I live in Western KY, so cold weather comes and goes. The past few days its been below 20 degrees at night so I've been hooking up the good ol' block heater. In the mornings before I head out I let the car warm up at least 15 mins at higest idle. Generally after this amount of time the temp. gauge reads 40c (104f). When the temp is below 35 degrees my engine NEVER seems to get above 60c (140f) unless I go at a speed above 65mph for a good while. I flushed the radiator in October and filled it with the best antifreeze Autozone had.
Does my engine stay cold because of the massive amount of airtake by disels?
At 60c (140f) the engine is still not warm enough to provide adequate heat for the interior. Below 60c (140f) the air blowing is unbearably cold.
Currently, many race engines are warmed (or heated to operating temp) electrically *before* starting. Your car is different. T.G.'s advice is sound. I would add to drive gently at first when the temperatures are low.
Chas Hurst
1980's W123 Diesel...
I have been road racing Hondas for over two decades. Our team, Heschimura Racing, has won three 24 hour races and one 30 hour race. We won the 24 Hours of Nelson's in 1983 on a VF750. Beating all the 1 liter machines in the race on a stock VF. I was sold!
During my career in the motorcycle industry I worked for Honda Research of America, in Torrance CA. We were responsible for testing pre-production units to make sure they would last the life of the warranty and we did emission testing. We rode all models of Hondas for tens of thousands of miles without ever changing any fluids. The only maintenance we were allowed to do related to safety, tires, brakes etc. We tested many V4s that had the poorly designed heads. We NEVER had a failure during all the testing we did. We would put over 30,000 miles on the bike without ever changing the oil! This had to be done to check for compliance with the Federal laws concerning warranties.
A typical day of testing started with a thorough check-over of the machines and topping off any fluids, airing the tires, etc. The machines would then be started and HEATED up to OPERATING temperature before riding. This contributes to extended reliability and will make any engine last ten t o twelve times longer. If you only would take one piece of advice to make your bikes last forever, do this one thing! We then proceeded to flog the machines for approximately 350 miles per day. If they can take this without and oil change, for 30,000 miles, think of how long your VFR could last under normal conditions!!!
In the seventies, it was very common in Europe to see most diesel trucks, buses and even diesel taxis with some sort of plastic or fabric "aprons" covering most, if not all the radiator grille. Many had flaps that could be opened at will to let more air in. Nowadays, diesels are even more common than then, but none limit the air intake to the radiator and these aprons are a thing of the past. You should check your thermostat and make sure it is of the correct rating.
Satrt the engine, let the oil warm up and flow well for some seconds, and drive off gently. Do not race the engine, and especially, do not lug it until it is at full operating temperature. Fifteen minutes of idle is throwing away your money, spoiling your engine and polluting the environment.
A new thermostat should be relatively inexpensive. You will also need a new gasket and sealing compound. If the rubber hoses are soft or cracked, this is a good moment to replace them. The cost of labor will vary greatly depending on the model of your car and the accessibility of the thermostat housing. In any case, thermostat replacement is
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