ENGINE COOLING SYSTEM COMPONENTS AND FUNCTIONS

Engine Cooling system components - Hello guys, do you know what a cooling system is? What is the function of the cooling system in a car? In this article, we will learn about the components of the cooling system and its functions.

You need to know that the cooling system has a function, namely, to maintain the engine temperature so as not to overheat because the engine is burning which produces heat, the heat generated will increase the engine temperature as the engine runs.

Basically, the working principle of the cooling system is to transfer heat from engine components to free air. This heat transfer process demands a series of several components. What are the components of the cooling system? Here we describe one by one the components of the cooling system.

1. Radiator

The radiator is a cooling system component in the form of an iron plate which is used to cool cooling water. The working principle of a radiator is to transfer temperature from water to air. The radiator has several parts.

• Upper tank is a tank to collect hot water or water from the engine.

• Lower tank is a tank to accommodate water that has been cooled and ready to be sent back to the engine.

• The radiator core is a flat channel that connects the upper and lower tank spaces. The number of cores determines how much cooling power the radiator can carry.

• Radiator fins, which are thin zinc arranged between several cores on the surface of the radiator. These fins are used as heat receivers from the cores while releasing heat into the air that passes through them.

2. The radiator Cup

The radiator cap is a cooling system component that functions as a cover for the upper tank radiator while maintaining the air pressure in the cooling system. This cap construction is not like bottle caps or other caps, because there is a pressure regulating mechanism so there are other parts in this cap.

The main part is a spring that pushes a valve downward. In its normal position, this spring will push the valve so that the wire can close the radiator channel. Meanwhile, when the pressure inside the radiator increases, it will fight against the spring and cause the valve to open. Finally, the compressed air exits the radiator and the pressure becomes more stable. The air pressure in the cooling system can change due to water temperature factors. The higher the water temperature, the more the water evaporates and increases the air pressure in the system.

3. Radiator hose

The radiator hose is a cooling system component that has a function to channel water from the engine to the radiator and back to the engine. Even though its function is only to distribute water, this component cannot be underestimated.

The radiator hoses are required to be flexible but must be strong with almost boiling water temperatures. Therefore, the radiator hoses are made of special rubber which is designed to withstand high temperatures but is flexible. There are three types of hoses in the cooling system, namely;

• The radiator inlet hose is the radiator input hose that drains hot water from the engine.

• The radiator outlet hose is a radiator output hose that drains low-temperature water to be channeled back into the water jacket.

• Bypass hose, this hose becomes a dividing hose to several components at once. As to be distributed to the reservoir tank or heater.

4. Thermostat

The thermostat is a cooling system component shaped like a valve that functions to speed up the engine to reach its working temperature. The way the thermostat works is by closing the channel to the radiator inlet hose when the engine has not reached the working temperature (± 80 degrees Celsius) and opening it automatically when the engine temperature is hot.

5. Water jacket

The water casing or more familiarly known as the water jacket serves as a place to absorb engine heat evenly. The name water jacket is just a term that leads to the water channel around the engine.

The water jacket is in the form of a water channel in the block and the cylinder head is filled with water. When the engine starts, the heat generated by combustion will increase the temperature of the engine block and cylinder head. Because there is water flowing in this channel, the heat will also flow along the water flow, namely towards the radiator to be cooled.

6. Reservoir tank

This component is in the form of a tube which has a function to store the cooling water which has been evaporated. When the engine is at a high temperature, the cooling water will evaporate and result in an increase in air pressure in the system.

To stabilize the air pressure, the evaporated water will be channeled into a tube through the radiator cap. In this tube, water vapor will be condensed back into a liquid.

The vapor that has changed from in the reservoir can be channeled back into the cooling system when the pressure in the system goes into a vacuum. This will prevent less cooling water from occurring.

7. Cooling fan

The cooling fan is a cooling system component that functions to cool the radiator. The working principle of the cooling fan is by flowing air from outside through the radiator fins. There are two types of cooling fans, namely conventional fans and electric fans.

The conventional fan will be driven by engine power through the belt drives while the electric fan is driven by an electric motor.

8. Water pump

The function of the water pump is only one, namely to circulate cooling water so that it can move. The water pump is generally located inside the water jacket, when the thermostat closes the pump it will cause a flow of water in the water jacket which helps even out the engine heat.

When the thermostat is open, this pump will flow water from the water jacket to the radiator to be cooled. As with the cooling fan, this component also has two versions. The conventional version is driven by engine power and the electric version driven by electric power.

9. Thermometer temperature

The thermometer is a component used to measure the temperature of cooling water. Later the results of this measurement will be displayed on the car dashboard. But in modern cars, the existence of this thermometer has been replaced by the ECT sensor.

10. Engine heat indicator

This is still included in the temperature thermometer to find out what the temperature of the engine coolant is. The purpose of these two components are to prevent engine overheating, by displaying the temperature of the cooling water on the display info panel on the dashboard so the driver will know if the cooling system is malfunctioning.

Thus the article about the cooling system in cars. Hopefully, this can be useful for all of you. Thank you for visiting and reading our article.