help me

Where does coolant flow through a car engine? Does coolant flow to the engine and back to the waterpump in a cycle. Whatabout the radiator how do thoes things cool the air?

  CarEXPERT

Let's start by the water pump and thermostat. Ur thermostat regulates the temp. in ur cooling system. The coolant in the engine would normally flow but is blocked by the closed thermostat. Temp builds and thermostat will then open (usually around 192 degrees F). Once it opens, coolant flows throughout the system via the waterpump. Ur radiator serves to cool down the coolant. It's in front of the engine so therefore it cools down alot faster at high speeds. The hot coolant arrives from the upper hose (water pump) into the rad. The cold coolant flows from the lower hose (rad) into the the engine bloc and then to the heater core, thus giving u warm air. It then returns to the upper hose and the cycle continues. :thumbs:

  Carcass

Just some things to add, the coolant flows throughout the engine block through waterjackets. these are passages that surround the cylinders. also the coolant flows through the cylinder head. The coolant absorbs the heat that the engine creates and becomes super hot. however the pressure in the cooling system allows the boiling point to rise 3 degrees F per 1 psi of pressure (if i remember correctly). if the pressure builds too high, a relief valve opens, allowing extra coolant to enter the overflow tank. the radiator is used to cool the coolant, by means of cold air travelling into it from front of the car, or by a fan.

other than these few details, i think carcass covered it.

Oh...and CarExpert my ass.

  Mathew

When you open the hood of car you can see a pipe that goes from the radiator to the engine. Which pipe is this and which way does coolant flow.? And does an intercooler work the same way or how does it work for boost intercoolers? Thanks. :mrgreen:

  CarEXPERT

ummmm.....boost inercooler? WTF are you talking about???? The top pipe commonly flows toward the radiator. A intercooler works using the same idea. Alumimun fins that take heat from the air charge the displace the heat into the air. and WTF is a boost intercooler. Gah!

  Low Impedance

a intercooler that cools boost. So the air from the outside goes into the intercooler and cools the boosted air? Do you know about nitrous coolers where they inject nitrous into the intercooler?

  CarEXPERT

This guy is funny. :laughing:

  DodgeRida67

BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHA....breathe.....HAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!


this is what i just read:

der pa der. intercooler der duh paodp boost aksd nah get rhay thwqap injected ger hat es ha kapoot.

Seriously man, WTF are you talking about!!!!!!! I dont even want to correct this crap.

  Low Impedance

Ok, I'll take a stab at this...

A radiator, oil cooler, intercooler, and other items of this type use thermal transfer to change the temparature of the fluid or air inside them.

In the case of the radiator, water flowing through it is cooled by the transfer of heat from the water, to the metal to the air. The air flowing over the radiator cools it the same as blowing on hot coffee cools it. Then the cooled water goes back into the engine and removes heat from the metal and brings it back to the radiator to start the process over again. Depending on the car, it will go through the water pump first or last in the process, and depending on the car, the coolant will flow from the top of the engine down, or be pumped from the bottom of the engine up. Different manufacturers do it differently, but all use the same principal. The water running through the engine removes heat created by the combustion process, takes it to the radiator, where the heat is transferred through the fins to the air.

Since an engine works best at a certain operating temperature, the thermostat regulates the temperature that the engine runs at, by regulating flow of coolant to/from the radiator. below a certain temp, it stays closed to make the engine temperature higher, and above a certain temp, it opens up to bring the engine temp down.

An oil cooler will do the same thing for the engine oil.

An intercooler takes the heat generated by the compression of air in a turbo or supercharger and transfers it to the air the same way. There are intercoolers out there that actually use water to remove the heat instead of air (in these cases the vanes of an intercooler will sit in a water jacket that circulates much the same way as a regular cooling system). Not many systems are set up this way.

Spraying water on an intercooler makes the heat transfer faster, much like evaporating water on your skin cools you off faster on a hot day. Cold water isn't transferring cold temps to you, but the water evaporating is removing heat energy from you.

  ChrisV

WTF... seriously you the stupid one, if you couldnt understand what a boost intercooler is then your really stupid. I just said boost intercooler because oviously it is a cooler for boosted air from a turbo or supercharger.
Der pa der..... kappot... RETARDED BITCH

  CarEXPERT

ChrisV: So a radiator cools the coolant by air right? So does a intercooler work the same way as the radiator but just by using air from the front of the car? Where is usually the water pump is in the car and themostat? Thanks ChrisV.

  CarEXPERT

Umm, yes, the intercooler works the same way: the air being pumoed through th eintercooler by the turbo or supercahrger is cooled by the outside air moving over the fins. Colling the air in side teh intercooler makes teh air denser, thus more iar is packed into the same space, making more power.

As for the location of the water pump, it's almost always on the front of the engine, bolted to the front cover and run by a pulley and belt off the crank.

  ChrisV

by saying boost intercooler being different than an intercooler, you are retarded. The name "intercooler" is the universal name for the aluminum piece that consists of two end tanks with a "radiator-like" section in the middle. That cools the air that runs through it, commonly from a turbo charged system. Most good S/C do not create as much heat so commonly a IC is not need, even at high boost levels. What the ic is meant to do is prevent detonation from high temperatures. You can make a turbo charged motor detonate on a very hot day if it is running just on the brink of detonation at normal atmospheric temperatures.

so dont tell me that i am the stupid one when you cant even understand how the hell a radiator works.

  Low Impedance

and the thermostat is located on the hose between the engine and the coolant reservoir, when the temp gets high enough (once engine is warmed up) the thermostat opens to let the rest of the coolant circulate regulating the temp of the engine.

  choke

It's just intercooler...



I don't think you're the one to be tossing around insults, remember these little addages?

-"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone"(as read in the bible)
-"Those in glass houses shouldn't throw rocks"(as heard from old wives everywhere)
-"CarEXPERT is too obtuse to understand the simplest of ideas"(...I just made that one up)

  Zalight

amen zalight AMEN preach brother preach

  choke

Is the oil cooler or transmission fluid cooler in the radiator? So how does the oil get cooled from the outside air?
And why does oil need to be cooled? What is the benifite of it being cooler than hotter?
Thanks people

  CarEXPERT

No, the oil and transmission coolers are outside of the radiator, and function in the same basic function as a radiator.

Its not so much that people want the oil to be cooler for performance gains, but just to keep the engine safe. Mostly they are only needed in high heat applications(like the Viper) or in race cars.

  Zalight