[TR] Interesting cooling system web page

[fishplate at charter.net]

---- Nolan <foxtrapper at aceweb.com> wrote: 
 
> People do understand this, without realizing it often times.  They grasp it 
> on the air side.  They understand that faster moving air through the 
> radiator takes more heat than slow moving air.  They understand that's 
> primarily why cars overheat in stopped traffic.  They correctly don't worry 
> about driving too fast to allow cooling air to stay in the radiator long 
> enough.  But, those same people can get all confused when you replace the 
> word "air" with "water".

OK, I've not yet been motivated enough to drag out my thermo book and run the numbers, but let me throw some thoughts out here.

First, you must consider replacing the words "ambient air" with "recirculated water".  That's bound to change things.  Put your car in a box with a fan blowing across the radiator and you won't get the same cooling response that you would in free air.

How does the radiator know what is causing the air to move past it?  It overheats at idle because the fan isn't as effective at moving air as the car is.  Stop at the crest of a mountain, let your car idle until it overheats, then start rolling downhill.  Will it cool off then?  I dunno...

Jeff Scarbrough
Muddying The Waters, Ga.