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Tips on how to improve gas mileage

Step 3Re-route air intakes

Re-route air intakes
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In the winter (especially in harsh northern climates) you should cover the front grill of your vehicle to increase the temperature of the air that is entering your engine. Blocking the front will force the air to be pulled past the hot metal of your engine resulting in better efficiency. This is especially true with diesel engines.
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13 comments
Apr 12, 2010. 11:00 AMzehcnasytridmi says:
Blocking the cold air from your engine is not going to help anything (in my opinion). "keeping your engine warm in the winter" will only result in power loss and a less efficient vehicle due to the motor being restricted from adequate intake and ventilation. Did you find any gains in fuel economy by doing this? I have never heard of any rigs doing this either...
May 14, 2011. 12:41 PMSG1Oniell says:
Where have you been living? I see big rigs with a cover over their grill all the time. They put these on their trucks because diesel runs more efficiently the hotter it is (ever notice how some diesel vehicles have an engine heater for use before you turn them on?). The cover also helps to prevent moisture from freezing in the radiator, and that restricted airflow on the radiator actually causes the truck to warm up faster, both the engine and the cab I believe. Oh, and it helps prevent the moisture in the air from causing rust.
Feb 24, 2012. 9:03 AMdemigod123 says:
the only thing the engine heaters are for is to warm up the oil thats it. as for as helping run better blocking the air getting in to the engine bay will actually in your engine temps cause your thermostat to to fail and freeze close cause your engine to overheat. the only thing that this might help with is aerodynamics and the pros against the cons for this isnt that great after the engine warms up.
Feb 24, 2012. 6:03 PMSG1Oniell says:
You may want to learn to do some research before speaking about a topic you don't know too much about. Also, proper grammar would help you to come across as more reliable a source of information when speaking on such topics. This generation with all the "text talk" is simply horrific. While I do not dispute the engine heater bit, it was given as an example. Look at gasoline engines, they do not have the same heaters as diesel do. I pulled 3 discussions for your benefit.
1:
http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/2010-general-discussion/346926-why-do-diesels-need-grille-cover-when-cold-we-have-thermostats.html

2:
http://www.astrosafari.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=5321&view=print

3:
http://www.thedieselstop.com/forums/f31/cold-weather-grill-radiator-cover-75746/

*Also, note that it actually would decrease how aerodynamic the truck is due to the restricted airflow. You are forcing more air around the cab, rather than allowing some to pass into the engine, and flowing out through the bottom or other parts. And while I may not be a trucker, I am an engineer with experience studying aerodynamics in a wind tunnel. A truck, depending upon the design, is one of the worst aerodynamic shapes out there, with the best being a theoretical "perfect" teardrop shape. Basically, a truck is a big rectangular prism, and rectangular prisms are in fact the worst aerodynamic shape when you look at simple shapes. You could design something to be worse, but there's no need for that.
Feb 24, 2012. 8:41 PMdemigod123 says:
Gasoline engines do have engine heaters that you can buy and they do the same thing. I may not have all the degrees you have, heck a flunked out of college, but that doesnt mean that i dont know about cars ive done more stuff with cars then you probably have so i know what i am talking about. And just because i dont use my shift key of the apostrophe doesnt mean it "text talk". "Text talk" is abbreviating every word. If you really have "studied" aerodynamics then you would know that the engine and firewall has more restriction on airflow then covering up the grill would. Not to mention trucks an go just as fast cars can. By the way i drive a mini truck and still get just as good as gas mileage as a friend of mine a honda civic, and i can out perform them any day of the week.
Feb 25, 2012. 8:07 AMSG1Oniell says:
Once again I must return with more material for your benefit, view this official peterbilt report on aerodynamics(maybe seeing this from peterbilt will help your misconceptions, as they would know far better than I). I will also explain it to you to help you understand. On page 7 (cover page does not count as page 1), you will notice two separate CFD study results.

