The Three Common Automotive Radiator Types - Their History And What You Need To Know About Each Kind

[@tractrfxr8999]

I worked at a Radiator shop for almost 10 years. The old man has passed away now, he was in his 80s. I learned so much from him, about heat exchangers. VT cores vs TB cores, and so on. The art of soldering was cleaning he said. I miss Jack.

[@johnkufeldt3564]

At least old man taught you well, cheers from Alberta.

[@royferntorp]

I worked on radiators most of my young life. BTW loading up the seams doesn't work. Cleaning and tinning does. I made my own cores, custom tanks, restoring ol honeycombs. All that suff. Thinking about starting a shop doing vintage and classic stuff.

[@GailUrge-vq6qn]

Once again, Dr. Coronet, you have given an overflow of information that radiates your reserve tank of knowledge.

[@outlawbillionairez9780]

Nice word play👍

[@mattdonna9677]

This lesson reminds me of Ft. Wayne, Indiana in the 1980s. You could find a radiator shop, a spring service shop, a carburetor shop, a speed shop, etc. The area was heavy in vehicle parts manufacturing.

[@glennnickerson8438]

If only we could go back in time...

[@Lobo-tommy10]

Don't forget Midwest electric,. Alternator and starters. Harold's carbs was great! I really miss Hires also. Hires was the real thing,.

[@stevestadnik9206]

Cars 1. Carburetor springs. They had all that stuff there, just no customers.

[@whatyoumakeofit6635]

Ya it was. Still is more there than most cities these days. Still not how it use to be though. Although, there are alot of hard-core racers living in and around ft. Wayne.

[@kellismith4329]

Now all we find is plastic knock off crap

[@rickrogers2649]

Being from your old stomping grounds (NY) this reminds me of a local radiator repair shop. (remember when they could be repaired?) Lal's Radiator Repair.....The best place to take a leak. Best slogan ever !!!

[@blackcoffeegarage]

One VERY significant thing to know about crossflow radiators, is that they are available in double and triple pass configurations (not bonary left-tank-to-right-tank top-to-bottom) and for race or very heavy duty applications, this can make a massive difference in cooling efficiency (especially with larger core tubes). But unless you're building a towing rig or a race car, standard crossflow will serve your needs.

[@ehguy3628]

Also, the fan shroud. Absolutely necessary to assist cooling.

[@aaronphelps6325]

Wow, I learn so much from this channel. Looks like I've been overfilling the radiator on my old truck for years. I'm the kind of person who needs to know the 'why' of things. Expansion chamber!

[@jefftuckercfii]

I know you're a Mopar guy, not a Ford guy, but I remember from the early 1960s that a lot of Fords had a radiator with essentially no tank at all. Or rather, the tank was separate from the radiator, mounted above the top front edge of the engine and the pressure cap was on this separate tank. Our family car, a 1960 Fairlane 500, 292 V8, had this setup. I remember it well because it was my first car when I got old enough to drive. The upper radiator hose ran between the tank and the top right corner of the radiator, and the tank itself had a pipe that bolted to the top of the engine. That is actually where the thermostat lived also, right at the bottom of that pipe where it bolted to the engine. These things were always breaking and leaking and you couldn't find replacements, so they were a patchwork of brazed spots where repairs were made to keep them working.

[@MrTheHillfolk]

8:45 yup i have used blue washer fluid as coolant after a blown hose roadside repair to get me home 😅

[@mikecollins8241]

Awesome, Ive been working on cars for decades and never understood this.. and I've sen some "odd" set ups, like old grain (heavy duty) trucks with a second tank on top of the radiator etc.. and I've always just looked in my radiator to check level, and maybe giving the overflow a quick glance, now I know to watch the overflow tank first/ more :)

[@fastinradfordable]

Over flow tanks ONLY work if the system is perfectly sealed. The slightest leak and it is no help

[@johntierno546]

Checking the coolant level in the recovery tank if it isn't part of the pressurized system only works on a sound system with no leaks. Any kind of leak and the system can't draw coolant back from the recovery tank, it draws air back in from the leak spot. So occasionally check the radiator itself for being full when it's cold.

