My Grill Block

[Treyz]

Honestly, I would have done it from the inside.

[CKaelin]

Originally Posted by Treyz

Honestly, I would have done it from the inside.

Love to see it. Not much room to work in there?

[Treyz]

Of course there is. The front bumper comes off easily. Then again, it might be easier with the Micro Image Grill. Only thing that it might touch up against is the horn.

[Sodium Duck]

There can be hot winter days where it would be best to have the grill cover off. Having it on the inside would be a real pain.

[CKaelin]

So I stop at my local mechanic/gas station on the way to work this morning. I'm topping of my tires with air and my mechanic friend, Vin comes over. "Hey Cliff, what's up with the grill cover?" I say.. "To help warm the engine up quicker and keep it warm to improve mpgs by running an warm engine." He goes on to tell me it's going to interfear with sensors and he thinks it is a bad idea. It can possibley do more damage then could ever be worth gaining acouple mpgs..

I took it off...

[rningonfumes]

Dot Dot Dot?

I could only think of at least two sensors, the one(s) in the air intake, mainly the MAF and the coolant sensor. The ones in the intake are for intake air temp and the one for the coolant is for the coolant temp (obvious statement).

Did your friend elaborate?

[yarswiss]

I've had a near-full upper grill block on my car for the past 5 months, and no damage has occurred as a result of it. I've even had a complete upper-and-lower grill block for a month, during the hot season here in California (90-110F) and the highest temperatures I recorded from the Scangauge was 208F. I called Toyota to make sure, and the 208 is the temperature at which the engine fan starts up, and it can go all the way to 280F before the engine will shut itself off to prevent overheating.

So I can assure you, having an upper grill block during the winter should not cause any damage to either sensors or internals.

Here's my block, btw:

[talnlnky]

anybody have any more pics of the grill block/dam they made? I'm wanting to do an external one (for simplicity of installation/removal) but am not a big fan of most of the installs i've seen so far (I don't want to be embarrassed to drive my car around).

[roadrunner]

I have been using black floor molding for a few years as a grille block.

[Woody_Woodchuck]

Mine is similar to the OP’s block only mine is coroplast and tied with 12 gauge copper wire. Sure the wire sticks out but I’m not into looks I’m into function. Full upper block caused absolutely no issues with overheating or any sensors that I am aware of. I took it off when regular morning temps were in the 70’s. I put it on as a test on an 80 F commute morning and had no issues with overheating.

I also noted by putting it on the outside as level with the body as possible it seemed to give me a slight boost in aero, I noticed my glides were longer than without it. Having that gaping hole right in front is a killer while making it as smooth as possible is a help. The lower grill I did not block last year and this year I will be experimenting with a 50% block (either side) to start. My thinking is that if I am running easy there is no reason why the fan and a limited amount of opening can not cool the engine.

I don’t remember the numbers but there was a gain in FE with the upper block versus without it.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by Woody_Woodchuck

Mine is similar to the OP’s block only mine is coroplast and tied with 12 gauge copper wire. Sure the wire sticks out but I’m not into looks I’m into function. Full upper block caused absolutely no issues with overheating or any sensors that I am aware of. I took it off when regular morning temps were in the 70’s. I put it on as a test on an 80 F commute morning and had no issues with overheating.

I also noted by putting it on the outside as levtel with the body as possible it seemed to give me a slight boost in aero, I noticed my glides were longer than without it.

Woody,

What is coroplast and how much is it? I'm going to do the block I'm just trying to figure out what to use.

Thanks,

R2

Update-I Googled coroplast and bought half a sheet from a local sign shop. Neat stuff-looks like the perfect material for the job. Thanks!

[AND189]

ha h if i did that to mine in australia i wouldnt leave the driveway