All You Need To Know About Radiator — Carengineered.com

Introduction

Automobiles these days equipped with all-time latest technologies and more sophisticated mechanical parts and even electrical parts for the sake of more and more output.

All these advancements lead the automobiles to work very hard and thus a major point of concern is to limit the side effects.

Heat generation in the engine is one of the most important topics to look at for a safe ride.

Radiators, thus form one of the major components of a cooling system of any automobile.

Construction

Radiators flat square-shaped or rectangular-shaped components located in the very front of the engine.

Radiators are the best example of heat exchangers whose main function is to transfer the thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling or heating.

Functioning

The main parts of a radiator are as follows

The Inlet Port
The Coolant after absorbing the heat from the entire engine is directed towards the radiator via the inlet port at the upper section of the radiator.

In short, the hot coolant enters the radiator through the inlet port.

The Pressure Cap
The pressure cap of the radiator is used to increase the pressure and if the pressure increases from the desired pressure (15psi approx.) then the spring elongates and allows the excess pressure to escape, just like a cooker does.

The second function is to check the level of coolant and also to insert fresh coolant after draining the old coolant through the drainage valve.

The Aluminium Fins
The Radiator is a type of heat exchanger that has multiple aluminum thin tubes placed parallel to each other and connected.

The hot coolant passes through these aluminum fins and loses its heat into the atmosphere.

The outlet port
This port is placed in the lower section of any radiator.

The function of this port is to allow the cooled coolant to pass through the radiator into the engine back, again for absorbing all the heat.

The Transmission Cooler
Sometimes the radiator may also have a transmission cooler placed on both sides.

The transmission cooler is like a radiator within a radiator, with the difference being that it cools the coolant by absorbing the heat via its already cooled oil rather than the air.

Conclusion
Over time, the radiator may go bad, which may cause the engine to overheat. This is one of the most common symptoms of a faulty radiator. A cracked radiator will allow the coolant to leak from the system, resulting in the coolant level going down. A green or yellow-colored coolant will turn into an oil-colored liquid or rust if the radiator goes bad. A rusty radiator will eventually develop sludge which may inhibit efficient cooling.

Originally published at https://www.carengineered.com on June 8, 2020.