Castlehill Truck and Car Mechanical Repair

Archive for the ‘Cooling system’ Category

The cooling system in most cars consists of the radiator and water pump.

Water circulates through passages around the cylinders and then travels through the radiator to cool it off. In a few cars (most notably Volkswagen Beetles), as well as most motorcycles and lawn mowers, the engine is air-cooled instead (You can tell an air-cooled engine by the fins adorning the outside of each cylinder to help dissipate heat.).

Air-cooling makes the engine lighter but hotter, generally decreasing engine life and overall performance.

Although petrol engines have improved a lot, they are still not very efficient at turning chemical energy into mechanical power. Most of the energy in the petrol (perhaps 7 0%) is converted into heat, and it is the job of the cooling system to take care of that heat.

In fact, the cooling system on a car driving down the freeway dissipates enough heat to heat two average-sized houses! The primary job of the cooling system is to keep the engine from overheating by transferring this heat to the air, but the cooling system also has several other important jobs.

The engine in your car runs best at a fairly high temperature. When the engine is cold, components wear out faster, and the engine is less efficient and emits more pollution. So another important job of the cooling system is to allow the engine to heat up as quickly as possible, and then to keep the engine at a constant temperature.

Plumbing

The cooling system in your car has a lot of plumbing. We’ll start at the pump and work our way through the system.

The pump sends the fluid into the engine block, where it makes its way through passages in the engine around the cylinders. Then it returns through the cylinder head of the engine. The thermostat is located where the fluid leaves the engine. The plumbing around the thermostat sends the fluid back to the pump directly if the thermostat is closed. If it is open, the fluid goes through the radiator first and then back to the pump.

There is also a separate circuit for the heating system. This circuit takes fluid from the cylinder head and passes it through a heater core and then back to the pump.

With all these different parts it is important to get them checked periodically so before summer is really upon us be sure to call Zecks Mechanical repair at Castle Hill call 02 9680 1691 to get your cooling system checked.