Covering Durango grille in winter to raise engine oil temperature

[wwillson]

The Durango has an engine oil cooler with a good supply of coolant coming right from the radiator. Unfortunately, no oil cooler thermostat. To me, this is a design flaw. Why run around all winter with the oil pump in high pressure mode?

My assumption that there is a design flaw is completely wrong and I probably won't have to cover my grille anymore. The thermostat was bad and has been virtually since new. See this post:

Dodge Durango 3.6L P0128 code

2014 Durango 3.6L with 130,000 miles threw a P0128, which is "coolant did not reach operating temperature quickly enough". I believe the cause is almost certainly a faulty thermostat, which I'm going to replace. I haven't researched thermostats for 20 years, so at this point I know nothing...

bobistheoilguy.com

 

[DGXR]

I did that with my 1965 Mustang just to get good heat from the heater core. 10" x 16" cardboard worked in this case, but had to watch the gauge when in traffic/city driving.