[@stuckinmygarage6220]

Correct 👍

[@hawkuser604]

I could never understand the checking the coolant level in the recovery tank instead of just the radiator cap. I always thought the plastic recovery bottle was just for overflow so it did not make sense. I could never figure out why the overflow bottle was always low, but the radiator was full. Refilled the overflow tank and it would be empty in a week. Then I found a leak at the thermostat housing and fixed it and now the overflow stays full. (4.0 L ford). I guess I did not realize that it could pull coolant from the overflow tank to the radiator. I should have known that.

[@Carstuff111]

I learned something new. It never occurred to me that you need an expansion area/header tank be it directly on the radiator or remotely mounted. And thinking back to the cooling diagram of P-51 Mustangs I have geeked out over, their cooling systems suddenly make a whole lot more sense. As does their oiling system too and how they kept their oil from foaming. Also makes more sense when thinking of it from a steam point of view, just trying to avoid boiling instead of causing it.

[@billjamison2877]

Tony, I was a radiator repairman for 17 years. Great tutorial on the different types!

[@don66hotrod94]

Love that 66/67 B body styling. Can hardly wait to see what you do with it.

[@kevinmccarthy3379]

Thank you. As basic as it seems to you ,I never knew about expansion tanks and I now know that me not bothering with having a overflow bottle is probably part of a mystery problem I'm having with my vet

[@ohm1945]

An uncomplicated lesson. Much like what has kept our vehicles on the road for so long. Simplicity.

[@pokebass1]

One hiccup I noticed is when you stated that all cross flow radiators need an overflow. The early GM cross flow radiators, such as the one in my 1972 Impala, didn't use an overflow. They just had them filled to a certain level and let the expansion happen inside the tanks.

[@kuhndog-1196]

Man I have replaced countless radiators and never knew this stuff. Now I understand why my 73 dodge truck keeps the level right at the tubes no matter how much I fill it. Man all that wasted coolant lol.

[@thomasrounds3337]

That was actually informative. I've only chosen radiators based on how they fit and whether or not I needed fittings for transmission lines

[@markrahner2065]

I'm learning a lot about radiators and NY accents. I'd love to hear UT say "The purpose of a radiator is to radiate heat."

[@0004612]

Indeed. Raid versus Rad

[@jjohnny424]

Great video for those of us who love cars but, are not car guys. The basics are very interesting and good info to know.

[@hawkuser604]

Tony, as a follow up I would like to hear an explaination of the terms of 3 core, 4 core radiators as well as how the operate as a transmission cooler as well. I have a basic idea, but never had them clearly explained. Thanks

[@mrshaftshots]

Please more of these types of videos

[@randallfabian6640]

Very good informative session. Thanks UTG. I had forgotten about this from auto tech classes. I wonder if cross flow radiators are more prone to clogging in the tubes.

[@thewholls7176]

Good video uncle Tony, just on the water pumps and the examples you gave which are all correct. There is also of course the domestic application. If you go to the UK they used to have a coal fired boiler in the basement that heated water which was plumbed through the rooms into a room radiator. There was no pump other than the expansion and contraction of the water, which moved it self around……. And I think these days those systems are replaced with oil filled and electric boilers and here in Melbourne Australia you just have electric room radiators with solar panels on the roof……!!!! All the best keep up the good work with the channel. It’s about time we had a cameo appearance from uncle Crystal

[@karlbishop7481]

I worked in an aircraft radial engine rebuilding shop for awhile. The owner was also rebuilding a Curtis Robin in his off hours. This airplane used an OX5 V8 watercooled engine. He had to have a radiator made which was correct to the plane and identical to the original as a restoration. Since this plane was a lot less than a basket case he had no radiator to rebuild. If I remember correctly it was built in England. It was had honeycomb style cooling fins and also thermosyphon water circulation. The engine was a WWl powerplant for planes of the time. Another interesting feature was that it used only one pushrod for both the intake and exhaust exhaust valves. The boss called the valve actuation "monkey motion." I believe that the Hood River Aviation Museum has the engine now.

