cardboard-
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cardboard-
does cardboad in front of the radiator- on the grille hurt my ranger? I have seen alot of people doing that up here in Northern MI (Sault Ste. Marie).. After a snowstorm, my engine compartment was full of snow. Will driving around with cardboard hurt the engine? I am just trying to keep the snow out of the engine.. also, will it help/hurt anything for highway driving?
Also- gas mileage sucks on this thing... 10-13 mpg. granted, we have sub zero weather, but last year my never got this bad of pas mileage.. any ideas hoe i can improve? other than the speed, and acceleration.. with weather we are having, It's not racing or fast acceleration weather unless you drive a sled, lol.
1994 ranger 4.0L, 4x4, 74,500 miles, long bed, regular cab, 5.sp.
31x10.50 BFG Goodrich All-Terrain KO
Also- gas mileage sucks on this thing... 10-13 mpg. granted, we have sub zero weather, but last year my never got this bad of pas mileage.. any ideas hoe i can improve? other than the speed, and acceleration.. with weather we are having, It's not racing or fast acceleration weather unless you drive a sled, lol.
1994 ranger 4.0L, 4x4, 74,500 miles, long bed, regular cab, 5.sp.
31x10.50 BFG Goodrich All-Terrain KO
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Joined: Nov 2006
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From: Fresno, CA.
I doubt putting cardboard in front of the radiator on the grill will stop the snow from coming in your engine compartment. It might stop snow from coming in through the grill, but there are other places it will come in.
Can't hep with the gas mileage issue, except maybe to suggest a tune up.
Can't hep with the gas mileage issue, except maybe to suggest a tune up.
The Pacifier
Joined: Jan 2003
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From: Cloverdale, BC
Cardboard over your grille will help your truck heat up quicker. Not sure if it will keep snow out of your engine compartment though. As for bad mileage, maybe try a tune up. At the very minimum, an air filter. Check your tire pressures too.
Cargo Master
Joined: Feb 2002
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From: Tucson USA
well the big tires will screw everythingf up. Did you recal the speedo and odo after the change over? When the weaather is better drive for about 10 miles over a section where you can maintain 60 MPH and time the time it takes to go that far. Also start at a roadside marker and check the milage after the 10 miles. You will probably find that the cal is off, just have to compute how much. there are a couple of sites which will do the time conversion for the milage for ya. as tot he odometer well you can figure that out. I went to larger tires from the OEM, my odometer is off by about 1 mile for evey 25 driven, my speedo is about 3 mph slow. If you have a hand held GPS that give speed it is another way to cal the speedo. just some thoughts
Cargo Master
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From: Tucson USA
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Cargo Master
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 2,414
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From: Tucson USA
did you change wheel size 15s to 16s? Still recommend you verify the speedo and dont trust the radars along the roads. big article out here about how what you see on them is not right in a lot of cases.
anyhow it was just a couple of suggesstions to think about.
Not sure on the ranger but to get the heat in better cover the intake grills by the wipers, will keep the air warmer. You need to maybe go hotter on tstat but it all depends on how long you plan to have to suffer the weather where you are? I do run a paperbag in front of the rad if it gets cold enough here, sometimes get a check eng light when I go thru cold area on way to work (elevation from 2500 ft to 5000) can see temp gauge drop. Normally dont have any problems.
anyhow it was just a couple of suggesstions to think about.
Not sure on the ranger but to get the heat in better cover the intake grills by the wipers, will keep the air warmer. You need to maybe go hotter on tstat but it all depends on how long you plan to have to suffer the weather where you are? I do run a paperbag in front of the rad if it gets cold enough here, sometimes get a check eng light when I go thru cold area on way to work (elevation from 2500 ft to 5000) can see temp gauge drop. Normally dont have any problems.
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still the 15" rims. I have until mid April for snow.. Cold weather should last until mid-late March at least. I will be running 700+ miles round trip this weekend to see my girlfriend for the first time in a month in a half. thermostat is new. and working fine. It's too dang cold to work on the truck outside-its warmed up a bit though.. It hit 12 degrees today... thanks for suggestions..
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From: Ishpeming Mi.
Hunter, I suspect that it is the crappy winter blend fuel that we are getting UP here. I'm getting around 13mpg but I've been using my 4x4 a fair amount. My '94 has 100,000mi more on it than yours does, and Marquette county is quite a bit hillier than the Soo. One inch of slushy snow has a fair amount of rolling resistance to it and the spinning of tires pulling out of a parking lot onto a street can burn a 1/4mi of fuel in 10 feet. Other factors, such as letting the truck idle for 10 minutes in the morning also come into play. The milage on my quad has dropped by about 50% due partly to the gas and partly to my goofing on it doing doughnuts, ect. and letting it warm up for five minutes before riding.
The cardboard can reduce the amount of snow in the engine compartment up to a point. I suspect that a lot of the vehicals w/cardboard don't have a t-stat because their radiators are leaking. No 'stat reduces the pressure on the colling system, slowing down coolant loss.
The cardboard can reduce the amount of snow in the engine compartment up to a point. I suspect that a lot of the vehicals w/cardboard don't have a t-stat because their radiators are leaking. No 'stat reduces the pressure on the colling system, slowing down coolant loss.
Last edited by bazzman1953; Feb 13, 2008 at 07:32 PM.
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thanks bazzman... I will find out what kind of mileage I get this weekend- driving to Windsor through Detroit.. 700+ mile round trip.. I should get better mileage than 10.. I hope so, or I won't be visiting my girl every 5-7 weeks... :-(
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From: Ishpeming Mi.
One last thought. In the winter I keep my hubs locked [mine are Warn manuals] until spring. That will cost 1-2mpg, also. I do it for its safety factor. If the conditions are such that I need to go 4x4, I doubt that I'm going to want to get out of the cab to do it. A windchill of -30 and blowing/drifting snow... naw, too old anymore to find it fun.
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yeah, I've got push button auto hubs... sometimes I have to crawl underneath shake the drive shaft for it to lock out and go back into 2wd.. it's weird sometimes, but hey, haven't gotten stuck.. .except for in 2.5 feet of snow last winter, haha..