insect screens on turbo desiel

[Jock]

I have a 3l St and am considering putting an insect catcher, homemade from common household flyscreen,on the wagon to protect the radiator. ARB's price guides does not recommend them for turbo patrols. Has anyone tried this ? Any advice appreciated.

Enjoy

Jock

[Finly Owner]

Ok Jock, just keep this in mind Mate. The more flow through breeze restriction the hotter the vehicle will run, both with fluids and air. EnginesKeep cool not only by coolant internally but with air passing the external area. Turbo exhaust rely heavily on that principle. If an exhaust doesn't cool then it radiates the heat towards your engine, keeping unneeded heat contained in the engine bay. Which is not going to be beneficial to your motor and eventually your hip pocket.

To test what I'm trying to point out, place an insect screen in front of a household pedestal fan turned on and the remove the screen and notice the difference in the breeze flow. Although there is many small holes in the weave, the surface area of the screen causes restriction and reflection.

Hope this shine some light on the reason for the advice you were given.


Tim

[Jock]

Thanks guys, I had one on the commodore when we towed the van interstate which keeps the radiator in good nick. I'll play it with caution.

Enjoy

Jock

[rkinsey]

Hi Jock,

I run a 1997 2.8TD and I have a "Flyscreen" type mesh in front of my radiator (was installed by the previous owner) and I dont have any problems with excessive heat at all.

Towing a fully loaded trailer with camping gear and sundry items and a fully loaded truck with two kids and the trouble 'n' strife it does get a little warm when under load going up hills but doesnt get hot. Temp needle generally stays around the 30% mark.

Cheers,

Rob

[Sir Roofy]

icant see a real problem with it but try it out and see how the temps go,ten minutes up the road on a warm day
will give you an indercation

[NoBody]

Is it generally a good idea to put an insect screen in front of the radiator, or does Australia just have that many insects, compared to -for example- Western Europe? :P

In the first case, I might consider one as well.

[rkinsey]

If you drive through a plague of locusts, in no time flat it will block your radiator and over heat the motor (No cooling ability)

Just driving at night will do the same thing without the locusts....

[NoBody]

Luckily we don't have those over here. Just a lot of small flies and, now and then, a lost moth comes crashing into our radiators :eek:

[albi]

mate the only time ive seen it been a problem is when you have to many spoties,whinch,transcooler,air/co condensor and a fording blanket left down lol.
ive seen flyscreen material through to shade cloth and never seen or herd of any problem with o-heating as it is the blocked cores that cause the majour probs.