placing a cover over the radiator before starting so that engine coolant can warm up

[Egon]

Re: placing a cover over the radiator before starting so that engine coolant can warm up

most cars with electric fans have them because they rob fewer hp than the belt driven variety. They also freewheel at higher speeds.

Pretty hard to get a belt drive fan and radiator in place on a transverse mounted engine.

I can remember puting different thermostast's and different heat range plugs in for winter driving.

 

[ozzie tractor]

Re: placing a cover over the radiator before starting so that engine coolant can warm up

i am starting to see some of these reversing pitch fans on some of the more exotic equipment. they turn the blades of the fan around every 5 minutes or so to blow any rubbish of the rediator. i wounder how long it is before we see a temperature controlled version of this. as for electric fans to cool a tractor engine i would really doubt if an electric fan would move enough air to keep a large diesel cool. i suspect they would have done it already if it would work.

 

[KICK]

Re: placing a cover over the radiator before starting so that engine coolant can warm up

An automobile cooling system has to be large enough to remove the excess heat when the ambient temperatures are in the 90's and also be able to provide heat to the passenger compartment when the temperatures are in the 40's.

Once you get outside of that operation range, then you have exceeded the original design parameters of the system and need to supplement the system by adding a blockage to keep more of the heat in the engine... i.e. installing a piece of cardboard.
Dusty

I've never seen that one in the owners manual.

I believe most MODERN automobiles have a cooling system designed to operate at about 195 degrees or higher as a normal cooling system temperature,along with a high pressure cooling system, this was done for emissions control.

 

[ozzie tractor]

Re: placing a cover over the radiator before starting so that engine coolant can warm up

I've never seen that one in the owners manual.

I believe most MODERN automobiles have a cooling system designed to operate at about 195 degrees or higher as a normal cooling system temperature,along with a high pressure cooling system, this was done for emissions control.

i think dusty is talking about ambient air temp and you are talking about the engine coolant temp. your both correct.

as a side note dusty, we see well over the 100 degrees mark basically most of summer. if a machine had to be modified so it didnt overheat i can assure you it would not sell very well. i have noted some machines get different radiators, oil coolers and air con systems though. manufacturers spend a lot of time specing machines to suit the market they are sold into.

 

[KICK]

Re: placing a cover over the radiator before starting so that engine coolant can warm up

I've looked thru three owners manuals to find the correct ambient temperature for radiator cardboard installation and have been unable to come up with an answer. LOL.

 

[Doc_Bob]

Re: placing a cover over the radiator before starting so that engine coolant can warm up

I've looked thru three owners manuals to find the correct ambient temperature for radiator cardboard installation and have been unable to come up with an answer. LOL.

In Florida, I don't think such a temp exists!!!!!!!
Bob

 

[cp1969]

Re: placing a cover over the radiator before starting so that engine coolant can warm up

I've looked thru three owners manuals to find the correct ambient temperature for radiator cardboard installation and have been unable to come up with an answer. LOL.

That's easy...you need cardboard on when it's CTAWT outside, preferably before it gets cold enough to FTBOABM.

 

[Raddad]

Re: placing a cover over the radiator before starting so that engine coolant can warm up

All newer tractors have a thermostat in line with the radiator and when it's cold there isn't any antifreeze flowing anyway. Once it warms up the thermostat opens up and regulates the antifreeze at the specified temp.

Covering the radiator when it's warm makes no sense to me. Cardboard on the radiator simply forces the thermostat to open more and regulate at the same temperature anyway. Net effect = none.

Can a placing a cover somehow generate heat in an inanimate object? NO.

 

[Dusty]

Re: placing a cover over the radiator before starting so that engine coolant can warm up

This will be my last time trying to explain to you that a piece of cardboard might be necessary when the temperatures drop. I will use as an example, a tractor operated in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where the temperatures routinely drop into the negative numbers. You take your tractor out of the warm garage..... 70 degrees, and it is running well since everything is warm. The outside temperature is -30... That is 30 degrees below 0 degrees!! You tractor has a thermostat that opens at 195 degrees, and when the tractor engine gets to that temperature, the thermostat opens and coolant starts to flow from the engine block to the radiator. The air moving across the radiator is -30 degrees, so it quickly pulls all the heat out of the coolant in the radiator and drops that coolant temperature to 100, or even 140 degrees. That cooled liquid will reenter the engine block and cools the block. The thermostat will close and the tractors operation temperature is below what it should be. Once the thermostat opens because the block is back to 190 degrees, the cycle is repeated. If you limit the amount of radiator surface that is exposed to this frigid air, the coolant will stay warmer, and the engine will also be happier. If you live in a Southern state, this isn't an issue for you. If you live in a Northern state that experiences theses low temperatures, it is important to you. No, you will not find this in the operators manual, but you will know about it if you have lived in a cold climate for more than a few months.
Dusty

 

[Egon]

Re: placing a cover over the radiator before starting so that engine coolant can warm up

Right on Dusty. I have four inserts that clip into openings on the grill to help ****** airflow through the rad.

FTBOABM.

Anybody know what this means?