Keeping Your Engine Cool

Modern car engines, aside from electric cars, are what is typically referred to as

combustion engines. This means that they use a complex system of combustion to

operate. Fairly simple stuff, actually. The fuel is pumped into the combustion chamber

of the engine block, where the spark plug ignites it, causing a miniaturized explosion.

This explosion forces the pistons to pump, which generates the power that runs your

car. When you ‘give it gas,’ you’re pumping more into the engine, causing larger

explosions. This is generally rougher on the car engine and that’s why it’s

recommended to accelerate at an even pace instead of simply putting your foot all the

way down to the floor and ‘stepping on it’. The pistons get overworked and can easily

suffer from that.

The Parts of the Engine

There is more to the engine than just a piston chamber that blows up over and over

again. Anyone who has opened the hood of their car and looked at all the complex and

confusing bits that litter that compartment can answer that question easily enough. But

what is in there and why is it needed? Well aside from the engine, there are a bunch of

systems in place to keep the engine running as smooth as possible, and then in some

cases, systems to keep these systems running. It sounds even more complicated put

like this, but it’s all designed to be as autonomous and straightforward as possible

with as little effort on your part as there needs to be, so you don’t need to understand

it all.

The Oil

Some parts of the engine do need to be taken care of. Checking the oil levels, for

example, is something that should be done very regularly. Using the dipstick that is

typically provided one can easily see if it’s time to change their oil or fill it back up.

The oil provides the engine with lubrication, which is vital to making sure it continues

to work smoothly. Without lubrication, friction will cause the engine to eventually

break, and even before that it would require more fuel to get the pistons pumping, the

resistance caused by the friction will cause a huge decline in fuel efficiency. This is why

the oil is an important part of the engine block and should be maintained.

The Radiator

Combustion engines use a lot of force, and this force is generated by fire, as the name

would imply. With fire comes a lot of heat, and with heat things can be very damaged.

This is where the radiator and coolant comes into play. Coolant is typically a water-

based chemical that is pumped through hoses in the engine where it rapidly heats up,

absorbing heat and spreading coolness. It is then pumped through the radiator, which

fans the coolant and passes the heat off to the atmosphere, causing the coolant to

become cool once more. After that it’s passed through the engine again, and so forth

until it becomes dirty and needs to be replaced, or enough evaporates that you need to

fill the coolant up again to keep it working smoothly.