Patent ID: 8463493

Claim:
A method of powertrain thermal control in a vehicle having grille airflow shutters, the method comprising the steps of: (a) detecting vehicle operating conditions including at least a temperature condition for an engine cooling loop and engine load; (b) pumping engine coolant through the engine cooling loop including pumping the engine coolant through a radiator under all temperature conditions of the engine cooling loop; and (c) adjusting the grille airflow shutters relative to a grille to selectively block a portion, none or all airflow through the grille to thereby control airflow through the radiator based upon the detected vehicle operating conditions; and wherein step (a) is further defined by the detected vehicle operating conditions including a temperature condition for a powertrain electronics heat exchanger, and step (c)is further defined by the grille airflow shutters selectively blocking airflow through the powertrain electronics heat exchanger.