Insulative material on the front grille?
Discussion
Hi all
Just been out to pick something up on my lunch break and noticed 3 cars, in seperate places and on different vehicle types, all sporting some sort of reflective/ insulative material on the front grill.
Surely, this shields the Radiator from air flow and upsets the running temp of the car?
Anyone seen it, or know of some crazy reason why it would be a good thing to do? Or is there some snake oil company out there promising amazing economy gains with these things?
Just been out to pick something up on my lunch break and noticed 3 cars, in seperate places and on different vehicle types, all sporting some sort of reflective/ insulative material on the front grill.
Surely, this shields the Radiator from air flow and upsets the running temp of the car?
Anyone seen it, or know of some crazy reason why it would be a good thing to do? Or is there some snake oil company out there promising amazing economy gains with these things?
Cyder said:
New or old cars?
ETA, some new cars have active front grilles that only open when the engine is up to temperature allowing it to heat up more efficiently.
Old cars. The stuff they have attached looks like a thin version of loft insulation, wrapped in the kind of material they rap around runners at the end of a marathon. ETA, some new cars have active front grilles that only open when the engine is up to temperature allowing it to heat up more efficiently.
On older cars, the engine cannot get up to temperature during the cold weather, as the water cools too much. It also means there is no heating in the car. Blocking part of the raditor helps this.
It's not usually in front of the grille though, just some cardboard wedged in there... What cars were they?
It's not usually in front of the grille though, just some cardboard wedged in there... What cars were they?
Alex@POD said:
On older cars, the engine cannot get up to temperature during the cold weather, as the water cools too much. It also means there is no heating in the car. Blocking part of the raditor helps this.
It's not usually in front of the grille though, just some cardboard wedged in there... What cars were they?
Then surely the thermostat remains closed until it reaches temperature.It's not usually in front of the grille though, just some cardboard wedged in there... What cars were they?
My air cooled 2CV had a cooling air restrictor for running during the winter - it made sure it didn't get too cold.
On a car with a liquid coolant system and a thermostat there is no need to blank off the radiator (although some modern cars do have "active" vents to cut down on drag).
On a car with a liquid coolant system and a thermostat there is no need to blank off the radiator (although some modern cars do have "active" vents to cut down on drag).
Taxi drivers seem to be the main ones for this - some of them use proper radiator screens with a roll-up central panel, the rest just seem to stick a bit of cardboard, sometimes with holes, over the rad. Seems to be a bit less prevalent on the newer TX series taxis than it was on the FX4s - maybe the TXs are less prone to over-cooling in the winter.
KevinA3DSG32 said:
Alex@POD said:
On older cars, the engine cannot get up to temperature during the cold weather, as the water cools too much. It also means there is no heating in the car. Blocking part of the raditor helps this.
It's not usually in front of the grille though, just some cardboard wedged in there... What cars were they?
Then surely the thermostat remains closed until it reaches temperature.It's not usually in front of the grille though, just some cardboard wedged in there... What cars were they?
Also means the water in the rad then get's seriously cold, no flow and a s
t high cold air flow.by restricting the airflow, the water system can continue to function as normal.
Scuffers said:
KevinA3DSG32 said:
Alex@POD said:
On older cars, the engine cannot get up to temperature during the cold weather, as the water cools too much. It also means there is no heating in the car. Blocking part of the raditor helps this.
It's not usually in front of the grille though, just some cardboard wedged in there... What cars were they?
Then surely the thermostat remains closed until it reaches temperature.It's not usually in front of the grille though, just some cardboard wedged in there... What cars were they?
Also means the water in the rad then get's seriously cold, no flow and a s
t high cold air flow.by restricting the airflow, the water system can continue to function as normal.
Blanking off radiators is utterly pointless on a properly functioning vehicle.
Unless it's done to stop dust/mud etc. blocking the rad.
eltax91 said:
Anyone seen it, or know of some crazy reason why it would be a good thing to do? Or is there some snake oil company out there promising amazing economy gains with these things?
I'm surprised you don't know about these being a LR bod! They are very popular on Series motors and TDi Defenders which never seen to get properly warmed up below freezing!http://www.johncraddockltd.co.uk/pages/news.php?ar...
Fish981 said:
Coolant flow round the engine is the same whatever the state of the thermostat.
Blanking off radiators is utterly pointless on a properly functioning vehicle.
Unless it's done to stop dust/mud etc. blocking the rad.
err... no it's notBlanking off radiators is utterly pointless on a properly functioning vehicle.
Unless it's done to stop dust/mud etc. blocking the rad.
depends on the engine design, but most have a by-pass cct that's ~10mm bore vs. 24mm for the main rad.
or are you going to tell me that you can flow the same down a 10mm hole?
(this is actually one of the main reasons why the Rover K was so prone to HGF and eventually lead to them designing a complete new thermostat arrangement for them).
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