Woman checking auto air conditioning depositphotos 19723019 l

A Guide to Car Heating and Cooling System

Posted on October 29, 2019

Notice steam coming out from the hood of your car?

The temperature gauge also indicates that your car is heating up. It’s a sign that your car’s overheating and trust us when we tell you, it’s not something you want to take lightly.

Problems with the cooling system are the reason you are facing this particular issue. Here’s all you need to know about it:

What Is The Cooling System?
 
A vehicle with four cylinders running at 50 miles per hour produces around 4000 explosions in a single minute. These are produced due to the spark plugs igniting.
These sparks give off excessive heat, which can cause irreparable damage to your engine if not controlled. It’s the job of the car’s cooling system to control the heat produced by the engine.

Apart from overheating, additional problems that you might encounter in case the cooling system stops working, include vehicle consuming too much fuel and an increase in emissions.

How Does The Cooling System Work?

There are two types of cooling systems found in vehicles. These include air-cooled and liquid-cooled systems. The former is more common in classic cars like the Volkswagen Beetle and Chevrolet Corvair.

You will still find it in some modern-day vehicles however, the majority of them have switched to liquid-cooled systems.

The cooling system consists of passages, which are found in engine heads and blocks. The coolant passes through these passages and picks off heat produced by the engine. The heated fluid then goes through a rubber hose and to the radiator.

As it passes through the tubes, the air from the stream cools it down. Once all the heat has been absorbed, the fluid is sent back to the engine.

It’s the job of the water pump to make sure that the fluid keeps moving through all parts of the engine.

Radiator Overheating

The core of the radiator is made of flattened aluminum tubes and strips. The fins transfer heat to the air stream in order to cool it down.

Each end of the radiator consists of plastic tanks. The tubes run horizontally to these tanks. The tanks are properly sealed in order to prevent the fuel from leaking out.

The tank also has a hose located on the top and the bottom. The top hose lets coolant in whereas the hose at the bottom lets the coolant go out.

Problems With the Heating System

Some additional components of the heating system include water pump, thermostat and pressure cap. As stated earlier, the water pump is responsible for transferring fluid to all parts of the engine.

The thermostat measures the temperature of the coolant and the pressure cap helps ensure that the temperature of the fluid doesn’t exceed 250 degrees.

Is your engine overheating? Get in touch with Smitty’s Auto Service. We offer car auto repair services. Some of the other services we offer include transmission repair and engine repair. Smitty’s is a certified repair shop that can fix problems with BMW and Audi.

Author: xbtmom


Next:  Spark Plugs—Signs They Need to Be Replaced
Previous:  Engine Noises That Require Immediate Attention