Winter Thermostat?

[Jef Gamblee]

Back in the old days, we put hotter thermostats into our cars in the winter. In the winter even with waiting for my Insight engine to heat up before I turn on cabin heat, I have a hard time keeping 4 bars on the temp guage. (Yes I block the rad)Does it make any sense to put a warmer thermostat in the Insight to keep running hotter?

[Aaron Cake]

Nope. The thermostat doesn't regulate how fast the engine warms.

It's a very small engine and makes very little heat compared to all others. Just leave the heater off for the first few minutes (wear gloves...) and it will warm up much quicker.

[Jim]

Jef - probably makes more sense to install a block heater. Warming an engine at idle isn't good for it. The tiny, low friction engine in the Insight doesn't seem to want to generate much heat until you get under way.

[Jef Gamblee]

Obviously I was not very clear here. I'm talking about keeping the engine temps up while driving in the cold. Would a hotter thermostat do a better job of keeping the engine hot?

[b1shmu63]

It is doubtful that the existing thermostat opens at all in really cold weather. I agree that the radiator block works well, but there has been some discussion as to why it works. My personal belief is that it functions by reducing air flow over the engine casing. (The aluminum of the engine acts as a heat sink/radiator.) Blocking the radiator is a lot simpler than covering the engine in an insulating blanket.

The Insight has the same problem in the rain. Water spraying on the rngine soaks up heat. Catch 22. Our high efficiency engines need high temperatures to burn efficiently and efficient combustion produces less heat.