To understand what a car radiator does and why we need to know how the car’s engine works. Most motor vehicles use an internal combustion engine to convert the energy stored in gasoline into motion. Gasoline is a highly rich source of energy and when mixed with air in the combustion chamber becomes very explosive. However, even though there is a lot of energy in gas 2/3 of it get wasted when it is burnt and instead of becoming power to drive the wheels it turn into excess heat. Some of the heat travels out of the exhaust the rest is left inside the engine.
Heat is a problem for engines for several different reasons. In the first instance the temperatures can get so high that the metals can become welded together. This is called a friction weld and happen to components that move rapidly against each(several thousand times per second). Engine oil is used to prevent them from coming into direct contact and to provide some cooling. This is the second problem. Oil helps to cool the engine block where most of the heat is generated. It absorbs heat and carries it away around the singe to the oil pan where it has a chance to cool. But if the oil is already too hot it cannot be used to transfer heat away from the engine leading to a viscous circle of too much heat reducing the effective ness of the oil cooling system.
When it comes to cooling oil is a secondary system, essential, but not the primary way of cooling the engine. Most cooling is performed by the cooling system. Liquid is used in the same way as motor oil, allowing itself to get heated up before being cooled down. Coolant is a mixture of water and antifreeze. The antifreeze raises the boiling temperate of the water allowing it to absorb more heat. Coolant circulates through bore holes in the engine being heated as it goes. The hot liquid now reaches the radiator, this is where heat transfer takes place as the water streams over the many layers of metal inside the radiator. Radiators rely on having a huge surface area and spreading the coolant thinly over the metal to make heat transfer from the liquid to the air as efficient as possible.
The car radiator is positioned behind the front grill. As the vehicle moves forward the air flows through the grill and over the layers of metal in the radiator. This cools the coolant leaving it ready to absorb more heat from the engine when it get to the bottom of the radiator and is recirculated. If the car is not moving a fan is used to force air through the radiator. On hot days when the engine is on but the car is stationary you’ll hear the fan going like crazy.
A car radiator leak is often the cause of overheating because the coolant levels are depleted as it leaks out of the radiator. Often caused by corrosion due ageing the puddle under the car is an obvious give-away there is a leak. The leak could be coming from a hose or the radiator itself. Hoses are relatively easy to replace. Radiator leaks can be patched with a sealant. If the damage is too great for a patch (maybe due to an accident) there are plenty of car radiators for sale on the internet.
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