do i need to cover my radiator

hewhoisnotintheknow

Im going somewhere in my car tomorrow that is going to be -12

Do i need to cover the radiator or is that just old school nonense

Ebe_Scrooge

Old Wives Tale, I'm afraid. So long as you've got the correct mixture of antifreeze in your radiator, you'll be fine.

There is a school of thought that says you should cover up the grill at the front. The theory is that it reduces the airflow over the radiator, thus allowing it to warm up more quickly. This is true to a small extent, but as long as your thermostat is working correctly ( and you'd know about it if it wasn't ), then the advantage will be miniscule, and actually you run the risk of overheating your engine and causing more problems.

So, in a nutshell, leave it alone :-) But do make sure that you've got the correct antifreeze installed - this would normally be done as part of a routine service, but it's easy enough to do yourself - it should be in the owners manual or the relevant Haynes manual.

Premier_2

Depends on the age of the car really.

If its less than about 30 years old and has an electrically operated fan rather than a belt driven one, not necessary, infact a bad idea!

Modern cars, at least the decent ones, are designed and tested to be operated down to minus 30 deg. C

LandyAndy

hewhoisnotintheknow wrote: »

Im going somewhere in my car tomorrow that is going to be -12

Do i need to cover the radiator or is that just old school nonense

Have you got the lottery numbers as well?;)

hewhoisnotintheknow

LandyAndy wrote: »

Have you got the lottery numbers as well?;)

yeah i have them, check you private messages

well it was -12 last night there

computershack

hewhoisnotintheknow wrote: »

Im going somewhere in my car tomorrow that is going to be -12

Do i need to cover the radiator or is that just old school nonense

This is the UK, not Alaska. Its not got down to -25C yet and it'd be a very rare event if it did so no need to. However, that does assume that you actually service your car and have antifreeze in.

LandyAndy

hewhoisnotintheknow wrote: »

yeah i have them, check you private messages

well it was -12 last night there

Thanks for the PM;).

Remember, temperatures can go up as well as down.:beer:

Keith

Isn't it on air cooled cars where you need to cover the grill?

mikey72

Premier wrote: »

Depends on the age of the car really.

If its less than about 30 years old and has an electrically operated fan rather than a belt driven one, not necessary, infact a bad idea!

Modern cars, at least the decent ones, are designed and tested to be operated down to minus 30 deg. C

Didn't you see "ice road truckers"
Cover the radiator, cover under the engine, leave the engine running, (all the time).

hewhoisnotintheknow

computershack wrote: »

This is the UK, not Alaska. Its not got down to -25C yet and it'd be a very rare event if it did so no need to. However, that does assume that you actually service your car and have antifreeze in.

its eastern Europe im going to.

DaveMacD

Premier wrote: »

Depends on the age of the car really.

Modern cars, at least the decent ones, are designed and tested to be operated down to minus 30 deg. C

Starting instructions lifted from the Lada Riva owners manual:-

In temperatures below -15C (I think, it was a while ago) first light fire under sump to thaw out oil.....