thermostat, just like I did in the past. Once I fixed it it now warms up to 190* but will warm up quicker or stay at that temp longer when it is 0 degrees out.Maybe I'm seeing it differently, but that's not how I parsed this post:
I understand 77 K20's post as agreeing that Jolee had a bad thermostat. Which I agree with. My Golf did the same thing when the thermostat got lazy and was opening too soon.
While I would agree that there is no need for blocking the grill off (just as there's no need for a Frostheater
Sweet! I'm going to order one of these. Tired of the pipe insulation. IDPARTS.COM said they might have them in stock in a few weeks time.Here's my 03 Golf with a winter front from IDParts.com. Nice product; I just wish it came with pictures and/or instructions on how to install it.
The winter front comes with three parts - two on either side of the VW logo, and one below the license plate. The piece to the right of the logo does cover the air intake, but it somehow doesn't seem to make any difference.
Your not bocking, as in shutting off all air, but reducing the cooling air to the engine compartment. If one lives where it gets below zero and a good wind, stopped at a red light, without the grill guard, you can see the temp gauge drop.
Nice score!Unfortunately I will not be doing the pipe insulation grill blocker this winter. Why ,you ask, I just picked up an OEM VW Winter front on Craigslist for $20
Any pics of 06s or the grill style with the pipe insulation in place? Im not sure where to put it.
In my 2012, I run the Torque app ($5) on my Android phone with the Bluetooth OBD-II dongle ($20 on amazon) to display the temperature.
