So who else did the less airflow mod?

It came stock like that?

 

Hybrids come with the shutters for ateast 7 or so years and a heat exchanger to heat up the coolant with exhaust for a fast warm up. I'm still curious why it takes that long to bring up yours to the operational temps?

 

Made a lot of Winter fronts mostly for Big Trucks, Tractors & heavy equipment. Convertible top material is the stuff to use. Defies Physics in Cold Weather

 

It was 36 degrees when I got in my truck this morning. I had to drive a whole mile before my temp gauge started moving. I have mad respect for you guys.

 

most trucks are. they need to design the cooling system to properly deal with arizona desert heat while towing uphill, at rated capacity.

once the temp's at 0 degree's, one really only needs about 1/8 the amount of radiator..

 

Yep, I think it’s more about efficiency than warming/cooling. It’s pretty cool though, you can see them open when the A/C turns on while sitting still.

 

-10 here in Victoria …. -35 is knarly man.

 

All this talk of extreme cold reminded me of this podcast episode that Andrew St Pierre White did…the whole thing is interesting but long. Relevant part to this thread starts around 10 minutes. They talk about maintaining 4x4’s in extreme cold, I thought it was pretty interesting.

https://youtu.be/v-pmzphdLOY?si=S4Z4QK0Zxdxkl4Fz

 

Not sure why, I’ve noticed it pretty much right away.

My previous pick up, 2007 Mazda b4000 didn’t take as long.

 

-35 is a bit rough yeah, but I don’t mind it. I enjoy a more rugged living.

It’s warming up next week so it’s not bad. It’s usually like a deep freeze for a week then it warms up.

 

I never considered this for the truck but we got some weeks in winters past it was below 0 for a week or more .
When I had the turbo diesel jeep Liberty CRD I had a winter front that snapped on the grille. When it was 20f or below the engine would have trouble warming up and staying at operating temperature while idling in traffic. The winter front really helped. I can see how it would these too.

 

I remember when I had my first tdi. One way to work was 15kms. Below -35 I would barely stop seeing my breath. I would climb the hill near work and the car would reach 90*C but before even flattening off the top of the hill it would return to 50* and I would see my breath again.

I concur these trucks take forever to warm up. Even with their integrated exhaust manifolds surrounded by coolant. Atleast with the winter front and grid heaters in them I usually stop seeing my breath before the tires become round again. It was -43* leaving work this morning

 

Not yet. It hasn't gotten below -10°C or so this winter, so there hasn't been much need.

Nighttime temperatures have been in the -35° range all week though, and she's been ROUGH. 9km drive to the jobsite, and everything is still stiff by the time I arrive.

I think I'll put on pants, and go do this right now.

 

-7 right now. It takes a bit to get everything heat soaked. Always love the extra heavy clutch. Always feels like with all the pressure it takes to push, that I should expect a hose to pop

 

Probably regret posting this before my brain is fully engaged today... but here goes!

I've seen vehicles with various implementations of this in the past (not so much where I currently live). More often, it seems, on diesel vehicles.

Isn't this what the thermostat is supposed to do? Or am I misunderstanding the purpose of this hack?

 

What exactly is the mod?

 

Red neck thermostat.

Cardboard or anything to block airflow to the radiator during really cold snaps.

Almost mandatory on a diesel.

 

It will eventually warm up with load, but at -35 the coolant in the rad gets so cold it will actually lower the vehicle temp drastically.

The big thing with the air block is it lets the truck warm up quicker. I usually just block the lower portion of my rad during cold snaps.

 

interesting, as my previous 2002 ranger with the 4.0 v6 seemed to take forever to warm up compared to this motor with the cast-in exhaust manifold.

 

The 2016 to 2020 F150s came standard with the. Not sure about the 2021+ models