I have a 2004 Mits Galant ES 4 Cyl 2.4l

I did a partial grill block of the top grills and there was no impact,
the bottom grill (intake) I tried blocking and on my drive to work as I expected the temp of engine where the gauge usually reads at the 50% (halfway point) was now at the 3/4 mark. Which I expected.

On my 16 mile jaunt to work which is mostly highway driving the Check Engine Light comes on, then the Battery indicator comes on.

I check the scangauge and the battery is like at 17.8 to 18 volts.

Now the temp gauge is no where near overheating but I forgot to check the scangauge for engine temp.

In any case, what the heck can cause the alternator to flip out like that?

Needless to say I removed the blocking on the lower part of the car and we will see what the ride home does.

Here is a pic of the car for reference.

https://www.edmunds.com/pictures/VEHI...20095940-E.jpg

if the temp marker is above it's regular position, it means the radiator fluid is above average, (i know that was dumb) But what this means is, that the thermostat is wide open, and it is still unable to sufficiently coool the engine. Factory temp gauges are not known for their accuracy, with out your scan gauge it's hard to say just how how it is really running. One more thing is if your car is an automatic, higher than standard heat coolant has an exponential increase on the wear and tear on your automatic transmission fluid.

As far as the alternate goes, I have no idea, but I've noticed it's rather common on newer cars to have the batt. light turn on when they are over heating, not sure why.

What's Fake Plexi??? I'm not trying to be rude, just wondering what your talking about.

He's referring to this message he previously posted:

In other news, I was in WalMart yesterday and saw some adhesion promoter clearanced, so I bought it. It reminded me to look at spraypaint, and I found a metallic blue that looks like a close match, so I bought it too. We'll see if it actually matches the car well. If not, it's still a color I'm happy to have.

Gotcha.... I wonder if it's polycarbonate or PETG... Thanks...

Here's what I used for a front grill block. Its a piece of vinyl siding.
Looking from a normal standing position you cant see it at all.

https://www.sippingfuel.com/pics/grill_2.jpg

This is my front wheel deflector made from a mud flap.

https://www.sippingfuel.com/pics/deflector_1.gif

BBsGarage, your grille block is behind the grille? Has it definitely increased your FE?

I think this weekend I'll do it the easy way, behind the grille, and see if it helps. Then I'll compare to doing it in front and see if it helps more.

That looks great! I am working on a lower for mine. I did some testing, and it runs a bit hot at 80+ degrees so I will leave a little open for the final sheet aluminum one. I will post pics!

It did help some. Just not sure of an exact number. My 3 tank average
before the tire deflectors with grill block was 41.12
and before the grill block it was 40.12

I have yet to burn thru 3 tanks with both installed but my first tank was 42.7 mpg. Encouraging, but I will wait and see.

From what research I have done, it really doesnt matter all that much for the upper grill if it is blocked in front or the back.

Okay, I finally did some of the work.

To see any of these pictures in the album where you can view them in all their 7 megapixel glory, click on the picture. I tried to remember to link each one to its album page.

You can also see the whole album here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/ronanian...icModQuestions

I have a few questions. I know it can be hard to find text between photos, so I prefixed them with "Question:".

I started by relocating the license plate for the stealth block mod, worked great and doesn't leave much of the big lower grille exposed.

When I removed the mount, it left big gaping holes from the mount AND small holes from the license plate screws:
https://lh3.ggpht.com/ronanian/SF1ofa...6/IMG_1275.JPG

By flipping the mount over, I wound up with it being almost perfectly flush at the bottom and mostly covering the lower big gaping holes.

https://lh3.ggpht.com/ronanian/SF1opB...6/IMG_1279.JPG

I used zip ties and aligned them just right so that they auto-centered the mount. Then, from the belt-and-suspenders department, I got the idea to add a coat hanger wire in case the zip ties broke.

https://lh5.ggpht.com/ronanian/SF1ojO...6/IMG_1277.JPG
https://lh5.ggpht.com/ronanian/SF1olh...6/IMG_1278.JPG

Later I realized that the grille isn't screwed in, it just pops out; and the way I have the plate mounted it's putting exactly the right kind of pressure on to pull it out. So, I added a couple zip ties at the end of the grille to hold it if it pops loose.

