Preparing for winter with a comprehensive strategy to improve MPGs including grille blocking & more

[hybridbear]

You mentioned turning it off and back on and the temps were higher after turning it back on, which leads me to believe it was due to heat soaking. On the BD when I ran the SG on it, I always saw the temps rise when I came to a stop and the ICE shut off for a bit due to heat soaking.

I was only talking about the temp after sustained driving at 65 MPH, not any peaks & valleys in the temp.

[hybridbear]

Today with temps of 30F in the morning in Winnipeg and 65F when we got home to Minneapolis I was curious to see how the grille blocking would do. There was no noticeable difference in the coolant temps between a 30F ambient temp and a 65F ambient temp. The coolant maxed out at about 225F all day. The Generator Inverter temp stabilized around 115F and the Motor Inverter temp stabilized around 105F. These temps were consistent all day long. The only temp that varied was the Intake temp, that seems to consistently read 38 degrees warmer than ambient temp when driving long stretches on the freeway at high speeds with the grille blocking.

[Wingmn]

Guys, this might sound silly, but anyone else had issues with the sun melting the adhesive on the velcro on the blocks causing the outer edges of the cover to flap? It doesn't get real hot here, but in direct sunlight that adhesive just gets gooey... Granted we don't have direct sunlight very often... (Seattle)

Edited May 2, 2014 by Wingmn

[acdii]

I made my own which is tie wrapped on, so no velcro or adhesive to melt, though I do know some adhesives get gooey after exposed to heat. I have used the clear velcro like strips. They are clear plastic that are identical to each other, they are usually the type used on Ipass or other things that mount to glass. instead of hooks and loops, it has pins with round tops that snap into each other. Never had the adhesive melt on these and they are in direct sunlight year round,

[tr7driver]

I made my own which is tie wrapped on, so no velcro or adhesive to melt, though I do know some adhesives get gooey after exposed to heat. I have used the clear velcro like strips. They are clear plastic that are identical to each other, they are usually the type used on Ipass or other things that mount to glass. instead of hooks and loops, it has pins with round tops that snap into each other. Never had the adhesive melt on these and they are in direct sunlight year round,

Where did you get them? I need new strips for my ipass and I'm too lazy to wait at the toll plaza to ask for them.

[ptjones]

Guys, this might sound silly, but anyone else had issues with the sun melting the adhesive on the velcro on the blocks causing the outer edges of the cover to flap? It doesn't get real hot here, but in direct sunlight that adhesive just gets gooey... Granted we don't have direct sunlight very often... (Seattle)

I have had similar problems so I called Velcro and they recommended Velcro for Plastics Part# 90881 available at ACE Hardware. Seems to work better, and then I use Contact Cement if that doesn't work. :)

 

Paul

[acdii]

Where did you get them? I need new strips for my ipass and I'm too lazy to wait at the toll plaza to ask for them.

Menards

http://www.menards.com/main/home-decor/office-supplies/tape-glue-velcro/tape/mounting-tape/scotch-reg-reclosable-fastener/p-1420095-c-12640.htm

 

Same thing used by Ipass, but in larger strips, so they need to be trimmed a bit. I use these in my planes to secure the receivers, they work great to dampen vibrations too.

[Wingmn]

Thanks!

[hybridbear]

For all those concerned about grille blocking and hybrid component temps, you don't need to worry. I have now removed all blocking and the hybrid component temps are warmed now than they ever were in winter. In winter the peak would be right around 140F, with temps rarely exceeding 140F and never for an extended period. Now with ambient temps in the upper 70s, the Generator Inverter, Motor Inverter, Generator Coil & Motor Coil all regularly see temps in excess of 160F with no grille blocking to impede airflow to their radiator. The DC2DC converter temp is also higher now than with grille blocking. It easily reaches 140-150F now without grille blocking.

Edited May 25, 2014 by hybridbear

[hikyuuri]

Are the grill covers still being sold? I have a 2014 FFH and the cold is starting to affect my fuel economy.

 

Also, how are people mounting them? I read about straps and zip ties, but could someone show exactly how they are mounted? I don't want to damage the car.

 

Thanks!

[hybridbear]

Are the grill covers still being sold? I have a 2014 FFH and the cold is starting to affect my fuel economy.

