I have most of the upper and lower grills blocked. It helps to keep the engine warm in cold weather. When it's hot out then it's a bit risky. Here is a trip when the PriiDash engine temperature warning came up a few times: We can see that on a few occasions when the engine stops, the water pump stops as well, and the temperature starts to creep up. Once the engine starts again, the temperature drops.
Install an electric ICE water pump to eliminate the overheating. Control it to be on whenever ICE temperature above 180 F. JeffD
Yes taking out some of the grill block is much easier. The temporary temperature rise during engine off shouldn't be a concern anyway - some of the coolant may be overcooked a tiny little bit but the engine is not being hurt at all.
