ptjones Posted December 20, 2012 Report Share Posted December 20, 2012 Well the testing results are in and at 70mph I see a net gain of 3mpg at range of temps from 45-70 degrees F. This also seems to carry down to 40mph or so. The covers are not air tight(80-90%) and are easy to install. I used Velcro squares to attach Covers to Grill, it makes it easy to install and remove. The Covers are made of strong Polycarboneate Plastic that won't shatter and can take fair amount of abuse. They are hardly noticeable unless you look hard.The plan is to remove bottom Cover when temps get into the 70's degrees hwy driving. Remove middle Cover and put New Cover with cut out for radiator opening when in 80's hwy driving. IMPORTANT NOTE: radiator fan comes on when Water Temps reach 215 degrees F and thermosat opens around 195 degrees F. If there were enough orders for the Covers I could see a price around $50, maybe lower if in the volume was in the hundreds. I'm looking for someone to try out the Covers to see if they get the same results. Will have a picture shortly. littlebitfarm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus-A-CMax Posted December 20, 2012 Report Share Posted December 20, 2012 That sounds cool ptjones, thanks for all the investigation and testing. Let see those grills... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptjones Posted December 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2012 That sounds cool ptjones, thanks for all the investigation and testing. Let see those grills...Just added photos to my gallery. Tried to attach to this post with no luck - anyone else having problems with this site???? From Speed6ing 2 C-Maxing 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrelld Posted December 21, 2012 Report Share Posted December 21, 2012 Just added photos to my gallery. Tried to attach to this post with no luck - anyone else having problems with this site????Yes...a number of bugs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgentCMAX Posted December 21, 2012 Report Share Posted December 21, 2012 Just added photos to my gallery. Tried to attach to this post with no luck - anyone else having problems with this site???? Yeah I can't link to the photos either. It was working prior to the site attack the other day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptjones Posted December 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2012 Has anyone looked at my 2 photos of grill covers in my gallery aera and what do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgentCMAX Posted December 21, 2012 Report Share Posted December 21, 2012 PT, I think they look very nice. I like how you cut it to precisely mate with the grill. One suggestion I have is to enhance it with a sliding plate mechanism to control the amount of airflow to pass thru. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptjones Posted December 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2012 The grill openings aren't that sensitive size wise so it is easier to rip off cover and put one on with cut out in a minute. Covers can be stored on back of backseat with the Velcro strips. BTW I'm going to be driving back to Pheonix sunday and back to Georgia friday. Anyone interested in seeing the covers along the way I could stop and meet. I will be going I20-I10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ldm Posted December 21, 2012 Report Share Posted December 21, 2012 (edited) Well the testing results are in and at 70mph I see a net gain of 3mpg at range of temps from 45-70 degrees F. This also seems to carry down to 40mph or so. The covers are not air tight(80-90%) and are easy to install. I used Velcro squares to attach Covers to Grill, it makes it easy to install and remove. The Covers are made of strong Polycarboneate Plastic that won't shatter and can take fair amount of abuse. They are hardly noticeable unless you look hard.The plan is to remove bottom Cover when temps get into the 70's degrees hwy driving. Remove middle Cover and put New Cover with cut out for radiator opening when in 80's hwy driving. IMPORTANT NOTE: radiator fan comes on when Water Temps reach 215 degrees F and thermosat opens around 195 degrees F. If there were enough orders for the Covers I could see a price around $50, maybe lower if in the volume was in the hundreds. I'm looking for someone to try out the Covers to see if they get the same results. Will have a picture shortly.I am highly interested. Our C Max won't be built until Jan 8th with a delivery date of Jan 28th. I will be contacting then. Thanks for your work. Edited December 21, 2012 by ldm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlebitfarm Posted December 21, 2012 Report Share Posted December 21, 2012 I would be interested in trying a set. My trip to work is only 4 miles and as it has cooled off outside the car barely warms up enough to go into EV for the last mile and that is at 40º. Last night was 32º and extremely windy. Mileage really suffered even though it was a longer trip and I was running 45 mph. