What happens if a car's radiator runs out of water?
2 Answers
Continuing to operate a car with an empty radiator can lead to engine failure. Here is relevant information about the car radiator: 1. The car radiator, also known as the heat exchanger, is a key component in the automotive cooling system and part of the car engine; 2. Its function is to dissipate heat - coolant absorbs heat in the water jacket, flows to the radiator to release heat, then returns to the water jacket to complete the temperature regulation cycle; 3. The car radiator mainly consists of core tubes, water pipes, cooling fins, upper tank and lower tank. The radiator is connected via pipes between the upper tank and lower tank, where hot water cools down as it flows downward. The cooling fins form air passages where, through fan suction and the vehicle's forward motion, large amounts of cold air absorb heat from the coolant flowing through the pipes and then dissipate it into the atmosphere.
Last time when my car was running low on coolant, the temperature gauge first shot up to the red line, followed immediately by the flashing coolant temperature warning light on the dashboard. After driving less than two kilometers, white smoke started coming out from under the hood, the accelerator pedal felt completely limp with no power, and I smelled burning plastic. I quickly pulled over and popped the hood to find the radiator bone dry. The mechanic said if I had driven another ten minutes like that, the engine might have seized completely, requiring a whole new powertrain replacement costing tens of thousands. So now every month I unscrew the radiator cap to make sure the coolant level stays between the MAX and MIN marks.
