Cardboard in front radiator, 2008 Odissey

[Pesca]

Hi,

It is getting really cold in our area, and I noticed that my wife's car doesn't get to optimal coolant temperature anymore.

I want to put a card board in front of the radiator like I did on my own car, but I am not sure where: There seems to be two radiators on the Odyssey.

I am quite sure that the second one is the engine radiator, but what is the first one?

Where do I put the cardboard?

What are your recommendations?
Thanks.

 

[rshunter]

Keep it where you have it in the picture. I haven't looked under the hood of an Odyssey lately, but I'd bet that it's the AC heat exchanger you're looking at.

 

[Chris142]

That will make it run warmer but do not turn on your defroster with that cardboard in there. The 1st "radiator" is your AC condensor and your AC comes on when you turn on the defroster.

If you run the AC with the air blocked to the condensor you can damage the Compressor, blow AC lines etc.

 

[sciphi]

I'd block only as much as necessary.

 

[Quest]

given Ody's engine displacement size: check and replace your thermostat first before you do the pizza box cover trick.

Q.

 

[rshunter]

Originally Posted By: Quest
given Ody's engine displacement size: check and replace your thermostat first before you do the pizza box cover trick.

Q.

As it's a lease, I'd just have the dealer check it. It should be their problem, if there is one.

 

[Smokescreen]

I would never block the rad off like that. Your enemy is ambient air flowing through the grill cooling you engine when its in motion. Behind the front grille or in front of it, but you don't want to cut off airflow entirely....if the fan should kick in you will have zero flow and all kinds of damage can happen to engine, transmission, etc...you have to be able to pull air from somewhere.

I have 100% grille block on my vehicles, they warm up faster and I never worry about overheating as the fan can always pull air from between the grill and the A/C condensor or rad. Make sure your coolant and thermostat is correct.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Kool ! (or warm!)
But, what happens when the cardboard gets wet? We have PET-G roll stock at work, but I think that may sag or melt unless I put it on the OUTSIDE of the bumper.

 

[Scienceman]

How long is it leased for?

 

[KrisZ]

Go to the dealer and get them to check the thermostat.

No other hacks are needed.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

That rad is designed to cool when its over 110F outside. It need about 1/5th its area in a sub zero climate. Block away. Gets the coolant flowing thru the rad better - rather than trickling. Still just worried about the cardboard disintegrating and getting "all puttied up" in the rad core.

 

[fdcg27]

There should be no need for this if the thermostat is functional.
I'd check that before playing with beater-grade cardboard.
Aside from the lack of heat, you are also wasting fuel with an engine that can't get up to temperature.
I'm assuming that you aren't worried about the likely reduction in engine life, since it is a leased vehicle.

 

[Pesca]

Thanks for all the answers. Like most said, I put it between the two radiators, but maybe I did not explain it correctly why I want to do that, so I will describe you my yesterday experiment:

OTOH, my thermostat works perfectly, as you will read in the following story, and even if it is a leased car, I still take care of it as I don't want my wife to get stranded with the kids during a snow storm. I just don't do the extracare you guys do on your cars, just the basic maintenance with high quality parts.

So, yesterday, after rshunter and Chris142's answer, I block the radiator and went to pick up one of the girl at her school. Not the usual use of the car, as it mainly does less than 15 minutes drive to go to work, twice a day.
The travel is about 35-40 minutes city driving, with a lot of stops and lights.
In summer, the coolant temp reaches 92C in about 10 minutes (I have a scangauge to check it). Yesterday afternoon (at the highest temp of the day), he took about 30 minutes of stop and go driving to get to this temp,... with the radiator entirely blocked!
On the way back, I checked the coolant temp to see when/if the thermostat was going open. The problem was as soon as I was driving, the air was so cold outside that it couldn't reach higher than 94C, sometimes going down to 88C.
I had to stop as the girl needed to do some shopping, so as contrary as I used to do, I kept the engine on in order the coolant to get hotter. After few minutes waiting, it would not increase, so I pressed the throttle to 1200 rpms in order to achieve that. The coolant temp finally went up to 96C before going down to 92C again. I did it twice, so clearly the thermostat works as designed.

My conclusion is that, as contrary as some said, more than just blocking the radiator, I should wrap up the engine because it has a hard time staying hot!! (Joke)

I am not doing it blindly: I have a scangauge and, as contrary as on my Rogue, it is a 5 minutes job to remove the cardboard in case of, either it gets too hot or if we plan a long ride.

I just wanted to know what was the first radiator in order to avoid any mess. So thanks all for your help and special thank to rshunter and Chris142 for the quick answer.

 

[JeremyInMT]

I know you have a scangauge to watch the temps, but they shouldn't be dipping like they are. I just had a thermostat do this very thing on my grand am. Put a new one in and now the temps don't dip as much. I think your thermostat is probably starting to open just a tad bit early.

 

[TedT]

I don't know what you call it but there is a plastic version of corrugated cardboard. It's used for temp. outdoor signs and displays. Coke and Pepsi use these along with others. It works great for blocking rads.

 

[calvin1]

That still sounds like the thermostat is not working. If it were working it would be clamped shut below ~90C and the radiator would be effectively out of the circuit whether it was blocked off or not. It sounds like it isn't fully closing.

All the makers do arctic testing now to make sure over-cooling isn't a problem.

 

[bigbird_1]

Originally Posted By: TedT
I don't know what you call it but there is a plastic version of corrugated cardboard. It's used for temp. outdoor signs and displays. Coke and Pepsi use these along with others. It works great for blocking rads.


It's called Coroplast. It won't absorb water and rot out like cardboard will.

 

[bigbird_1]

Originally Posted By: calvin1
That still sounds like the thermostat is not working. If it were working it would be clamped shut below ~90C and the radiator would be effectively out of the circuit whether it was blocked off or not. It sounds like it isn't fully closing.


The problem isn't the T-stat, it's the engine, or more precisely, what the engine is made out of. Aluminum in the block and heads is a fantastic conductor of heat. The engine just can't retain enough heat in the cold ambient temperature. You need to get a winter front outside the engine bay. That's why they're called winter fronts. Every highway tractor north of Texas uses them in the winter. I know they're made for the Odyssey, as I've seen them up here.

 

[calvin1]

Also, an operating range of 88-94 doesn't really sound like a problem. That's about what I expect to see on my SG2 in similar conditions and that's with a belt driven cooling fan.

 

[bullwinkle]

This is also a common problem on diesels, especially intercooled ones-they don't get hot under light loads/throttle to begin with, the heater is pulling out heat, and the intercooler gets the intake air cold, which also cools the head area. Even with a good thermostat they don't get warm enough for good heat or full MPGs.