Grill winter diaper

Dsl engines inherantly run cool. They are more efficient when running at proper temp. Sure you dont have issues without the cold front, but your engine is not running efficiantly and as anal as most are on here i would think you would want to make the thing run at higher temps.

Semi-related... I had a 1988 F150 that had cooling issues from the day I bought it new. Ran fine, snowplowed with it, but on the highway it would heat up even in the winter - which made no sense when plenty of air was flowing over everything.

One winter, after seeing a big rig with a cover over the radiator, I figured I try it on my truck (I know, doesn't make sense since it already ran hot, but I was younger). So, zip tied a piece of cardboard over the front grill, and...

It ran cold! Engine just barely warmed up, and it ran the coolest since I had owned it. Far as I could tell, it had a bad / wrong temp thermostat installed, which wouldn't kick on until almost no air was cooling the engine - then it "over cooled" the engine.

Sometimes you just don't know until you experiment!

Tvov wrote:
So this is about pickup trucks and not medium / heavy duty trucks? It never occured to me when I had my 2000 F250 7.3 to use a grill cover, and I don't see them around here at all on pickup trucks.



Would newer engine designs account for this?

Never see them in WI either

Unless its going to be below zero all day, throw that thing under the rear seat and dont worry about it ever again. During the "polar vortex" a couple winters ago my truck would idle up at start to warm up and was fine from then on. No cover used or needed.

I have always ran one in winter even on gas truck with aluminum block. I have towed with it in place and always watched the gauge. Didnt have to remove it towing until temps were in the 50's and 70's not towing. My Ram came with a winter front from the factory.

Tvov wrote:
So this is about pickup trucks and not medium / heavy duty trucks? It never occured to me when I had my 2000 F250 7.3 to use a grill cover, and I don't see them around here at all on pickup trucks.
Even the heavy duty trucks don't seem to have the grill covers like they used to. Back in the '70s and '80s seemed like 4 out of 5 big rigs had covers, now I rarely see them at all.
Would newer engine designs account for this?

Most trucks today have a fan clutch which engages when a certain temperature is sensed. Otherwise the fan turns freely. That is why a radiator cover or shutters aren't needed in most cases as in "the old days". Back then the fan hub was solid and ran all the time, keeping the engine from reaching operating temperatures in very cold weather. Much better system today-I hated working on those shutters as they were a pain to get right.:R

Pangaea Ron wrote:
I loved my 1963 Volvo 544. It had a spring loaded window shade mounted inside the grill and in front of the radiator. There was a chain projecting through the firewall and dashboard that led through a keyhole opening. I could pull the chain and it would unroll the shade upward to cover the radiator in cold weather. I love basic and essential technology that gets the job done.

Lol and now we have......snaps to un do winter fronts.

To the op, never used a winter front on any diesel pickup until I was working in the arctic. Never needed one except on long down hill mountain passes in below zero weather.
You will not need it at all if towing. But it also should not overheat with the winter front on with just the small vents or partially open.
My 07 below has most of the fins smashed flat on the first cooler in the stack. Been that way for years thanks to my kids smashing them all in when they were little!
Kind of like a permanent winter front lol. It doesn't get hot pulling 8klb in summer heat in the mountains. Just a little perspective. Light duty diesel cooling systems are pretty robust.

Tvov wrote:
So this is about pickup trucks and not medium / heavy duty trucks? It never occured to me when I had my 2000 F250 7.3 to use a grill cover, and I don't see them around here at all on pickup trucks.

Even the heavy duty trucks don't seem to have the grill covers like they used to. Back in the '70s and '80s seemed like 4 out of 5 big rigs had covers, now I rarely see them at all.

Would newer engine designs account for this?

my 04 duramax and 15 duramax came with the grill cover. IMHO if you do a lot of short trip, stop and go in temps below 0F or so, then it likely would help in warmups. But as I mentioned, I haven't seen a need for using it even in temps down around -20F on the highway,

So this is about pickup trucks and not medium / heavy duty trucks? It never occured to me when I had my 2000 F250 7.3 to use a grill cover, and I don't see them around here at all on pickup trucks.

Even the heavy duty trucks don't seem to have the grill covers like they used to. Back in the '70s and '80s seemed like 4 out of 5 big rigs had covers, now I rarely see them at all.

Would newer engine designs account for this?

I didn't have one for my '06 and drove that for 5 or 6 years in the winter with no trouble. Probably not going to screw around putting that thing on my new truck either.

Using those things while pulling you have to be very careful, it's pretty easy to over heat if they're blocking too much of the front.

Dan