http://www.peterbilt.com/eco/pdf/Aero%20WHITE%20PAPER-2.pdf

The pictorial representation may help you. I would draw your attention to the grill area on both trucks. Notice how there is in face a color other than red there, meaning air is allowed to pass through and escape with less of an impact upon the aerodynamics of the design. Now visualize placing the bra over the grill. You do not dispute it restricts air flow correct? Now notice the wind shield, see how, due to it being solid, it is almost exclusively red? That is comparable to the result you would have when covering the grill. This clearly shows that solid surfaces are worse than those that are slotted to allow airflow. As the bra is made to restrict the airflow further, more of the actual air drag will be placed onto the truck, resulting in lower aerodynamics. And this hasn't become a question of performance. For that I would have you look at the older caterpillar engines. Quite a strong engine. Though a truck is suited to only a few tasks, same as cars. They out perform each other in different areas.
*Note: It may not be "text talk" but it "appears" to show that you can't be bothered with speaking correctly, something that employers, especially in engineering fields, take notice of. I would never have received any of my jobs had I spoken similarly. No offense to you, I just dislike how many people speak that way in general, and tend to react negatively. I have poor social skills when dealing with something like that, certain things just rub me the wrong way and I can't stop myself from saying anything. One of the pitfalls of us engineers is that we tend to have worse than average social skills, and many quirks. So apologies if that seemed like a personal attack. May we start over? If I haven't already burned any bridges...
Feb 25, 2012. 9:08 AMdemigod123 says:
ok just so that you know i never said anything about large diesel trucks. as far as a car bra they are not made to restrict airflow they move air to go up sooner and protect the paint on the front of a car. i know that if you have less surface area for air to pass over you have more aerodynamics therefor an engine is not an ideal surface for aerodynamics. although if we may get back to the picture neither picture has a peterbilt truck in it. one is a dodge van and the other is a ford truck. the ford i know for a fact that it does not have a diesel engine in it.
Feb 25, 2012. 4:40 PMSG1Oniell says:
My original comment was addressing z's (for simplicity I will refer to him as z, rather than typing the whole name) bit about "rigs." I would agree with you regarding smaller vehicles. It seems there was simply some miscommunication between us. Apologies for the rather pointed and rude manner in which I spoke to you.
Nov 18, 2009. 11:16 AMHmff says:
Great idea. I live in wiscosin and its always cold here that ill help my truck alought.
May 14, 2009. 10:39 PMWalis says:
You can get the engine operation temperature faster by covering the radiator in winter (front grille). That means switching the ECU to normal operation mode after cold start, which consumes less fuel due to different injection modes (for cold start and low engine temperatures (NOT INTAKE AIR TEMP!!) you need more fuel.The colder the air, the more efficient cycle - that is why we use intercoolers between turbo and intake valves... And thanks to the higher power resulting from more air in the cylinder, we can avoid pressing the gas pedal so hard :-)
Apr 8, 2009. 1:52 PMJacobAziza says:
If you aren't concerned about looks, you will get an aero benefit if you block the grill in front using plastic instead of behind it with canvass
Mar 24, 2009. 10:46 PMHARMON_RACING says:
hey "iwilltry" you must not know that no matter what you do to keep your engine warm, eventually it's going to cool down to a specified temperature. I mean what do you think the ENGINE COOLANT is for? Once your engine hits a certian temp. the fans behind the radiator will kick in, instantly stabalizing the temp. keeping it COOL. No matter what you do to keep it hot, the vehicle will automatically cool itself to attempt to prevent damage to the engine. Anything to prevent this automatic cooling process could potentially end in engine damage.
Jun 12, 2008. 3:42 PMCadzooks says:
This part of the instructable will lower your gas mileage. Cold air is more dense and will increase your power and fuel economy, while hot air will lower its power. The more air you can force into your engine, the better it will run.
Aug 9, 2008. 5:37 PMiwilltry says:
Not true. Colder air, being more dense will increase power as you say, since you can get more of it into the cylinder, but more power does not mean higher efficiency. While air temperature doesn't have a significant effect on efficiency, engine temperature does. A cold engine is MUCH less efficient than an engine at normal operating temperature. Blocking the grill helps bring the engine up to normal operating temperature faster, improving efficiency especially for short trips. In northern climates, you won't often see diesel semi truck without its "winter front" partially covering the grill.
Aug 28, 2008. 8:32 PMRishnai says:
You make a good point about engine temperature and efficiency, but if you can get cold (denser) air into an engine that is at a proper operating temperature, it will be more efficient than hot air going into a proper-temp engine. That's the theory behind cold-air intakes. That's why turbos on little engines increase gas milage vs. power numbers. The trick is to keep it streetable, of course, but other than that, having more power out of the same displacement will increase your milage.

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