Cooling System

If you own a car then you may encounter trouble with it overheating. Should your car overheat you have to do something to cool things off, or your engine will turn into a solid block. Most of you have noticed the green stuff which prevents your engine from freezing in the winter. Then you must be wondering what keeps your engine cool in summer. This is nothing but the coolant. This coolant is very necessary in summer. By using water only you can’t cool the radiator down enough. Coolant becomes crucial in summer. The coolant moves around the engine and absorbs the heat before dissipating it.

Basically, the cooling system is comprised of eight components. These are as follows:
1. radiator
2. top hose of radiator
3. bottom hose of radiator
4. water pump
5. thermostat
6. thermostat housing
7. cooling fan
8. thermo time switch

Radiator - it is the main part of the cooling system as coolant is pumped by means of radiator tubes which travels through the engine and is then cooled off for the next round.

Hoses - there are number of hoses which pass the coolant from one part to another. These should be replaced before becoming brittle and cracked.

Water pump - it pumps the coolant. It can be electric or belt driven. Electric water pump is used in race cars whereas in all other cars belt driven water pump is used to pump the coolant.

Thermostat - thermostat helps to maintain the flow of coolant so that the engine can be cooled down more or less depending on the temperature of the coolant. Like if you are in traffic and want it to cool down rapidly and automatically, and if you are starting your car in the early morning you want your engine to get warm quickly.

Cooling fan - for further cooling of the engine, electric cooling fans are also used in addition to coolant. It draws the air from the radiator and helps in cooling down the things.

Thermo time switch - it is used as a sensor for the cooling fan, which switches on and off automatically. It is also known as fan switch.