Your Car's Cooling System and it's Components
The main purpose of your car’s cooling system is to keep your engine from overheating.
Your Car's Cooling System. Important knowledge for your next radiator repair.Your car produces a great deal of heat when it is running, and must be cooled down continuously to avoid overheating and engine damage. In order to understand your car’s cooling system it is important to understand all of the basic cooling system components.
Radiator
Radiator top hose
Radiator bottom hose
Water pump
Thermostat
Electric cooling fan
Thermo-time switch
Radiator
Your radiator is the most important part of your cooling system. Coolant that has traveled through the engine is pumped through the tubes of the radiator and is cooled off for another round.
Radiator Hoses
Your vehicle’s cooling system has a number of rubber hoses which move fluid from one place to another. These Radiator hoses need to be replaced before they become brittle and cracked.
Water pump
The water pump in your cooling system pumps the coolant through the system. In most cars the pump is belt driven, with the exception of some race cars that use electric water pumps.
Thermostat
Your engine doesn’t always maintain the same temperature. Starting your car in cold weather would take forever if your engine stayed at the same temperature all the time. The thermostat controls the flow of coolant throughout your car’s cooling system, with the temperature of the coolant cooling the engine down.
Electric Cooling Fan
Many modern cars have an electric fan for primary or added cooling. When the car is not moving fast enough to generate enough airflow to cool the engine, the fan draws air through the radiator.
Thermo Time Switch
Also known as the fan switch, this is the temperature sensor that tells the electric fan when to blow
