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If you have been to a mechanic recently, you might have heard that you needed to flush your radiator. Maybe you have a crack in your radiator or that there is a problem with the connection to your radiator. Often, you pay your trusted mechanic to do repairs on the vehicle without any knowledge about why that part that is being replaced or fixed needs to repair.
This is often true in the case of the radiator. Many of us know that are radiator needs such things as water or antifreeze but are not exactly sure what this contraption does.
What Does Your Radiator Do?
Let’s start with the most obvious question of all – what does your radiator do? The purpose of the radiator is to help regulate the temperature of your engine. Your engine is prone to overheat if it is not cooled off in some way, and the purpose of the radiator is to ensure that your engine does not overheat, causing it severe damage.
How Does This Work?
Now that you know what the radiator is, the next step is to understand how it works. There is a fluid contained inside the radiator, known as the coolant, that is used to help regulate the temperature. The radiator contains a core, which is the largest part of the radiator, which has a large mental block and small metal fins that allow the coolant to flow across the engine, helping it to cool as the engine gets warm.
Consider that your engine is going through thousands of tiny explosions each minute while it is running. Your Pistons are continuously cycling, creating combustion reactions. This is caused by igniting the gasoline inside your engine to help your car continually operate. This is a very efficient way of operating your engine, but also creates an incredible amount of heat, especially if you have been driving your vehicle for an extended period of time.
That was a very simplistic way to describe how the engine operates, but it gives you an idea of how warm your engine may get over time, reaching critical temperatures that can cause serious damage to your motor. To help combat that, the radiator sends coolant through these events that cools the engine so that your engine does not overheat.
Be Careful with Your Radiator
Now, it is important to keep in mind that the fluid that runs across your engine does not just disappear. It is not lost out of your exhaust, burned up by the engine, or dropped on the ground below. Instead, it returns to your radiator.
This is important for you to know for one primary reason. That coolant is no longer cool. It has been used to help cool your engine, but returns to the radiator at very high temperatures. The radiator is now hot because of the coolant that has returned. This is why you are told to never touch or open the radiator cap after your engine has been running for an extended period of time. The pressure inside your radiator can cause the coolant to explode out of the device if you remove the cap. This can cause severe burns. It can even burn you if you simply touch the radiator. So, be careful if you have been operating your vehicle for more than 30 or 40 minutes.