It gets damn cold up here (stretches of -30 or -35 aren't uncommon in winter), and I've gotta say a grille cover has never made much of a difference on any of the vehicles I've owned (as it shouldn't....If the engine is cold the thermostat shouldn't be open, so what good is blocking off the rad when there's no coolant flowing through it???). Especially on these trucks, with the huge gap between the grille and the rad and large gap underneath. A thermostat and heater core flush may help a lot, my heater core was plugged when I got the truck (of course I had to change mine....) and it makes amazing heat now. A block heater won't do too much for you, but it won't hurt (it does heat the coolant). For the situation you're describing though, the quick/dirty method would be to pick up a 120v in-cab heater. They're somewhat common up here. Just bolts up to wherever you want, run a cord out, and plug it in. It'll keep the cab somewhat warm.

 

Yeah, i wasn't going to block off the grill. That trick doesn't really do much, and certainly don't want to choke off the tranny cooler either.
Especially with my luck.

Yes, its just because its a short trip and I want the baby to be warm enough. I am just looking for a quick fix until either I trade it in or keep the turd another year and replace parts.

 

You running a 180 t stat or the 195?

I have noticed on my ram the 180 t stat will open before the engine is truly "warmed up." The flood of cold coolant keeps the temps down for a good extra 5 min. the 195 actually lets the block "heat up" so that when the t stat opens, the rush of cold coolant doesn't reduce the temp for as long a time. That's why I keep getting the "Engine too cold too long" CEL with the 180 t-stat.

A new Duralast WP is $65 at AZ and comes with the gasket. A new bypass hose and "HELP!" brand heater return line tube will put it to about $80. A good coolant system flush might be in order as well.

 

The tranny cooler will not be blocked off with a cover over part of the radiator. The cooler uses an insert in the lower or side radiator tank and acts as a heat exchanger.
Blocking the grill won't do much which is why I said to block of part of the radiator. With the accessability of it with the hood up it is not a problem. The area to close off is the lower section since the hotter coolant flows in at the top and the cooler out the bottom. It would not be a hard and is a simple quick fix for a temporary problem.

Also coolant ALWAYS flows through the radiator whether the t'stat is open or not. There is a bypass around the t'stat. Otherwise the water pump could not circulate any coolant at all. You can't pump anything against a closed valve which is what the t'stat acts like until the engine is warm. Blocking off part of the radiator cuts down on the ram air going through it and will assist in warming it sooner.

 

have to disagree with you here.
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/cooling-system2.htm

the t-stat blocks flow through the rad, and keeps if flowing through the block. click on that link above and see for yourself.
Also, if you look at the hose feeding the rad, you will see there are no other inlets to the rad.


*I should clerify that, it does do that for our trucks and most cooling systems.*

 

just i thought, taking of the clutch fan would make it warm up faster,(no moving air) and if you driving the air passing throw maybe it would make the motor stay cool....

so maybe a good excuse to replace the clutch fan with a e-fan, because the e-fan would turn on till the motor is warm( but i know form your pass posts that you don't like putting more money in your turd)

back in the day my dads chevy had one of those heaters in the lower rad hose and it would just plug into the 110/120v and the truck would get warm fast..sorry i don't remenber much more about it.

good luck

 

PERFECT SOLUTION!!!

Put your truck in a garage!

Works great for me!!

 

its in the garage, but its not a heated or insulated garage. I will just have to let it idle more thats all. Lately its been 10* warmer out than last week, so its been warm enough.
but I can see that jan and feb will be tougher.

 

Not to belabor the point, but look at the upper right (driver's side) of the water pump housing. See the cute little 90 degree bent hose? That is the bypass hose. If you look into the Ram Service manual in section 7 you will even see the illustration of all the hoses and water flow. The water is constantly circulated through the block, either by the small diameter bypass hose when the t'stat is closed or the large bore hoses when it is open.

Also, look at the link you supplied from the howstuffworks. "The plumbing around the thermostat sends the fluid back to the pump directly if the thermostat is closed" . Notice that the description of the water flow says the plumbing around the t'stat? That iis the bypass hose.

Also the t'stat has a small hole that allows water through.

 

Wait a sec... one min you say that there is constant flow to the rad, now you are saying there is constant flow in the block.
Here you say its always flowing in the rad...
Now you are saying...
Yes, to the second quote, and no to the first quote. If you consider anything slipping past the T-Stat, then fine, call that constant flow. But when the T-Stat is closed, it restricts the flow to the rad.
Yes, the cute little 90* hose sends it back to the block.
So I guess you are agreeing with me and disagreeing with yourself from the other post?

no more $$ for my turd. I think over $6000 in less than a year... (oh wait, its been a year)... is enough.