fmtv winter front cover .

[GeneralDisorder]

There is an arctic grill cover as well..... never seen one.

NSN: 2540-01-470-2865

 

[ramdough]

So, what happens with those people that have an air conditioner condenser up front?


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[Ronmar]

Great information, THANKS! The OEM cover appears to only cover about half of the radiator and just a small section of the air cooler.

I see temperature down to -35 - -40 periodically. At these temperatures should I also use a cover over the grill?


View attachment 883558

At those temps, Over the grill or a smaller panel slid up just in front of the intercooler. You will want something you can “tune”, like the snapped on covers with zippered panels you see on semi trucks in winter. Ideally you want to limit air cooling capacity to the point where the thermostat can regulate the temperature near 200F with a steady flow thru the radiator.

This is probably even more important on the A1 trucks with the 3126 and C7 engines. Firstly they are EFI and control fuel delivery based partly on the coolant temp. Secondly, they don’t send bypass coolant down to the transmission cooler on those engines, the only transmission coolant flow must pass thru the radiator. So if the thermostat is gulping/pulsing, so is the transmission cooling… Not very conducive to stability…

 

[GeneralDisorder]

So, what happens with those people that have an air conditioner condenser up front?


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The factory style condenser mounts under the skid plate and shouldn't preclude the use of the cold weather radiator/intercooler cover

 

[Guruman]

Would it be possible to just slide a piece of cardboard (or maybe some rigid plastic for some water resistance) down from the top, between the charge air cooler and the radiator?

Seems to me like I might be able to whip something up the right width, with some kind of stop device at the top to keep it from falling though, screw on a 3/4 piece of PCV pipe maybe?

Raise cab, slip in the blocker, lower cab... easy peasy, no?

 

[Guruman]

One might even be able to create multiple versions of a slip-in blocker for customized air flow.... One for "it's a bit nippy", one for "dang it's getting cold", and another for those "why the hell am I out here?" temps.

 

[Ronmar]

Well you would need to provide that gap at the top and perhaps some guide rails along the front side edges of the radiator.

I think I woukd want a way to tune it vis having a bunch of different covers. Perhaps a roll-up cover at the bottom that you pull up in front of the radiator along guide rails. Like an upsidedown roll-up door...

In the end it just needs to restrict airflow. I use an old towel like a curtain on my tractor. I can hang it anywhere across the face of the rad to limit airflow and maintain normal engine temps and good coolant flow in the winter.

 

[Wingnut13]

Five just showed up on EBay….. well, Four just showed up on eBay for a price with shipping that didn’t make messing around with cardboard worth the time. FYI.

 

[Guruman]

Five just showed up on EBay….. well, Four just showed up on eBay for a price with shipping that didn’t make messing around with cardboard worth the time. FYI.

I bought one of those this morning.

The cost was never my concern, but rather the amount of effort to instal and remove the thing, which others report is not trivial. I hoped the cardboard idea would be easy on and off.

 

[Ronmar]

There of course is also a plumbing option. You put a T in the upper radiator pipe and a pipe section across and down to a 3way bypass valve in the lower radiator line.

The valve would control the percentage of water allowed to pass thru the radiator/forced to bypass the radiator...

 

[Wingnut13]

U

I bought one of those this morning.

The cost was never my concern, but rather the amount of effort to instal and remove the thing, which others report is not trivial. I hoped the cardboard idea would be easy on and off.

Understood, I’ve used cardboard in the past on various vehicles. It works great, I was excited to see the OE solution so inexpensive. Hopefully there is a few tricks up my sleeve somewhere to make it easier on the install.

Ronmar, I think that’s a great idea. If there was a remotely controlled valve or one that could monitor its own situation….

 

[coachgeo]

There of course is also a plumbing option. You put a T in the upper radiator pipe and a pipe section across and down to a 3way bypass valve in the lower radiator line.

The valve would control the percentage of water allowed to pass thru the radiator/forced to bypass the radiator...

could this not be controlled by an additional conventional automotive thermostat?

 

[Ronmar]

You could use a bypass type thermostat to automate the bypass mixing, but it would add restriction to the system. A full diameter bypass would not, and you could be sure it is all the way open when you dont need it... it would be easy enough to control from the cab with a cable...

Close/bypass the radiator flow enough to get the temp above the thermostat opening temp, but not so much that the fan wants to engage... winter over, lock it open till next season...

 

[coachgeo]

There of course is also a plumbing option. You put a T in the upper radiator pipe and a pipe section across and down to a 3way bypass valve in the lower radiator line.

The valve would control the percentage of water allowed to pass thru the radiator/forced to bypass the radiator...

could it be the CAT 3116 was designed; as used in the A0, to be more sacrificial over the Allison tranny? So getting the Allison warm was a higher priority for its longevity compared to getting the 3116 warm? And if so.... is that sacrificial maybe something to consider reserving?

Does using actual transmission fluid instead of engine oil in the trans negate a little bit needing to get the trans up to temp as quick comparatively speaking?

 

[Ronmar]

could it be the CAT 3116 was designed; as used in the A0, to be more sacrificial over the Allison tranny? So getting the Allison warm was a higher priority for its longevity compared to getting the 3116 warm? And if so.... is that sacrificial maybe something to consider reserving?

Does using actual transmission fluid instead of engine oil in the trans negate a little bit needing to get the trans up to temp as quick comparatively speaking?

I highly doubt that, and I don’t think it was done to warm the trans. A diesel at idle doesn’t put all that much heat into the cooling system. That is one of the reasons it is difficult to get an engine to warm just by itself. If heating a transmission is your goal, there are far more effective ways to do that.

Comparatively speaking at the time they were used, the 3126 and c7 were not particularly more “valuable” Than a 3116 At the time it was chosen. With all the issues I have seen with the 3126, I would probably stay with that assessment even today Based on the way they read the milspec, I think some bright light thought it was absolutely imparitive to keep flow thru the transmission cooler and thats what they came up with. Lots of allisons out there attached to lots of other engines, including cats, and no other installation I have ever seen anywhere has ever done such a silly thing… I suspect when the 3126 and c7 came along cat said hell no you are not modifying the cooling system… I also suspect that with what they learned from the A0 that they determined it wasn’t worth providing some other form of coolant flow on the A1, because they could have fairly easily. Like the electrical system, they learned, made changes to the A1 and moved on…

ATF is I believe about 10wt. It will respond better when cold than 15W40, but probably not all that different until you get really cold.

 

[coachgeo]

I highly doubt that, and I don’t think it was done to warm the trans. ....

muchly appreciate your input on my query.