Winter mod upgrade?

[grnmachine]

Last winter I tried John's neato cardboard modification with the built in handle to pull it out in the spring.

Question...I've been insulating my basement with a newish product called Reflectix. It's essentially bubble wrap with reflective foil on each side. Very thin, maybe 1/8" inch. They claim it's non-flammable. So, whaddya think? Could this be an upgrade from the cardboard piece inbetween the radiator and A/C?

Oh, and I know this has been answered a zillion times, but didn't I read that the owner's manual is wrong about resetting the Maint Req light? What it says in there does not work, at least in my '00 model.

In closing...I'm heavily regretting putting on new tires...my mpg has gone down 10mpg easily. I may go back to bald tires soon!

[dice]

All the cardboard does is reduce the amount of air going through the radiator, reducing cooling, so using your bubble wrap reflector would'nt increase the amount of blockage, so me thinks it'd be just a waste of time, and no added benefit.

As far as maintenance light reset, with key OFF, push in and hold trip meter button, turn key to ON, while holding trip button, for 10 seconds, or until the maint. req light shuts off. Works for me, have an '01.

[grnmachine]

I understand the cardboard is put there to block cold airflow, but I wonder if the reflective nature of this material might have some sort of additional insulating benefit, AND, it is MUCH easier to work with--slips right in place with less chance of damage to delicate parts.

Thanks for the maint light tip, I'll go and try it.

[Insightful Trekker]

Should radiant heat losses be significant then the reflective properties of the foil would be significant. But when traveling down the road at anything 5MPH or greater its not a significant factor.

As long as its meltingpoint is well below 250F ish then it sounds like another improvement to me

[originalbadbob]

I just use a piece of 1/4" foamcore, and don't put it in between the A/C condenser and radiator. I put it in the front (reasons below). I also use a piece of posterboard (that I throw away at the end of the winter).
The foamcore goes the full width at the bottom, and I leave it in most of the time unless the outside air temp stays over 60 deg. The poster board is folded and I slide it next to the radiator (to completely cover the rest of the A/C condenser), but sometimes slide it over so I have only 1/4 of the radiator exposed.
I make sure I am monitoring the coolant temp through the OBD system when I use both pieces, and when it is really cold, I can unfold the posterboard to block off the radiator completely. I put them in front of the radiators so if something strange were to happen the fan would still be able to come on and pull at least some air through, where it would not be able to do if the cardboard was between.
The only time it has ever gotten over 204 degrees (it usually runs 195-19, was about 55 degrees and in a traffic jam going through Knoxville. It got up to 206, and before I could pull over and take it out the traffic continued moving and the temp went back down to the normal range (I have never seen over 6 bars on the temp gauge).

I wouldn't recommend running much of a radiator block without closely monitoring the coolant temperature through an additional gauge or OBD.
This is just how I do it on my car, YMMV.
robert

[klefam]

I bought a plastic sign at the store, cut it to the size of the radiator and then cut about a 3" hole that aligns with the center of the fan. I then carefully bent the plastic sheet and slid it between the radiator and air conditioning condenser. I have had no problems. Just another idea. I used to drive semi and that is how the winter radiator cover was made.

[AppleTree]

I have not looked but was just wondering if air flow could be modified for more warm air to be routed to the air intake? The cats produce a lot of heat and if there was a way to channel that back into heating the air going into the engine, cold weather should not be as much of an MPG robber. Any thoughts? Obviously the exhaust system needs to be good but then there is the reburning of some gases.

[dice]

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/581466/2 are you refering to something like this?

[AppleTree]

On older cars, there is a thermalcouple that opens at certain temps. That could be used during hotter times, regular air would come in.

[joecvt]

AppleTree:

You mean like this?:
http://www.insightcentral.net/forum/...769&highlight=

JoeCVT - Just your average CVT owner