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptjones Posted December 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2012 I should have some covers ready after New Years. It would be nice to know how many people are interested in one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robodog61 Posted December 23, 2012 Report Share Posted December 23, 2012 I noticed a variable damper on the front side of the radiator. Are they automatic? Can they be closed manually? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptjones Posted December 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2012 They are automatic and only partially effective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rfruth Posted December 25, 2012 Report Share Posted December 25, 2012 How are the eCVT & associated electronics cooled, hope grill covers don't affect this cooling :nonono: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayCo59 Posted December 26, 2012 Report Share Posted December 26, 2012 I would be interested in trying a set. My trip to work is only 4 miles and as it has cooled off outside the car barely warms up enough to go into EV for the last mile and that is at 40º. Last night was 32º and extremely windy. Mileage really suffered even though it was a longer trip and I was running 45 mph.I turn the Climate control off in the morning so the engine does not run to heat the cabin. I improved my MPG from 32 ot 35 MPG on a 15 mile trip. I can turn climate control back on about 1/3 of the way there as the engine has usually started enough times for battery charging and acceleration demands. I use the heated seats which helps a little and my car is garaged, I know some people do not have this situation and need the heat, but it seems to be an option that can help the MPG's. jhritz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptjones Posted December 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 The top air openings are for cooling the engine compartment. dtorres 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fits2at Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 I would possibly be interested depending on cost and how easy installation is. I am in now way mechanically inclined. hahaha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNCGeek Posted December 30, 2012 Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 Good idea for the colder climates, but I think the velcro dots look weird. Looking at the pics it seems that there would be black velcro dots on the silver grill when it was removed. For a production model, some other attachment method like clips would be more visually appealing - though it would add to the complexity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlebitfarm Posted December 30, 2012 Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 Good idea for the colder climates, but I think the velcro dots look weird. Looking at the pics it seems that there would be black velcro dots on the silver grill when it was removed. For a production model, some other attachment method like clips would be more visually appealing - though it would add to the complexity.I would think you could use some black zip ties to put them on with. Nothing left behind after you take them off. I tried the foam pipe insulation trick this weekend. I didn't measure, just eye-balled it, cut them and shoved them into the middle grill only. At 32º and a 7 mile trip I would say I gained about 6 mpg. Went from 32 mpg (estimated based on other trips) to 40 mpg based on car read out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
From Speed6ing 2 C-Maxing Posted December 31, 2012 Report Share Posted December 31, 2012 (edited) I would think you could use some black zip ties to put them on with. Nothing left behind after you take them off. I tried the foam pipe insulation trick this weekend. I didn't measure, just eye-balled it, cut them and shoved them into the middle grill only. At 32º and a 7 mile trip I would say I gained about 6 mpg. Went from 32 mpg (estimated based on other trips) to 40 mpg based on car read out.What diameter pipe insulation did you use? and how did it fit? If you had to buy again, do you think a slightly larger or smaller diameter would work better? Any pictures? Edited December 31, 2012 by From Speed6ing 2 C-Maxing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptjones Posted December 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2012 (edited) Here's my CMAX cover vs. no-cover improvement plot. As you can see I gained 4mpg for all temps between 37-65deg.F I did 6 runs with cover off and 11 runs with the cover on. A run was 14.2mi long with .5mi to start from my shop to fwy ECO-criuse to 70mph GPS and go 6mi to off ramp and back on ramp to return to my office. The average EV was 2.2mi and regen was .6mi with brake score of 98%. The ICE got up to temp twice as fast with cover on. At lower temps ICE never got up to temp with cover off.The graphpoints out dramatically the effect temps have on MPG's with a