Ouch..warming this turd up killed my MPG

[Evil D]

I've got a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator...would i be better off with blocking the grill openings instead?

[Pu241]

I have no proof that it would be better!
But over at ecomodder.com the grill bock is a common mod.
In the winter you need to keep the engine from loosing heat by the incoming air cooling the entire engine.
There are two "air intakes" on the front of the festiva.
The obvious grill area and the lower bumper area.
I've block the grill area with a piece of clear polycarbonate and I'm considering at least blocking half of the lower bumper area, my just do the whole thing and just watch how the engine temp reacts.
This leaves room for the fan to pull air through the radiator but at a reduce rate, but if your fans coming on in this weather you have other problems.
I still think you have a carbie issue.
But those are hard to diagnose via the internet.

[bhazard]

I did this and had no overheating issues. Festivas are overcooled even with the tiny radiator they have.



Heat was better though once it warmed up.

The only thing you can do after that is block up the bottom with a belly pan.

[Justin2129]

I did this and had no overheating issues. Festivas are overcooled even with the tiny radiator they have.



Heat was better though once it warmed up.

The only thing you can do after that is block up the bottom with a belly pan.

niceee..hypermiling FTW

[Festiva Time]

So, the choke doesn't work, so i set it by hand under the hood and let it get up to operating temps before driving, and that extra gas usage really shows.

http://www.fuelly.com/driver/evilssp/festiva

Come spring/tax time i'm gonna be looking for a nicer EFI Festiva.

Pu241 has the right idea. The problem is two-fold; 1. Engine oil is cold and fast idle choke ruin gas mileage. You need to keep the oil in the oil pan warm. Oil pan heater is good for this. You may want to run lower weight oil during the winter.