The cooling system is what keeps your car from having a meltdown. Whether you're cruising down the highway at 100 kilometres per hour (when you find good roads) or stuck in a typical Lagos traffic jam at rush hour, your cooling system is working hard to keep your engine operating at the right temperature. If you didn't have some way to cool things off, your engine would turn into a solid block of useless metal in no time.
In the modern car, your cooling system has a bigger job than just keeping the radiator from belching steam all over the place. Your engine is designed to run at an optimum temperature. This is not just the best temperature for performance, it's more about maintaining the right conditions for all of your emission control systems to function at their peak and to obtain the best mileage. That's why your engine has so many ways to heat up quickly on a cold morning.
What's In My Cooling System?
All of the parts that make up the cooling system have one goal of moving coolant (water) around the engine so it can absorb and dissipate heat. The basic system is made up of the following components:
1. Radiator
2. Radiator top hose
3. Radiator bottom hose
4. Water pump
5. Thermostat
6. Thermostat housing
7. Electric cooling fan
8. Thermo-time switch
9. Coolant
1.Radiator
1.Radiator
The radiator is the most prominent part of the system. Coolant that has travelled through the engine is pumped through the tubes of the radiator and is cooled off for another round. The radiator has many channels on the inside so that the coolant travels all over the place, dissipating heat at every turn. It also has lots of cooling fins on the outside. These fins increase the surface area so that even more heat can escape into the air flowing around the radiator.
A car radiator
2. Radiator Hose
Your cooling system has a number of rubber hoses (top, bottom and other smaller hoses from the reservoir, etc.) that move the fluid from one place to the other. These need to be replaced before they become brittle and cracked. Even the smallest hose can fail and leave you on the side of the road.
3. Water Pump
The water pump does what you think it does - pumps the coolant through the system. The pump is belt driven, except in the case of some cars that use an electric water pump. If your water pump is leaking coolant under the car, this is a heads-up to replace the water pump when you can.
A water pump
4. Thermostat
Your engine isn't always the same temperature. When you start it on a cold morning, you want it to get warm quickly to get the emission controls working fully and optimise your fuel consumption. If you stop in traffic, you want it to cool itself off. The thermostat controls the flow of coolant so that it cools down more or less depending on the temperature of the coolant. It rests in a housing just after the radiator bottom hose.
A thermostat
5. Electric Fan
Many cars these days have an electric fan for either primary or added cooling. The fan draws air through the radiator when you aren't moving fast enough to get things cooled down. There is often also an electric fan on the air conditioning system.
Some cars have one electric fan for both roles.
An electric fan
7. Thermo-Time Switch
Also known as the fan switch, this is the temperature sensor that tells the electric fan when to blow. When the coolant reaches a given temperature, the electric cooling fan switches on to draw more air through the radiator. It works closely with the thermostat.
A thermo-time switch
8. Coolant
Coolant is a liquid mixture of glycol and water (many people use just water, not good). As the coolant absorbs the heat from the cylinder and reaches a high temperature then it is passed through the thermostat which is an inlet for radiator.
The coolant then reaches the radiator and the cool air from the outside lowers the temperature of the coolant and it is then sent to engine using the lower hose and the cycle is repeated.
Green variation of the coolant fluid
How Does My Cooling System Work
The cooling mechanism is an essential part of the car engine. The combustion and friction of moving parts generates lot of heat. Some of the heat is carried away by the exhaust gases via exhaust valve, but some of the remaining heat is absorbed by the engine block itself which raises the temperature.
A car cooling system with an electric fan
The water pump pumps the coolant through the cooling system. The coolant runs through the engine block through water jacket/gasket; a safe passage for the coolant to flow without entering into the cylinder. This coolant absorbs the heat from the engine, and reduces the engine's temperature.
The coolant flows from the engine block to the radiator, through the thermostat. The thermostat allows coolant flow from the engine to the radiator when temperatures are 180°C to 200°C. The thermostat has a valve worked by a chamber filled with wax. When the engine warms up, the wax melts, expands and pushes the valve open, allowing coolant to flow through the radiator. When the engine cools, the valve closes again.The thermostat also signals the ECU to switch on the electric fan.
However, if the heater in the cabin is turned on, the coolant bypasses the thermostat to the heater core via a bypass hose.
The coolant enters the radiator via the upper hose. This coolant is quite hot and under high pressure. High pressure prevents the coolant from boiling while entering the upper tank. This pressure is the reason you're advised to allow an engine cool down before opening the radiator. If the pressure exceeds safe limits, the pressure regulation calve (radiator cover) opens and allows some coolant into the coolant reservoir/overflow tank.
The radiator is made up of an upper tank, a lower tank and a core in between. Once in the radiator, the coolant is cooled by the air moving through the core as the coolant moves to the lower tank.. The core has fins which further aid cooling. The fan at the radiator also helps to move air when the vehicle is stationary or moving slowly.
When the coolant gets to lower tank, it is completely cooled off and sent back to the engine to repeat the cycle.
And that's how the engine is cooled.
Click here to read more about the thermostat.
However, if the heater in the cabin is turned on, the coolant bypasses the thermostat to the heater core via a bypass hose.
The coolant enters the radiator via the upper hose. This coolant is quite hot and under high pressure. High pressure prevents the coolant from boiling while entering the upper tank. This pressure is the reason you're advised to allow an engine cool down before opening the radiator. If the pressure exceeds safe limits, the pressure regulation calve (radiator cover) opens and allows some coolant into the coolant reservoir/overflow tank.
The radiator is made up of an upper tank, a lower tank and a core in between. Once in the radiator, the coolant is cooled by the air moving through the core as the coolant moves to the lower tank.. The core has fins which further aid cooling. The fan at the radiator also helps to move air when the vehicle is stationary or moving slowly.
When the coolant gets to lower tank, it is completely cooled off and sent back to the engine to repeat the cycle.
And that's how the engine is cooled.
A car cooling system with a belt-driven fan
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