Rad Repairs & Motor Overheating

The internal combustion gasoline powered engine which powers most vehicles on America's highways today works basically on the principle of "burning inside". Burning the air/fuel mixture in the engine creates a tremendous amount of heat ' more than enough heat to melt a 200 pound engine block in less than twenty minutes. In a motorist's normal driving temperatures inside the cylinders may be as high as 4500 degrees Fahrenheit. Indeed pistons may run 600 degrees F at the crown ' that is the top of the piston block.

As soon as you see the temperature gauge begin to rise into the "warning zone" (or if you have 'idiot lights rather than gauges - Newer modern engines with all of their demands , high output and emission controls have dramatically increased engine temperatures with resultant stress on engines and their components "under the hood" and even the exhaust systems. Neglecting the cooling system of an auto can result in leaks from connections to the engine block - be it cast iron or aluminum. Overheating and possible irreversible damage to your engine may be the result in the final tally. Who need this - Do Not Stop and Turn Off Your Engine. Let your radiator, engine cooling system and hot water pump all do their jobs of dissipating and eliminating this extra heat that your engine, engine block and cooling system are currently carrying and retaining.

Next of you cannot escape traffic , or speed up in traffic and the temperature gauge continues to escalate or your temperature warning light continues to light up 'shift your transmission into neutral and rev the engine to speed up the water pump circulating the hot coolant in your engine block as well as increase the speed of your radiator fan.

Newer modern vehicles for the last number of years usually use electric fans to draw air via the radiator not the older type which ran directly off the engine. At idle and slow operation , the fan draws air from the outside through the radiator core to cool the coolant as it passes through the radiator. As well you will charge your battery, if the battery is run down from sitting in stalled traffic.

The radiator is a honeycomb of small tubes and fins. The hot coolant flows through the tubes and is cooled by air passing around the tubes and fins. If anything , the modern auto cooling system with permanent glycol year round antifreeze works too well. Not being the wheel that squeaks , it usually and often receives little attention for regular and ongoing maintenance and care. However no antifreeze is really "permanent" or forever. the additives do wear out with time and miles. The cooling system uses several hoses to carry hot coolant under pressure from one place to another. They include upper and lower radiator hoses, inlet and outlet heater hoses and on some vehicles a radiator bypass hose. Hoses may have to perform in atmospheres and settings where one day it may be a frigid Manitoba or Northern BC winter freeze and a baking oven the next - even overheating due to low as well as inadequate levels of antifreeze fluids. Most importantly resist the temptation to open the hood and examine the engine, even if smoke (really steam) is escaping from under the hood. Coolant recovery systems are part of most cooling systems of most current and late model cars , trucks, buses , SUVs and vans. A coolant recovery system uses a reservoir to hold the overflow of coolant as it is heated and expands. After the engine has been stopped and "cools down", a partial vacuum exists that draws the coolant back into the radiator - you run the greatest chance of being burned severely by hot scalding liquid and boiling hot steam. If you have to wait a minimum of half an hour or so until lifting up the engine hood. It must be driven home - The radiator pressure cap controls the pressure in the cooling system. Coolant , just like water, boils at higher temperatures under pressure that it does without pressure ( just like a pressure cooker). Therefore the cooling system of a vehicle is designed to function at high temperatures with the system working under atmospheric pressures. As a motorist you risk scalds and burns from escaping and bubbling engine coolant and boiling steam.


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Terry S. Vostor Eagle Ridge Coquitlam GMC Trucks Furnasman