Rovers North Rad Muff on a TDI?

[VTRover]

Does anyone know of the benefits/problems with fitting a RN Rad Muff to a 200tdi Defender? It will completely block the intercooler - wondering if there are any drawbacks/benefits. I'm not excited to block the intercooler no matter how cold it gets in Vermont.

[I Leak Oil]

No personal experience here but I would think the fan shroud would still build enough head pressure to flow sufficient air over the intercooler. On my series truck when I have the muff competely closed up, only on the coldest days, the fan still draws air over the radiator just fine. I don't think you'll notice any significant power decrease with the muff. You can always modify the muff too.
Jason T.

[Lawrie]

I would suggest keeping the intercooler open; two reasons;
-you do really want the cooling for performance of intercooler/turbo
-you do want to close off the radiator, as a diesel does not need as much cooling (as a Series petrol) unless working hard
therefore muff closed over radiator, with some holes for intercooler would be my suggestion.

BTW -I was thinking of heating up a round tool i.e. 2" hole saw with a torch and melting a few clean holes in front of intercooler. allow snap cover to remain the same, and the "hot knife" would be an easy to way to stablize fabric??

[Tdi Guy]

I would suggest keeping the intercooler open; two reasons;
-you do really want the cooling for performance of intercooler/turbo
-you do want to close off the radiator, as a diesel does not need as much cooling (as a Series petrol) unless working hard
therefore muff closed over radiator, with some holes for intercooler would be my suggestion.

BTW -I was thinking of heating up a round tool i.e. 2" hole saw with a torch and melting a few clean holes in front of intercooler. allow snap cover to remain the same, and the "hot knife" would be an easy to way to stablize fabric??

Thats a good Idea. I was just thinking of the same question to ask. I figure to make a few holes for the intercooler and block off the rad to warm it quicker... ITs getting cold and my truck never warms up well until under load at highway speeds.

[overlander]

I have the RN muff on my 110 with the 2.8 diesel. I keep the muff on year round as my LOVES to run cool. I've had it now for all 4 seasons. I too was concerned about blocking the intercooler (noticeable effect), so I hot knifed a square out of the muff in front of the intercooler.

During mid summer, I run my muff at half open, which allows me to warm up in a few minutes and cruise around under 200 deg. Since the temp just dropped into the 30-40s here in Charlotte, I've gone back to first snap from the top, otherwise I'll never get over 120 deg.

another usefull utility i get from the muff is that I can close it for water/mud fording to keep the radiator clean, then open it back up after the crossing.

I'm going to have an alteration shop touch up and reinforce the nylon edges with some web where I hot knifed it.

Highly recommend the muff for TDI's.

[Tdi Guy]

Do you have px of your modification?

[overlander]

Here it is. As you can see, when I trimmed it, I went a little wider than necessary for the intercooler opening (oops). When I have the sew shop finish it, I will reduce the width about an inch for full radiator blockage.

[Tdi Guy]

Just got one for x-mas.... I wish RN would read this and also make one just for the TDI I guess I will try to mod it next..

[Nasdiesel]

Weak. You guys need a full width intercooler.