Understanding the Parts of Your Radiator

It's easy to view vehicle radiators are throw-away components. Once a radiator begins to fail, it often seems like the best option is to toss it in the trash and install a new one. While this approach makes a certain amount of sense for many modern mass-market vehicles, it isn't your only option. For custom vehicles or heavy-duty commercial equipment, repair may be a more cost-effective approach.

To see why repairing your radiator may be an option worth considering, it's critical to understand that vehicle radiators are not monolithic components. Instead, most radiators include several discrete parts that can fail independently, leaving the rest of the radiator salvageable. Although radiator designs vary, this article will outline four typical radiator components and the problems they may suffer.

1. Radiator Core Tubes

Your radiator's core is the part that allows it to fulfill its purpose: providing your coolant with a way to shed its heat into the environment. The radiator core consists of tubes and fins. The coolant tubes run inside the core, while the fins are on the outside. Depending on your radiator's design, the coolant tubes may use either a brass-copper construction or aluminum.

Failures in your radiator plumbing usually result from internal corrosion, external punctures, or wear and clog caused by particulates in the coolant. If necessary (and if the damage isn't too severe), you can repair leaks in the radiator tubes rather than replacing them. While it's usually possible to soldier copper-brass radiators, aluminum radiators require more specialized repair techniques.

2. Cooling Fins

The plumbing isn't the only part of your radiator's core that can go south. While a single leak is enough to be a catastrophic cooling problem, there's a bit more flexibility when it comes to the fins. These metal pieces provide extra surface area for your coolant to release its heat. Any damage to your fins will reduce your radiator's cooling efficiency, but a few bent fins are rarely a significant concern.

If a large number of fins are bent or otherwise damaged, then you may need to consider a repair. Fixing fins is more straightforward (although sometimes more time consuming) than repairing damage to the internal plumbing. Professional radiator shops will have several methods and tools at their disposal to restore bent or broken radiator fins.

3. Plastic Header Tanks

If you drive a newer vehicle, your radiator likely has many integrated plastic components, including the tank. Manufacturers affix these components permanently to the metal core, making them challenging for most do-it-yourselfers to replace on their own. Unfortunately, plastic can often crack due to many heating and cooling cycles, leading to coolant leaks.

Repairing a radiator with a plastic tank crack generally requires heat fusion techniques to repair the damage permanently. These methods create a weld that should be at least as strong as the original plastic. If additional durability is required, it may also be possible to remove the plastic components and replace them with custom metal alternatives.

4. Inlet and Outlet Plumbing

The coolant inlet and outlet pipes are two more components commonly manufactured from plastic on newer vehicles. Although modern composite plastics are durable and resistant to heat, these pipes can suffer from the same issues as plastic header tanks. Over time, the plastic can become brittle and crack, leading to leaks. The high temperatures at the inlet make it a more likely source of failure.

The solution for faulty inlets is similar to the solution for cracked plastic header tanks. If the damage isn't too severe, then it may be possible to use heat fusion welding to fix the leak and restore the plastic part. If not, you'll need a shop to disassemble your radiator and replace the plumbing.

Repairing an old radiator may not always be cost-effective, but it may be the best (or only) option on some vehicles. Kell Radiator Service has the knowledge and experience to repair or replace any radiator. If your vehicle is suffering from cooling system problems, give us a call today to get your engine running cool and efficiently again.