[@aprules2]

I never knew about the Pontiac that's pretty cool. So something else I learned you can't run a crossflow radiator with no overflow tank it actually diminishes the cooling capability for the radiator pretty dramatically. I went from my car running between 190 and 200 degrees in traffic with no overflow to running 180 ish all the time once I installed the overflow tank

[@alex_8025]

I know more than most of my friends and today i learned something. Ive got a resto project 70 roadrunner and a work truck 83 D150. I wouldve just filled the runner's rad to the brim but now i know to check if its a expansion style or not. Thanks UGT!

[@franklynpolster8949]

The lighting is beautiful Tony.

[@gsilva220]

My '09 peugeot 206 has a vertical flow capless radiator and a pressurized expansion bottle, while the fiat mille that was produced until 2013 here in brazil has a horizontal flow radiator with a capped expansion chamber to one of the sides. More important than flow direction is the working principle of a radiator, that's either capped with expansion chamber, capped with unpressurized overflow bottle or capless with pressurized expansion bottle.

[@hotflashfoto]

Something I was "taught" about the advantage/disadvantage of a CF rad vs a DF rad: When the coolant is lower than the top of the tubes, let's say 80% filled, in the DF, when the coolant flows in from the hose, it may not reach all the way across to the other tubes, and most of it will flow into the closest tubes, which will put more of the work load on those tubes, reducing its efficiency. With a CF at the same fill level, only those top 20% of tubes will not see coolant, but all the rest of them will have an equal share of the remaining 80% of the fluid. I have not seen any actual testing of this and I think it would be really good to know how accurate this is. I forget who "taught" me this, but it seemed to make sense back then and I've carried it with me all these years. Now seems like a good time to question it. What do you think about this?

[@agostinodibella9939]

Great video Uncle Tony. It’s been a while since I had a 1971 Scamp with the top tank radiator and no expansion tank. I can’t remember how far I filled the radiator with coolant. I guess I made sure the level was below the top a couple of inches.

[@DanEBoyd]

I never knew about the differences in top-flow radiator designs, specifically the smaller expansion tank and recovery reservoir - and not to forget the recovery-style radiator cap...

[@sam49921]

Great timing I just sat down on the toilet ❤

[@jeanfouche6899]

Dear Uncle Tony. Thank you for the very informative video! Would consider having a talk on brass versus aluminum radiators?

[@TAVOAu]

Yeah, my Valiants have the original upright, big tank brass ones. The manual actually states it's still a thermo-syphon system, "pump assisted", I know, semantics 🤣 The Neon is a strange critter, it has the 'filler' cap up by the thermostat housing, not at the radiator itself.

[@jaredlancaster4137]

Doesn't matter where the cap is as long as it's the highest point of the cooling system.

[@mairelisegraham4750]

You must be psychic ~ last weekend i got interested in learning about my 1975 radiator! Thank you so much. Buick LeSabre convertible btw :)

[@jaredlancaster4137]

A couple small corrections- Cars did not consistently have vertical tube core style radiators from the beginning. Most very early radiators were a "finned tube" radiator that was pretty much just a copper pipe with round flanges or fins soldered onto it. Many power steering coolers are still this style, as well as heat exchangets inside fridges. Another common style of very early radiator, especialky higher performance cars, was the honeycomb radiator. The other thing was about crossflow radiators and overflow tanks. You can absolutely run a crossflow radiator without an overflow tank, you just dont fill it all the way up, like you would with a vertical flow radiator. The difference is not all the tubes will have coolant going through them. A crossflow radiator without an overflow tank is very common on older heavy trucks.

[@opalerista]

Very good info, thanks UT!

[@felixlafuente9714]

Thank you! I REALLY missed this kind of topics. If i can tell something, I would love you build a slightly "touched" engine for daily use for the white jeep. Maybe only improved head and intake, headers, roller rocker arms... Stock cam, as the rpm range will be the same.