 

Also, how are people mounting them? I read about straps and zip ties, but could someone show exactly how they are mounted? I don't want to damage the car.

 

Thanks!

Using foam in the grille seems to be much easier, simpler and cheaper: http://fordfusionhybridforum.com/topic/8364-stuffed-foam-in-grill-mpg-update

[milleron]

Are the grill covers still being sold? I have a 2014 FFH and the cold is starting to affect my fuel economy.

 

Also, how are people mounting them? I read about straps and zip ties, but could someone show exactly how they are mounted? I don't want to damage the car.

 

Thanks!

 

Suggest you Personal Message Forum member ptjones with this question. Last winter, he was selling the Lexan covers that are a perfect fit and come with an ingenious mounting system that's proven very reliable (except in carwashes ),

As others have said, the foam-pipe insulation is much, much less expensive. I guess I'm sort of a putz at installing it, though, because I had several foam pieces blow out during highway driving last year. This winter, I've installed the foam and then put the Lexan cover over that. I think it makes a very good seal, and you don't have to worry about the foam coming out, but you do have to elect the carwash without the high-velocity air dryer. The Lexan doesn't actually come off in the dryer, but it will usually come free of it's side restraints, and I don't think you could get away with that many times without it's breaking.

[hikyuuri]

I ended up just installing the foam into the grill. I opted for the 3/4" pipe insulating foam (meant for 3/4" pipes). I wanted the thicker pipes to create a tighter seal and hopefully prevent them from blowing out.

 

I attached some pics of my work for people to view. I think it turned out really well. You can only see the foam if you are within 5 to 10 feet or so, otherwise it just looks like how the darkenss inside the grill usually looks.

 

I want to buy one more pack of the foam insulators (comes in packs of 4 for about $4), mainly so I can fill in that last slot at the top of the grill and to have some extras incase any blow out. My plan for if it becomes a problem with them blowing out is to use a few zip ties between the slats of the grill to help hold them in place. They may become loose, but they should remain with the vehicle so I can push them back in.

 

One question. My understanding is to not put any in the lower grill (behind the license plate) because that is where the majority of the electronic radiators are, however the first post talks about putting one in with extreme cold temperatures. I was wondering if someone could better clarify what is meant by "extreme cold". I live in MN, so getting negative temps are not uncommon.

[corncobs]

Nice job you wouldn't know if you don't know.

[Texasota]

Your installation has a very clean look. Like CC said, you have to look close to notice. From your photos, it looks like you did not insert foam into the top row of the grill slots?

 

Edit: Hikyuuri stated in his above post that he ran out of foam. I missed that. Sorry.

Edited December 26, 2014 by Texasota

[hikyuuri]

I ran out. The package I got only had 4 pieces. I wanted to see how the 3/4" worked before I got too much and started cutting.

 

I'll be putting that last piece in this weekend. I'm also not going to worry about the bottom grill, unless I'm going to Alaska or something like that.

 

I took it for a drive after installing. Temp gauge showed no ICE temp, but not sure how true that is (was driving it about 4 hours earlier). It heated up REAL quick though, much faster than before. So, even with that top slot open, I see a huge improvement.

 

Going to pick myself up a ScanGaugeii tomorrow from AutoZone and get that hooked in to see exactly how it preforms.

[hybridbear]

One question. My understanding is to not put any in the lower grill (behind the license plate) because that is where the majority of the electronic radiators are, however the first post talks about putting one in with extreme cold temperatures. I was wondering if someone could better clarify what is meant by "extreme cold". I live in MN, so getting negative temps are not uncommon.

My experience in winter with grille blocking has been than even with the top & lower grilles fully blocked the hybrid components and transmission don't get as hot as they are in the summer with the grille not blocked at all. The lower grille opening feeds air to the radiator for the transmission fluid and for the hybrid electric components coolant. In other places I've posted temp observations, but from what I can recall, the transmission fluid peaks at about 150 F after hours of freeway driving with grille blocking in winter and I've seen 160+ in the summer after much shorter driving periods. The hottest hybrid component is typically the generator inverter in city driving which peaks at 140 F in summer and winter because it seems that as soon as it hits 140 F the system starts moving coolant to cool it. The motor coil gets the hottest in freeway driving and the highest I've seen it is about 160-170 F after 3+ hours on the freeway. In the summer I've seen the motor coil get up to about 180 F after only 60-90 minutes of freeway driving.

