Don't be that car, stuck on the side of the road with steam pouring from under the hood. We will give your radiator and cooling system a well deserved service.
In Australia, car engine cooling system failures rank among the top three causes of roadside breakdowns, with radiator failures accounting for a large percentage of these. A fully functional and efficient cooling system circulates coolant to reduce heat around your engine and is essential in preventing overheating.
Not all cooling system failures are explosive in nature; in most cases, it's a slow process that may start with you noticing puddles under the car or having to top off the coolant level regularly. The temperature gauge may indicate a high coolant temperature in slow traffic but returns to normal during high speed driving. In some cases, you may notice a sweetish, “hot water” smell coming from the engine, or even notice actual steam coming from under the bonnet. All these symptoms are serious and should not be ignored.
View our AutoFacts Video to learn how your cooling system works.
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Got concerns about your radiator or cooling system? Book online today.
In simple terms, a vehicles’ cooling system consists of components that manage and maintain the engine’s temperature, regardless of factors such as ambient temperature and operating conditions like road speed.
Major deviations on either side of an engines ideal operating temperature can cause serious engine damage.
In modern vehicles many manufacturers have adopted engine technologies that rely heavily on the engine temperature to reduce emissions, so it is now possible to find engines in late-model vehicles that run 20 or more degrees hotter that what is considered normal in older engines.
Regardless of what you drive, it is critical that your cooling system is in premium condition to help protect your car from expensive breakdowns.
If you want to know more about radiators and cooling system you might find the following pages useful:
Your car’s cooling system consists of more than just a radiator and coolant. Learn more about the common components of your cooling system below.
Radiator
Also known as a heat exchanger, the radiator is
made up of two reservoirs on either side of a
core of small-diameter tubes that are all
interconnected with a fine web of aluminium foil
that greatly increases the surface area of the
radiator that is in contact with the atmosphere.
As the hot coolant flows through the small tubes
the heat stored in the coolant is shed, or
“radiated” away to the atmosphere,
hence the name, radiator.
Radiator cap
On modern cooling systems, the radiator cap is
located on the expansion tank, a device that
allows for expansion and contraction of the
coolant. Although modern radiator caps are
mostly made of plastic, they are designed to
contain a pressure relief mechanism whose
purpose it is to both contain the pressure
caused by expansion of the coolant, and to
relieve excess pressure in order to maintain the
cooling systems’ design pressure.
Radiator hoses
The radiator hoses transport coolant to the
radiator, and from the radiator back to the
engine. Therefore, it is critically important
that the hoses be in perfect condition.
Water pump
The water pump can be thought of as the heart
of the cooling system, in the sense that the
pump circulates coolant throughout the entire
cooling system. Until comparatively recently,
all water pumps were driven by the engine via a
drive belt, but electrically operated water
pumps are becoming more common.
Coolant
If the water pump is the heart of the cooling
system, the engine coolant can be thought of as
the lifeblood of the system. Consisting of a
mixture of clean water and a specialised
additive that prevents the coolant from either
freezing or boiling, the coolant absorbs heat
from the engine as it circulates through the
engine. This heat is shed to the atmosphere when
the hot coolant passes through the radiator,
which is the principal mechanism that controls
the engines’ temperature.
It should be noted that all antifreeze/antiboiling additives have finite service lives, since the active ingredients become degraded over time. Therefore, the entire coolant mixture must be replaced at least once every two years, or according the vehicle’s prescribed maintenance schedule in order to extract the maximum benefit from these additives.
Thermostat
The function of the thermostat is to regulate
the circulation of the engine coolant, using the
coolant’s temperature as a trigger to
either open, or close. Depending if it’s
open or closed, the thermostat controls the time
the coolant spends in the radiator. For
instance, if it is stuck open the coolant will
circulate too fast, which can cause the engine
to overheat.
If the thermostat is stuck closed, the coolant cannot circulate at all, which can cause an engine to overheat fatally in a matter of seconds.
Antifreeze/antiboiling additive
The primary functions of this additive are to
raise the boiling point of the coolant to beyond
the boiling point of pure water at sea level,
and to lower the freezing point of pure water to
below the freezing point of pure water at sea
level, while inhibiting internal rust and
corrosion at the same time.
Each vehicle manufacturer requires that a specific formulation of additive be used in a specified concentration relative to clean water, since different additive formulations/concentrations yield different results in different applications.
Radiator fan
The purpose of the radiator fan is to draw air
through the radiator core to increase the rate
at which heat is exchanged between the coolant
and the atmosphere.
Fan switch/sensor
Electric radiator fans are activated by the
coolant temperature as measured by a dedicated
switch/sensor. In some cases, this switch has
two circuits, each of which activates a circuit
that causes the fan to run at a preset speed.
Both circuits must be fully functional for the
cooling system to function optimally.
Engine coolant sensor
The efficiency of many critical engine
management functions is predicated on the
assumption that the engine coolant is correct,
as measured by one or more engine coolant
temperature sensors. If one or more of these
sensors are defective, they supply the ECU
(Engine Control Unit) with incorrect,
implausible, erratic, or no input data at all,
which can cause engine overheating and poor fuel
economy as secondary effects of the coolant
temperature sensors not working properly.
Coolant level sensor
Some vehicles are equipped with a dedicated
sensor on the expansion tank whose function it
is to monitor the level of the coolant in the
system. While a failure of this sensor will not
cause the engine to overheat, or effect the
overall operation of the cooling system, warning
signals from this sensor should NEVER be
ignored, since it may be that the warning signal
is alerting the driver that a serious and
potentially catastrophic coolant loss has
occurred.
Every Repco Authorised Service centre is fully qualified to service your in-warranty car and maintain the log book servicing schedule. You’ll enjoy the value for money and friendly service you expect from a local and trusted independent service centre, combined with the reassurance of the nationwide warranty backing provided by Repco Authorised Service.