[@fastinradfordable]

I think with no camshaft the rpm range is not going to be good

[@felixlafuente9714]

😂 Sorry, thank you

[@mrkultra1655]

Thanks Tony. Now I know why the top tank on the radiator of my ‘67 CJ-5 is about the size of two loaves of bread end to end, and why they only used a six pound cap.

[@isfahelww]

I didn't know any of this. Thank you.

[@111000100101001]

Excellent lesson on radiators, thank you for sharing and teaching!

[@joemazzola7387]

Cool I learned something today Now I know why g m radiators have the pressure cap on the side Chrysler in the center The worst radiator was on my 95 Ford Taurus Made of plastic counting the factory one I replaced 2 more for a total of 3

[@crazycoffee]

Not knowing too much due to being 23, I love these videos UTG. I didn't know the first vehicle with a cross flow radiator was a Pontiac. I looked it up and man that honeycomb shaped radiator is weird.

[@EarlwithanE]

UT dropping more dimes of automotive knowledge and history. 👍💪😎

[@Kryten4000]

Drink a shot of your favourite adult beverage every time Tony mispronounces radiator.

[@funone8716]

Thinking same thing

[@reriley2002]

Great info. U.T. ! I’ve been around this stuff my whole life and I never really knew the difference (which is kind of embarrassing).

[@timrayburn2461]

Another good one Tony

[@MrDibbons]

I thought the expansion tanks permitted more rust because air was trapped inside all the time? Uncle Tony did not mention what the bluish-green stains are that we find on the radiator fins sometimes on older installed radiators?

[@williampetsch1244]

Thanks Tony, really appreciated the explanation 👌

[@waterbourne9282]

A friend had a Toyota 3 litre diesel. He used to check his coolant level at the remote expansion tank- all ok. One day the thing cooked. It turned out that the radiator had a faulty cap, and the radiator a leak, so the coolant in the engine drained to the point that it cooked but he had no warning. Needless to say he now checks the real coolant level at the radiator by removing the cap, as do I now.

[@OKICUR12]

The old brass non expansion were not pressurized, but today's aluminum with plastic side tank type have an expansion chamber and run pressurized often regulating above boiling for better fuel efficiency.

[@clembob8004]

Good info! I sort of knew about the different radiator types, but never really gave much thought to the expansion tank on the older radiators vs. the newer radiators with overflow tanks. This is helpful to me because I had to replace the old radiator in my 56 Dodge pickup, and because it has a split hood that opens on each side, I needed a radiator with a cap on the side (vs. the center). So, I put in an aftermarket crossflow aluminum radiator but I didn't add an overflow tank. Interestingly, I haven't really had any overheating issues, but it has pushed out a little coolant a time or two. But, it's nothing an overflow tank won't fix. I found a nice slim round stainless steel unit for about $25 that should do nicely, although I'm sure there are cheaper ways to go.

[@guyjordan8201]

I knew things changed but now I know some details. Cool beans.

[@jeffsr8300]

All information is good information. Thanks

[@WhitentonMike]

Interesting topic. The crossflow also makes it possible to have a 3 pass design but I think that idea of having the fluid pass back and forth was debunked. There was a baffel 1/3rd of the way down the inlet tank and another baffel 2/3rds of the way down the outlet tank. My understanding is the whether the fluid passes through 1 pass or 3 passes doesn't change the amount of heat that can be extracted overall. Anyway, the other difference is the pressurized vs nonpressurized overflow bottle. The pressurized bottles are a sphere with a thredded cap. I'm not entirely sure why there is a difference but it seems the pressurized ones are not subject to coolant evaporation.

[@elmarko9051]

Multi-pass is unnecessary as long as your Reynolds number indicates turbulent flow.

[@turnipsucks6416]

Didn't know any of this. Great lesson Sensei.

[@glennnickerson8438]

With UT on You Tube how can you not come out on top! 😉

[@shawnadrian5529]

Thanks for the information Tony! Loved it.

