steveluannj

It is not that cold here, maybe 30 degrees or so, but I notice that the car coolant never gets up to temperature. I can get up 1/3 into the "normal range" on the dash panel gage, but then the ICE shuts off and the temperature drops out of the operating range, almost off the gage. I don't have the nice grill covers, but did block the lower 2 openings with pipe insulation. I am wondering if my thermostat stays open after the car warms up, and the engine just is not producing enough heat to support the heater plus the radiator loss, even with a grill block. 

Is this unusual? It seems that winter driving is a bit under engineered in this car. 

Just got the rear cargo cover from Canvasback. As others have said, it fits great, and came in a few days. They EMAILED me to make sure that they had the correct options, and shipped it out the next day. My only disappointment is that it is a disappointingly small package for $150. It does make the rear cargo area slipperier. 

We had a Ford Taurus wagon that had a bad odor, and it ended up to be the cabin air filter. The filter was full of pollen, and in a humid environment, it started to compost. Any used car with a cabin air filter, you should at least take it out and make sure that you don't have a petri dish of gunk in there. 

Also, a friend with a motel uses an ozone generator to remove smoking and other odors from motel rooms- if you have one or can borrow one, that could help.