Sanity check - Which way does water flow in a radiator?

[Ian Macquarie]

I have just been talking to someone who asserted that:-

 

"hot water goes from the engine into the bottom of the radiator and then comes out of the top of the radiator cool and then back into the engine"

 

I expressed surprise to which he replied that most people get it wrong - Old systems without a pump went the other way (ie hot at top cool at bottom) but modern ones with a pump were as above.

 

Who's got it wrong him or me? (I'm sure my xflow system is hot at the top and cool at the bottom.)

 

Ian

[Pooh_R]

See

here

[I.Mupferit]

He has it wrong. The coolant enters the top of the rad, cools as it passes down the finned tubes and re-enters the engine at the bottom.

 

If he doubts this, just get him to put a hand on the top hose and the other on the bottom hose when the engine is running and warm. He will find it considerably cooler on the bottom hose - as it should be.

 

Brent

 

2.3 DURATEC SV Reassuringly Expensive

R 417.39 😬

[ianrm]

link doesn't work - [ /url] in there somewhere

[Ian Macquarie]

Pooh_R,

 

Thanks, struggled a bit with the URL.

That's how I thought it worked. He said the opposite.

 

The worrying part is that I'd phoned him up to ask technical questions about his oil/water heat exchange product - How much weight do you think I should give to anything else he told me?

 

Ian

[Ian Macquarie]

Thanks Brent,

 

I thought he was wrong - but as I initiated the contact to ask for his technical advice about oil cooling, I started to doubt myself.

 

Ian

[peterg]

correct link here

[oilyhands]

Brent is on the money.

 

Oily

[Graham Perry]

Another nice little animated diagram here

[SLR No.77]

For a K-Series:

 

If you stand on the exhaust side of the 7 looking at the engine, then make 2 horizontal rotating circles above the engine with your hands, LH clockwise, RH anti-clockwise, this shows the direction of flow in the relevant hoses. Nig Marston explained it this way some time ago and it's the easiest description to understand

 

Stu.

[thinfourth]

For a K-Series:

 

If you stand on the exhaust side of the 7 looking at the engine, then make 2 horizontal rotating circles above the engine with your hands, LH clockwise, RH anti-clockwise, this shows the direction of flow in the relevant hoses.

---

 

And makes bystanders believe you are a witch doctor for cars

 

The happy handle made me do it

[SLR No.77]

Good for warming ones hands at this time of year 😬

 

Stu.