[@MotoDeSoto]

Good video. Very informative.

[@JETZcorp]

One thing you see a lot on modern cars is the pressurized overflow tank. This can make the coolant a PITA to check and fill, and if the plastic tank cracks, it can take the whole motor with it. Why would anyone do that? Well, my 2011 Miata is that way, and there's a very good reason. The radiator is ridiculously low in the car! It's mounted on a diagonal, and the top of the rad is kneecap height at best. Most of the engine is above that. In order to keep the top of the engine supplied with pressurized coolant, you need the level to be under pressure, and the level only exists in one spot - the overflow tank. What do you do about the cracking issue? Moroso makes an aluminum tank that lasts forever. Or, for the same price, you pull a whole running motor out of a Ford Fusion and 3-pointer it into the car over the weekend.

[@brunojuarez8140]

I've heard of different types of tanks like recovery, overflow, and degas. Maybe do a video on the different types?

[@felisconcolor1112]

Oh yeah, this tangent might well be useful regarding automotive cooling systems, so I'll put it up here. If you're in heavy traffic, or moving slowly, and you happen to see the temperature gauge begin to climb, turn on your interior fan; set it to heat; crank it to high. It won't be pleasant, but it can often give you enough emergency cooling to get to the side of the road - or home to the garage, if you're adventurous enough. And from my own experience w/one of my 1st cars - a '72 Valiant with /6 - sometimes a boilover condition can be forestalled by removing the pressure cap. My financial woes at the time precluded picking up any parts for a couple of weeks, and using the unpressurized method kept the old blue sedan chugging along with aplomb.

[@thebigsuperbeatle]

thanks Tone!

[@EYE_SPIDER]

Great info, I didn't know that!

[@CARLSFAB2016]

I’m taking heat transfer next semester so I’ll probably know better then, but my thermodynamics professor mentioned at some point during the course that crossflow through a heat exchanger results in a higher heat transfer rate. But that was also passing the cold side in the opposite flow direction to the hot side. In this case it would be perpendicular so I’m not sure but I think crossflow is probably supposed to be able to dissipate heat faster. Then again air is really bad at conducting heat so that could also be why it would be hard to tell if you actually get any benefit.

[@hunnybunnysheavymetalmusic6542]

My 74 Ford 350 super duty has a 5 row radiator. It holds 7.4 gallons of coolant. The nearest I've had to that was a 76 Cadillac with a 500 and it had 4 rows and held 5.2 gallons. Everything else I ever owned held less than 4 rows, and less than 4 gallons.

[@WiSeNhEiMeR-1369]

thanks Coop ...

[@Grumpy-sy7wr]

Where do I find this thing? Been searching all over my Type 3 Vee Dub for hours.

[@oldsjetfire8975]

Oldsmobile's first cross flow was 1962 in the Jetfire model. They only done it do make use of all the available space to fit as much radiator as they could under the hood. That turbo model needed all the cooling they could get. It is even a 4 core.

[@BigT27295]

Love how you say radiator..

[@stevemellin5806]

Thank you great lesson

[@troybockhop1351]

In our race cars back in the 90s we would slice and solder in a dam 1/3 of the way down below the return and 1/3 of the way above the suction causing the coolant to flow in a “S” pattern through the radiator increasing the thermal transfer efficiency. Not sure why this was never adopted in production. Must be a reason.

[@genericname6122]

Could you do a video on models of IC engine vehicles that are easily serviceable?

[@dongeorge4037]

Dang Unk. You've just explained that something I have thought for probably 60 years is wrong.

[@nagyandras8857]

Aye , some tractors still use radiators without expansion tanks. In the 1990's instead of antifreeze we used.. engine oil in the Winter. Had to take off the belt driving the pump. Start it up , let it warm up , stop.. reinstall belt .. away you go. Otherwise it be too thick and strain everything.

