Off Topic Warmer engine in winter

[Ultimatum Demon]

I live up in Scandinavia where it gets quite cold, my car's heater has a bit of trouble to keep me warm when I'm driving, but it does warm up when holding still.

I made this temporary skid plate and found out it helped keeping me warm. Does anyone know how to get a proper skid plate or know any other trick to keep the engine warm in the winter?

 

[Noddy]

The thermostat could be staying open, it probably getting old now anyway so maybe worth replacing.
Make sure the system is bled properly using both bleed screws. I fill the coolant all the way to the top of the cap when doing the heater matrix and then refill it and bleed the radiator.
Possibly look at the water pump as well. Apart from that there isn`t much else you can really do.

 

[Ultimatum Demon]

yeah I've done that.
Shielding the engine is the only thing i can think about.

 

[chris3234]

With the age of the car you'd probably have to make your ownid get a good template made out of cardboard the look to a local engineering/lezer cutting firm to make one out of sheet steel/aluminium then get a few holes swaged into it for extra strength

 

[blu73]

i'd would think best way to keep heat in would be to partially blank the radiator in winter.. Although you want to be absolutely certain its not an underlying issue first.

What spec is it, is it one with a coolant temp gauge or not? Is it actually cooling down, could just be the heater matrix is not transferring heat is what i'm thinking and just back flushing it might make a huge difference. Of course this is only a valid point if you don't have a gauge and aren't sure the coolant temp is actually dropping..

If you do have a temp gauge, what temperature does it sit at whilst moving along? And how quickly does it heat up when stationary? Thermostats are notoriously poor on these, pretty much the reason these engines had a rep for popping headgaskets when they were a common sight on the roads - the engines are strong and they only had head gasket issues cause stats stuck and they got to hot. Its highly recommended to only use genuine ones rather than cheap aftermarket replacements. I'd still suspect the stat isnt fully closing if its not a genuine item to be honest.

 

[Ultimatum Demon]

I do have the temperature gauge.
My thermostat is 1 year old and I've seen it in hot sommer not go above the middle line.

Now in winter, when i just let it idle, it'll hold the 90C line. But when i drive out of my area, it'll just drop down to the line below and stays there.
My heater core was burning hot when I installed that skid plate.

Thinking logically, blocking the radiator shouldn't be doing much since the water inside it wouldn't recirculate to my engine when the thermostat is closet and the air flow is being limited by the fan and radiator.

I'm thinking i need to do something directly to the engine. Like make a shield on my exhaust manifold that both keeps warm to the engine and block air from radiator. Maybe cover the engine with some cloth of some sort?

 

[blu73]

Now in winter, when i just let it idle, it'll hold the 90C line. But when i drive out of my area, it'll just drop down to the line below and stays there.
My heater core was burning hot when I installed that skid plate.

Thinking logically, blocking the radiator shouldn't be doing much since the water inside it wouldn't recirculate to my engine when the thermostat is closet and the air flow is being limited by the fan and radiator.

I'm thinking i need to do something directly to the engine. Like make a shield on my exhaust manifold that both keeps warm to the engine and block air from radiator. Maybe cover the engine with some cloth of some sort?

Tbh that sounds pretty normal to me for these engines, about 90 in traffic dropping to 75 ish moving along - most modern cars do exactly the same thing but their gauges are controlled by the ecu and they lie to you about the exact temp and just stay bang in the middle unless things get way beyond what they are supposed to. Sounds like its only getting slightly lower than i'd expect it to, but the heaters should be blowing pretty hot at that temperature, which leans be back towards doing a really good flush on the cooling system and back flushing the heater matrix really. You say it struggles to provide heat inside but you also say the heater core is burning hot - that points strongly towards inefficiency of the heater core and not that the engine is overcooled that does.

The radiator thing, well thats pretty standard procedure for cold weather climates, the aim of blocking the radiator is that when the stat opens the rad doesnt cool as fast, the cooling system is a feedback loop if you think about how it works. When the stat opens water rushes through the radiator and cools, back up through the water pump and through the engine and then hits the stat, its only at that point that the stat will react to the change in temperature. So if its really cold it can cool it the coolant so much that once it goes through the engine and hits the stat and shuts it, it has already cooled the engine down further than you might want to. So by blocking all or part of the rad off, when the stat opens and goes through the rad it doesnt cool as much and in turn doesnt cool the engine as much going back through - should result in the engine finding a sweet spot when the stat isnt going open and snapping shut as cools and repeating and you'll get a steadier more linear temperature. Block too much and you might find it starts getting to warm, don't block enough and it will have no effect. Remember its a metal box containing many explosions a minute, it just being cold outside isnt gonna make it stay cold, it should have zero problems staying hot..

I've seen this method used countless times on cars and lorries in cold weather, never ever have i seen anyone basically put a blanket round there engine however..

 

[Mike1alike]

I live up in Scandinavia where it gets quite cold, my car's heater has a bit of trouble to keep me warm when I'm driving, but it does warm up when holding still.

I advise you to clean and unclog your heater (and cooling system) using this method:

I fixed the car heater (little radiator inside the car) | FIAT Punto (Mk2/2b)

Hello everyone, I will share with you this great fix, for the case your heater is not working but cooling system works fine, engine temperature is steady good and thermostat works fine. So everything works just fine, then winter comes alog and you have no heat inside the car. And also, it's...

www.fiatforum.com

One mention: lemon salt is citric acid.

 

[judderbar]

I live in Helsinki. My car is the mk2b punto. There is an engine guard for that car which you can probably modify to fit your car. You can still get them new in the after market online. Mine has survived since new in 2004. The guard also makes a difference to the sump which has never been rusty.

Edit: You can get them for your car?

Moottorin pohjapanssari mallille Fiat PUNTO I (176) 10.1993-09.1999 - Varmistaka autosi merkki ja malli, että saisitte juuri oikean varaosan

Moottorin pohjapanssari - Osta korkealaatuisia auton varaosia Fiat PUNTO I (176) 10.1993-09.1999 - Varmistaka autosi merkki ja malli, että saisitte juuri oikean varaosan kohtuulliseen hintaan. Toimitamme ympäri maailmaa. Laatutakuu. Hanki neuvoja ammattilaisilta sivustolta ALVADI.FI

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