I suppose I could cut the profile of the bumper out of the now-top of the mount, bringing the top closer to flush while still looking like an OEM plate mount. Besides sticking out a bit and the possibility of having the plate be more perfectly vertical (right now it directs air down under the car a little bit), it has gaps at the corners.

Question: How does it look, aerodynamically speaking?
https://lh5.ggpht.com/ronanian/SF1otb...0/IMG_1281.JPG
https://lh3.ggpht.com/ronanian/SF1ox5...6/IMG_1284.JPG
https://lh4.ggpht.com/ronanian/SF1o12...6/IMG_1286.JPG

Next, I started to work on the upper grille. Here's what it looks like before:
https://lh5.ggpht.com/ronanian/SF1o7G...6/IMG_1289.JPG

And here's what it looks like removed:
https://lh6.ggpht.com/ronanian/SF1o-i...6/IMG_1290.JPG

The intake is in the upper drivers side portion pictured here:
https://lh5.ggpht.com/ronanian/SF1pDX...6/IMG_1292.JPG

The intake isn't quite setup as a ram air intake, though it's close. This is what it looks like behind the upper drivers side of the upper grille:
https://lh5.ggpht.com/ronanian/SF1pHD...6/IMG_1300.JPG
I can close off the bottom of that thing and have the air pushed in nicely, as well as preventing it from entering the engine bay there.

The upper passenger side just exposes the engine bay. The lower part on both sides exposes the radiator.

I made three blocking pieces that fit nicely in between the grille and the car and will stay in place. They are made from 1/2" (or was it 3/8"?) styrofoam backing insulation for vinyl siding, wrapped in duct tape. The duct tape isn't for weatherproofing, just to keep little balls of foam from breaking off and clogging the radiator.

https://lh5.ggpht.com/ronanian/SF1pLA...6/IMG_1302.JPG

Question:Will blocking like this accomplish anything?

I know it won't help with turbulence/parachute effect in the grille, but it prevents air from getting into the engine bay there, taking away the parachute effect of the engine bay. The pieces I made are the greenish bits (that's the color of the duct tape).
https://lh6.ggpht.com/ronanian/SF1pPQ...6/IMG_1307.JPG

Up close, with direct light, you can see the stuff but it still doesn't look awful. Here you can see how the top section is fed mainly by the gap between the hood and the grille.
https://lh5.ggpht.com/ronanian/SF1pWk...6/IMG_1314.JPG

You just can't see it at all from a few feet away.
https://lh6.ggpht.com/ronanian/SF1pb6...6/IMG_1315.JPG

I also had some of this material laying around, it's about as thick as card stock but made of plastic. However, it wasn't going to fit behind the grille the way I wanted, plus it's bright white.
https://lh6.ggpht.com/ronanian/SF1plB...6/IMG_1316.JPG

I figured out how to fill the space in front of the fog grilles and started to put it together. I made filler by sandwiching layers of the foam board and duct taping them together. I'm not 100% sure what I'm going to cover it in, but I think I'll use .060" EPDM rubber roofing material.
https://lh6.ggpht.com/ronanian/SF1pqN...6/IMG_1318.JPG

https://lh4.ggpht.com/ronanian/SF1pu-...6/IMG_1319.JPG

Question: How can I secure this to the vehicle? I can't think of any decent way to do it. :( The only thing I can think of is something flat and stiff, like a piece of sheet metal, that I could put between the exterior surface and the foam filler, then put a long bolt in its center and send that bolt through the other side of the fog grille to another plate and a nut, or maybe a toggle bolt wing.

As you can see, the underside of the car is pretty smooth, though it does have these unnecessary brake cooling ducts:
https://lh4.ggpht.com/ronanian/SF1pzN...6/IMG_1320.JPG
I suspect that they're really there for the GTI, which is the sportscar that has the same body as this car, but has much bigger brakes (can't even fit this car's wheels on it). I should block these. I never do any major braking in this car. The times when I'm likely to do that sort of thing, I'm in a different vehicle, this one is only used for commuting. I think I can pretty much just screw a piece of sheet metal in and not worry about it.