Radiator Cover for the winter - is there one pls

My 2000 1.6 Vitara 4U tends to run cool.
(That's the water/engine temperature rather than a fashion statement)

So for the winter I am thinking of putting a cover over the front slats like the old Landies used to have.
Is there such a thing for Vitaras?
If not what material would people recommend I use please?.

My youngest son told me he had some radiator foil which sounded just the job.
I was going to tuck this in front of the top part of the radiator before I noticed it has plastic bubble wrap on one side. (it was for domestic/house radiators).

Any help will be much appreciated,
Bern

What temperature is it running at? it should be around 88C under normal running. I never had an issue, have you checked that the thermostat is working correctly?

in the past iv'e used corrugated card covered in kitchen foil
and keep cutting holes to reach desired temp

tbh dont think moden cars need a rad cover. back in the day when you had a lad for hot and cold weather, yeah ( i am tht old and i have merostly driven classics) but wower?? days you dont need them , the mass flow meter does it all for you. like a previous poster said check your thermostat.
jeff

Thank you for the replies.

I'm not sure what the actual temperature is.
The gauge barely goes above the C on the dial except when in very slow moving traffic when it goes up to around 1/4. (Hope that makes sense).
How do I tell what the water temperature is when the engine has warmed up?

The previous owner had replaced the radiator allegedly due to getting something in the fins so I could be starting on an interesting fault finding exercise e.g. Has it got the right thermostat fitted, etc.

As I haven't yet had time to investigate the cause in the cool running at this stage I am looking for a simple work around as my 4U is my daily drive.

Just as I am on the topic of engine temperature -
At one stage my old Mitsubishi J26 Jeep started to run very hot. It was due to the timing being miles out after it was "serviced" by a bunch of monkeys (no offense to Monkeys).
They nearly convinced me to fit a second cooling fan due to air being "trapped" by the big engine lump and causing lack of flow. It was only the fact that the engine was built to military spec and a neighbour (ex REME) had a strobe gun that I didn't go down the twin fan route.
I might suffer from trapped wind but the J26 didn't.

Bern

You can measure the temperature with an IR thermometer at the thermostat or using a scan tool. When you start it up from cold is there water circulating around the radiator? you should be able to see that with the rad cap off.

streetfighterjeff wrote: the mass flow meter does it all for you.
jeff

There is no mass flow meter on a 4u2, in any case a mass flow meter only controls fuelling not coolant temperature. The coolant temperature on the 4u2 is controlled primarily by the thermostat and the radiator.

I'll take a look after I start it up tomorrow.
Thanks again for your advice,
Bern

Rhinoman,
The top hose from the thermostat to the radiator warms up slowly from cold eg there wasn't a sudden change in temperature.
I couldn't see water circulating as I took the rad cap off the water level was half way up the neck of the short neck that the cap fits on. When I started the engine the water gradually started to expand and slightly spill over as it got warmer. I assume that was caused by the air in the water expanding.
Just a thought. Should the cold water level be so high?
I thought it was supposed to just be above the top of the internal fins?
I would appreciate your thoughts,
Been

I think that's OK, from what I remember the remote reservoir is higher than the rad cap

I'll check the level of the reservoir tomorrow.

Thanks again,
Bern