[@Psychedelicbananas]

Also to note, overflow tanks are either pressurized (most german cars) or non-pressurized (most japanese/american cars)

[@johnkufeldt3564]

What about the rads that are double crossflow? It flows hot, and then cooler at the bottom. Seems you could make it low and wide to another tank and then flows to the split tank and back to the engine.

[@JJ_-yc9zy]

Thank you for the info!

[@Fleetwoodjohn]

I would say a cross flow has more tendency to collect debris on the tubes and plug the lower ones cutting efficiency. No good way to flush that out. A vertical might collect its debris in the lower tank being easier to flush out. Just thinking out loud

[@cheatingiscompeting3647]

Always full of knowledge. UT you're a walking Wikipedia book on cars.

[@milldog1969]

Can u go into details about brass or aluminum and the tube sizes. Also, electric fans used with brass with 4 cores vs 2 core aluminums etcc? Im seeing alot of electric fans used and not sure how great they are with old school rads.

[@MattMcFazden]

I have to add that not all cross flow radiators have overflow bottles. Ford used cross flow radiators without overflows in their 70s mid sized cars.

[@sayrerowan734]

I learned something today.

[@benjamintresham9649]

Can you please tell people about the full pressure and partial pressure systems found on Chrysler cooling systems. The XJ jeep you have are factory partial pressure cooling system

[@davidchristensen2970]

That was a good one.

[@angeloflife6263]

I would like to buy your 64 dart I think they were so practical and easy to maintain, I can do points plugs, brakes, oil, ect, I don't know the condition of this car at some point show or explain what's up with it .

[@mannye7346]

HA!!! I remember as a kid, I was always puzzled as to why I couldn't keep more fluid in the radiator of my 1971. I always thought there was a huge issue that the fluid always dropped. Expansion tank was built into the radiator. 🤦‍♂

[@timbarry5080]

Did any of the 225s come with the chrome valve covers?

[@nickbruni8041]

Just in time 👊🏼

[@ericjswindle]

Trivia: full size dodge vans used vertical flow radiators up into the early 2000’s.

[@JamesParus]

I learned that my 2001 case tractor has that first style radiator. And i have probably overfilled it

[@DJTruth_1970]

3 types of radiators… Brand new Old Leaky

[@blueyhis.zarsoff1147]

Looking at modern race cars also teaches lots about cooling especially US V8's

[@mickrambo6787]

I don't tend to use an overflow on any radiator unless I am just looking to prevent drips on a track. The hotter the car gets the more it is going to push out. The liquid in the overflow is not assisting in the cooling. Having one does give you a longer period of time in a high stress situation as any liquid that is expelled is heat energy that is no longer in the system. You then have less liquid to do the cooling and will begin overheating faster expelling even more liquid and continuing the cycle. An overflow can be nice for drag cars or rock crawlers who may see just short bursts of high demand and then a cooldown period. It can also be helpful if your car has a lame rad fan and just needs that extra time to idle at a light. I do live in a very rust free area with virtually 0 freezing days allowing me to run a much high water percentage for better cooling so my experience may differ. The very small amount of coolant I do use for corrosive protection is pg based so that any drips I may have don't kill someone's thirsty dog heh.

[@jamesblair9614]

I wouldn’t rely on a visual check of the level in the overflow tank to confirm adequate level in the radiator, that only works in a perfect world, not the one I live in. Look in the radiator too.

[@richardmoerke9329]

Was sad on this one. Was trying to find out what is more important? Size or volume? I know both go hand in hand but witch one is more important than the other?

[@sccarguy8242]

Doesn’t cross flow radiators flow water back and forth ?? IE from left right a few times before putting it back in the motor, while a horizontal radiator can only do one pass from top to bottom.

[@tomchristianson]

Back when I was younger them I am know, 1968 c-10 6 cyl, I was always filling it up to the top yet it always only seemed to go so low, after speaking to a mechanic who explained the workings of the coolant system, problem solved it was just happy being approximately 2 " below the cap...

[@ScarlettFire341]

Thx - here in Taxachusetts we all say RAIDiator (which must be wrong) whereas you all say RADiator which is how it's spelled