Cold Weather Grille

[JoeHutchinson]

TDR has been a great resource for me being as first time diesel owner, and the project people do to their truck are a huge help in building my truck, so I wanted to give a little back.



The problem is my dodge warms up to slow and will not stay warm when we make a stop. So I built this highly custom grill cover.



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Now I have to figure what to do with all these leftover beers.







Total Cost :

One Case of Railbenders $23. 95

8 plastic ties $ 0. 96



Total $24. 91



Now I have to figure what to do with all these leftover beers.















2006 Quad Cab 4 X 4 Westeck EGT and Boost Gages, Newfoundland in back seat

 

[Prairie Dog]

Now thats class!

 

[jltcasper3]

I have the cloud rider stainless winter front inserts

 

[NUKEMAN]

Up here we call that the "Browning Thermostat". Named after the Indian Res. just north of here.

 

[BrentKaiser]

Mopar makes an excellent winter front that goes inside the engine compartment. I have one up here in Alaska and it works great. But I like the look of yours! :-laf

 

[mrsnow]

... And I thought I was cool with my plain brown cardboard inserted behind the grill. :-laf



In what part of North America would a man find "Railbender Ale"?

Are they any good?

 

[LHirshman]

Does the squirel on the hood help in warming up?

 

[jelag]

I used to use winter fronts on my trucks until they went to intercoolers... . Its my belief that you want that nice cold air cooling the charged air system... .



Brent... I'd love to see a photo of yours... as I assume its behind the intercooler and in front of the radiator??

 

[UP N MTNS]

Does the squirel on the hood help in warming up?

:-laf :-laf :-laf

 

[NUKEMAN]

I second the OEM Mopar cover. I have had mine for the last 2 winters and while it still runs cold when it's below 0, it definitely helps. I think I paid $100 for it. I usually keep all 4 flaps open to allow for some air.

 

[nickleinonen]

i've got a piece of coroplast blocking off 100% of my rad. . it is a friction fit in the small groove in the rad end headers. it helps a little bit. . i may try blocking off the CAC and see if that improves my warm up times [-20°c and very little boost = i don't care about iat's. . ]

 

[BrentKaiser]

I used to use winter fronts on my trucks until they went to intercoolers... . Its my belief that you want that nice cold air cooling the charged air system... .



Brent... I'd love to see a photo of yours... as I assume its behind the intercooler and in front of the radiator??

Jim... actually I have it in front of my intercooler, but have been wondering what that does to my performance. I am installing an EGT tonight and will let you know what the temps tell me. I will also get a pic posted.

 

[silverram03]

I have the mopar cover on mine and keep one flap closed and the other three open and have noticed next to no effect on e. g. t. I have noticed however that if you have 3 or 4 flaps closed that the fan will kick on for a second or two at highway speed but I only had that happen when it was in the 20's here.

 

[JStrasser]

I used to use winter fronts on my trucks until they went to intercoolers... . Its my belief that you want that nice cold air cooling the charged air system... .

My thought too. I have a thin piece of quilted foil in front of the radiator only, allowing the intercooler to get fresh air. But if I am not towing and not on long trips I wonder if blocking off the intercooler also would help to heat the engine. Yesterday we had -9F here and with the radiator 100% blocked off the temp gauge only got as high as 1/2 way between cold and normal op temp. I keep it in a warm garage AND use the block heater for 1 hour before driving it.

Also, the truck really stinks of fuel while it warms up- does this happen to anyone else?



John

 

[NIsaacs]

[-20°c and very little boost = i don't care about iat's. . ]

I agree, under cruise power, down hill travel or chugging around town, real cold temps and intercoolers equal "too cold" intake temps. For years Cummins resisted intercoolers in favor of water cooled aftercoolers for this reason, however emissions finally forced them to go to intercoolers.



I notice when it is very cold my "01 HO" with Edge EZ will not warm up enough on the intake to back off the added cold weather timing. On those days or when the engine is still cold I wish I could shut off the EZ. The water temp will be at 190 after about ten miles of driving and stay there, however whenever I shut down for a minute as in town and restart, the grid heaters will cycle, as in cold "iat's".





"NICK"

 

[JoeHutchinson]

Railbender

Railbender are found in Pa, and they are a great beer. But be carefully one beer and you feel like you could bend a rail. Six beers and you feel like you been hit by the train... 9. 8 % Alcohol







Joe H

 

[jelag]

John



When the truck is covered with ice over the vents below the wipers it seems to pull in diesel smell from someplace... . don't know where... . I do have exhaust manifold gaskets that leak... so maybe I'm not getting fresh air with the ice over the vents... once its gone than the smell goes away... . is this your problem as well... .



Jim

 

[mrsnow]

Railbender are found in Pa, and they are a great beer. But be carefully one beer and you feel like you could bend a rail. Six beers and you feel like you been hit by the train... 9. 8 % Alcohol







Joe H

HA HA! Sounds like fun, I'll have to pick some up next time I roll through PA.