loss of 7mpg for 30deg.F drop in temps.As far as attaching the the cover on, I needed to make it as simple as possible, no hole drilling. With the Velcro it takes 10-15min to install and a second to remove and install again. I don't think I need to put Velcro on silver part of grill now. You would always have a center cover on with cut out or not. Bottom one would come off for Summer. I hope to have PolyCarbonate Plastic by the end of week and puting together cover sets for sale at $50 a set plus S&H, shouldn't be much, they don't weigh much.BTW I asked my Ford Service manager What is the normal operating temp of the engine at idle and while driving and when should the cooling fans come on?They replyed "The gasoline engine (depending on the vehicle and ambient conditions present at that time along with the HVAC settings) typlcally is not operating at idle. There are no published spdecifications due the many factors that have to be accounted for when deterniming the engine temperature and the cooling operating. The thermostat is fully open at 202 degrees, so normally the engine should be approximately 202-212 degrees (again depending on the conditions present and if the engine is operating at that time).;If there is an overheat concern present,recommend to check the PCM, TCM, SOBDM and the BECM modules for DTC's. When checking for DTC's on this hybrid vehicle it is slightly different than when checking for DTC's on a gasoline only vehicle. In order to accurately check for DTC's, the nodules listed above need to be individually self tested.Veryify if there are any signs of coolant expulsion and/or if the coolnt level is low.So there you have it from Ford, thermosat is fully open at 202deg and opperating approximatly 202-212degrees.They didn't say what temp the fans come on, but I have only heard the fans on twice at around 215deg. very rare ocurrance. On my trip I saw temps 213-215deg 90% of the time. When outside temps in 25-35deg WT of 207deg.I did have one time on a long uphill climb drafting at 70mph and outside temp of 63deg., I hit 233deg WT so I took bottom cover off and temps droped to 204deg. There is a direct correlation with speed and heat generated by the engine. If you are using the AC you will need to put center cover with cutout on and remove bottom cover for maxium AC efficiency. Anyone interested in ordering? Edited January 1, 2013 by ptjones jhritz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptjones Posted January 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2013 I should have some covers ready next week for shipping. They're $50 plus S&H shipping weight should be 3lbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-MaxJaxon Posted January 1, 2013 Report Share Posted January 1, 2013 (edited) I tried the Tape Over Center Grill Opening (TOCGO) mod today in single digit to low teen temps with a mix of city and highway driving. I watched the engine temp in My View to make sure it didn't get too high. I stayed in the middle of the range like it usually does. Average for the nearly two hour trip was 42.9 MPG. I didn't do a back-to-back test to compare averages. The engine seemed to stay warmer longer while running in EV mode for extended time in low speed city driving. The heat in the car seemed much hotter than normal after initial warmup. I had to turn the heat down several degrees for the cabin to remain comfortable. I will continue testing this mod and see if I can confirm the observation of the warmer engine temp and increased heat, and to see if my average MPG increases. Edited January 1, 2013 by C-MaxJaxon jhritz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptjones Posted January 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2013 (edited) I tried the Tape Over Center Grill Opening (TOCGO) mod today in single digit to low teen temps with a mix of city and highway driving. I watched the engine temp in My View to make sure it didn't get too high. I stayed in the middle of the range like it usually does. Average for the nearly two hour trip was 42.9 MPG. I didn't do a back-to-back test to compare averages. The engine seemed to stay warmer longer while running in EV mode for extended time in low speed city driving. The heat in the car seemed much hotter than normal after initial warmup. I had to turn the heat down several degrees for the cabin to remain comfortable. I will continue testing this mod and see if I can confirm the observation of the warmer engine temp and increased heat, and to see if my average MPG increases.Keep us posted. Great. What part of the country do you live in? Temps? Paul Edited January 1, 2013 by ptjones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-MaxJaxon Posted January 2, 2013 Report Share Posted January 2, 2013 Keep us posted. Great. What part of the country do you live in? Temps? PaulI'm in Iowa. I think the official NWS temp was 12°F when I got back. I didn't look at the temp when I left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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