Purpose of a Radiator
The typical six-cylinder internal combustion engine has approximately 6,000 contained explosions taking place every minute while cruising along at normal highway speeds. If your car has ever overheated, you know how important a properly functioning radiator is to your vehicle's performance. Without it, you won't get very far. With all those explosions taking place and nothing to cool it down, your car, truck, or SUV is almost guaranteed to overheat.
Over half of an engines' heat leaves the vehicle through the exhaust system, where it is no longer a problem for the engine. The rest of the heat is absorbed by the engine components, cylinder head, motor oil, valves, pistons, and other parts. If there was no cooling system to regulate the temperature of these parts, they would weaken and break, causing extensive -- and expensive -- damage to your vehicles' engine.
The radiator is the heart of the cooling system and it keeps those parts from having to be constantly replaced due to heat induced damage and melting. It is sized appropriately to be able to disperse the maximum amount of heat the engine will produce during use in the peak operating weather temperatures. The radiator is comprised of channels that pump liquid through the engine and cylinder head. The cylinder head is a platform that contains most of the explosions, as it houses the valves and spark plugs. Some engines have an extra oil cooler, which is a small radiator designed specifically to cool the engine's motor oil.
Coolant
As the coolant comes in contact with the engine, it conducts heat away from the engine parts. The liquid is usually a mixture of water and ethylene glycol, and typically called coolant or antifreeze. The coolant continues to move within a closed system, and passes through the thermostat, which regulates its rate of flow back to the radiator. The key aspect of the radiator is that it cools the liquid back down, by air passing through the fins, so that the coolant can then loop through on another circuit to again draw heat out of the engine and its components. This continuous pumping of cooler liquid to conduct heat away from the engine is what keeps your car or truck running, and prevents you from being one of those people stuck on the side of the road, with their hood up and liquid spraying into the air as traffic passes.
Maintaining a Radiator
The two main causes of radiator damage are corrosion and hairline cracks caused by heat and vibration. To maintain proper functionality, the radiator should be flushed to prevent the accumulation of rust and particulate in the system. Flushing should be done if there is thought to be any buildup of debris that is causing an obstruction. If there is an obstruction, your radiator and cooling system will slowly lose the ability to transfer heat away from the system.
Stop leak products can be poured into the radiator to fill small cracks. Larger cracks may require altogether replacing the radiator.
