Keeping the Engine Warm in Winter
In winter engines usually run too cold and, even with a working thermostat, take an age to warm up. Radiator blinds and muffs help a lot but how should they be fitted?
The old logic was that in cold weather radiators freeze at the bottom so fitting a blind or muff to cover this part of the radiator minimises this problem and by reducing the effective size of the radiator speeds up engine warming. Today we all have antifreeze so freezing should never be a problem so there is no reason why we should not cover the top part of the radiator instead. This has two big advantages. Most importantly it stops the cold air from blasting over the carb. and inlet manifold. The quicker this part of the engine warms up, the sooner the choke can be pushed in thus saving fuel and reducing engine wear. The second reason it that when the engine is turned off, the warm air rises and get trapped inside the engine bay by the radiator cover thus keeping things warmer for longer.