[hybridbear]

Going to pick myself up a ScanGaugeii tomorrow from AutoZone and get that hooked in to see exactly how it preforms.

They often have coupon codes available online, so check those out if you didn't already buy it. I bought a SGII first and later got an Android tablet, Torque Pro & an OBDLink BT scanner. Torque Pro is a better choice and is actually less expensive if you already have an Android phone or tablet. It allows you to do much more than the ScanGauge.

[milleron]

I have an old Android phone that I could repurpose for use with the setup you describe, HB. Do you have a suggestion for where to start shopping for the Torque Pro and OBDLink?

[murphy]

Torque light (free) and Torque Pro ($) are both in the Android Play Store.

[hybridbear]

I have an old Android phone that I could repurpose for use with the setup you describe, HB. Do you have a suggestion for where to start shopping for the Torque Pro and OBDLink?

OBDLink sells their scanners on their website, you can sometimes find a better price for the scanners on Amazon.

[lsherlockl]

I must say I never really realized the effects of cold weather driving so much till I got my FFH. May be party in part because of the fact that I got it at the end of Dec but.

Just seeing MPG drop from ~42.5 at 30F to 38 when the cold snap hit WI at -10F was like wow I really need to do something. I plugged the upper grille as suggested with ½” pipe insulation and had some ¾" I used for the topmost slot (as it is a bigger slot) and this morning I happily got 41.9mpg at -8F (return trip is always better will update )

 

 

I also have been doing some experimenting with cabin temps to try and optimize heating and cabin heat. Here is my current schema/thoughts on it. I made the my view panel have the KW EV ICE meter on the left, and engine temp on the right (how I use it explained in a bit)

 

When I start out I just turn my seat heater on max and don’t touch the HVAC until the gauge until the engine temp is about 4-5 pixels into the “Acceptable Range” (marked by the little bracket) usually this is by the time I hit the highway outside of my small town and like 1-2 charge cycles of the Battery. When ICE IS running and 4-5 pixels into the “Acceptable Range” I then turn on HVAC set to high and I let it be on auto early on the trip (more heat over less noise). I keep it on and then switch to the eco view or whatever it’s called on the big touchscreen, keeping HVAC on till one of 2 things occur the system notes the ICE is on due to Heater setting, Or ICE is OFF and I notice the engine temp getting really close to the bottom of that acceptable range. Also watching engine temp on a cold day without grille blocking is just sad, you see the engine temp just dive when ice is off. With the blocking it crawls slowly down.

 

Results so far is a little aggravation of toggling but, I can get the inside super toasty without sacrificing much or at least I feel that way. I should really monitor interior, and engine temps and mpgs both ways.

 

Any thoughts or is this unnecessary or silly to do? Just a new FFH owner trying to maximize my cold weather environment without knowing what I’m doing and well not freezing

[corncobs]

I'm doing essentially the same thing except I keep the HVAC in manual control.

 

Air goes to the windshield and the feet (acdii's approach) and depending on the engine temp and the ICE usage the fan either really low or high if there's enough heat available.

 

It's hard to turn it off completely since the windshield is fogging over rather quickly. Therefore I keep the fan at 1 bar for the most part and the temp setting at 69*.

 

When it's that cold the worst thing is stop and go traffic because the ICE constantly runs to provide heat with no travel. Like last night IIRC (I knew it was gonna be low) the trip home after crawling on I-290 because of an accident return 33.4 MPG.

 

This morning with better flowing traffic 41.9 MPG.

 

The gallon of regular was only $1.869 last night so nothing to worry about except the personal pride not getting at least 40 MPG. ;)

[ptjones]

Use Grill Covers and Premium Gas should be worth 3+mpg's. :)

 

Paul

[Texasota]

Some interesting info on premium gas from Consumer Reports here:

 

http://consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2012/08/debunking-fuel-economy-myths/index.htm

 

They stated this about performance from premium gas:

 

 

The vast majority of cars are designed to run fine on regular. And premium won’t improve performance or fuel economy for those cars, but it will cost you about 20 cents more per gallon.

 

Even if there was a measuarable improvement in MPGs from premium gas that would most likely be negated by the increased cost per gallon.