By: Franklin R. West

The purpose of a car's cooling system is not only to remove excess heat. It is to keep the temperature of the car engine in tip top shape at that temperature to prevent excess damage and wear to your automotive engine and its components. Why chance excess wear and tear as well as expensive repairs to your motor vehicle? Whether it is SUV, car, truck or van?

Rust will fill and clog the passages of your radiator over time. Why chance expensive engine damage? Why take the chance of ruining an otherwise good vacation or trip due to little more than heat damage to your engine. Damage to your engine from excess heat is created over time. By simple routine radiator and cooling system maintained you can prevent much of these troubles, cares and concerns. Preventive maintenance is how airplanes are cared for. Why not treat your car or SUV in this same manner? It all comes down to a regular maintenance and inspections schedule.

Rust may clog the passage ways of your car or SUV's radiator. Hard water deposits a scale much like the mineral scales that clog your coffeemaker, humidifier or kettle at the lake cottage. These mineral scale deposits reduce heat transfer in your radiator. Simply put your radiator will not be able to cool your car engine. Your car or SUV will overheat. Your car engine, trip vacation at least your day will be inconvenienced and perhaps ruined. Even more if two different metals touch inside your radiator system them electrolytic corrosion can and will occur. Further trouble and radiator damage is possible.

If conditions are ideal or more than ideal for rust to form - rust is guaranteed to form and deposit in the waterways of your vital radiator. Rust makes up about 90% of all solids that can choke up the water flowing areas if your radiator including the water storage "water jacket" areas.

Scale is a deposit of the solids left by the evaporation of the water and radiator antifreeze. These scales that are formed and deposited in your radiator and cooling system are very similar to the scale that forms inside a teakettle or coffeemaker after the boiling of hard water. What the solids are composed of depends upon the nature of the water itself but they most commonly include calcium carbonate, calcium suphate and magnesium oxides.

Electrolytic corrosion can result from soldered seams in older style copper radiator, copper gaskets in contact with other metals, brazed joints in steel tubes and imperfect plaiting on steel or other metal parts. An electrolytic current is set up and the metal most active electro chemically slowly dissolves.

Radiator saboteurs can be averted by radiator cleaners and inhibitors used properly. You will prevent most of your troubles in you car or SUV's vital and expensive to repair cooling systems.

Fall and spring cleaning of a cooling system should always include - clearing out rust and scale with a chemical cleaner. It never hurts as well to have a competent auto repair shop conduct a thorough flush of your radiator. Basically your car's radiator is flushed "backwards" with a strong flow of coolant to remove heavily trapped sediment and that horrible scaling. Lastly and in addition during these cleaning and preventative maintenance procedures you should insist that a radiator rust inhibitor be added to your radiator coolant. A Radiator Rust Inhibitor is a blend of rust inhibitos, lubricants and biocides that restores rust - and oxidation-inhibiting properties to coolant promotion cooling system life. Furthermore, it provides lubricant to coolant that reduces and eliminates water pump noise.

After all why cause yourself needless aggravation and car maintenance costs by not applying maintenance and inspection schedule to yoru vehicle's cooling system. Your summer vacation and summer road trips will soon be here. Why not make your summer vacations road trips trouble free?

Article Source: thefreelibrary.com