krosdin

I'm surprised no one ever thought of this but I've always been known as the guy who thinks outside the box and gets some pretty interesting ideas! but was thinking, its ridiculously cold this last week I was wondering if you drain the coolant to half way so theres less coolant, would it help the car warm up faster? I figure with temps being below 0 most days the car wouldn't overheat and it would warm up faster and maybe run better?

tbear853

NO .... once that engine fires off and combustion starts, heat builds inside the block and heads and the engine needs coolant flow to carry that heat out to be dissipated in the radiator. Take that coolant away and the engine will overheat just about as fast on a cold winter day as a warm summer day. Temps inside the combustion chambers are much higher than what you see on a temp gage and if no coolant there .... the cylinder walls will just keep heating. At 50% volume you'll soon have a boiling mess of super heated coolant as the top half of the system will be dry and likely, no flow.

Aircooled engines have many fins to carry heat to flowing air.

krosdin

ah I see... any tips for making a car get warmer during sub zero mornings? mines an automatic so i been thinking of getting a viper remote start system installed at my local shop which is very well reputed - (they pretty much do every ones remote starts in town, from cadillac driving trophy wives that used to be pizza hut waitresses, to gangstas to doctors)

are there any known issues with mustangs and remote start kits? i think i saw a guy on another forum long time ago say it screwed up things badly for him.

Goldenpony

NO NO NO. Very bad idea. Don't do it.

AzPete

My '08 GT vert auto has a factory installed remote start....very nice for those days the wife wants the car comfortable before we get in. Remote starts can be added to both autos and manuals but many recommend not to on a manual. You just ha e to not wire around any safety items with the manual setup. Your car should operate at close to the same temps in any weather, just takes longer to reach that temp.

ghunt

Low coolant usually creates circulation problems, so like others said, no...not a good idea.

bones302

i see many people partially cover the grille to restrict airflow to the radiator in the winter (lots of school buses and truck drivers do that).

theoretically, the engine should warm up faster if you shut off the heater b/c it is not circulating the coolant outside the block (the opposite is what you would do if you ever find your car overheating in the summer: turn on your heater).

BrazenStang

NO.

And don't be the next MarkNieb... well, we could all use a good laugh!

https://mustangforums.com/forum/5-0l...-this-car.html

Nuke

Draining the coolant 50% (or any amount) gives the engine less of a heatsink and will allow air pockets to form in some instances. Definitely NOT the box you want to be thinking outside, inside or anywhere near. As Leonard's mother on The Big Bang Theory says, "Buck up, sissy pants."

Derf00

As others have stated don't do it.

What's also implied is that Air is a terrible thermal conductor so if you have a lot of air in the cooling system, your engine will just over heat. Coolant provides the means for the cooling mechanism (thermal conduction) used in cars. Air is the enemy of that system since convection cooling (by air) is highly inefficient.