what's heater core?

[aarion]

Hi, i would like to knw what's the diferrent between heater core and radiator. And where is a heater core situated in car? Is it same as the radiator. As far as i know, the car radiator is very big compare to those i see on the net.

Pls. help me. I need to built a w/c unit for myself. Thank you very much.

[cack01]

The only thing you really need to know, is that a heater core works just like a radiator but does not restrict water flow as much.

But since you asked, the heater core is usually in different spots depending on what car you have. What they are used for is not colling at all, actually its part of the car's heater system. When you turn the heater on, the flow of the water cooling the engine is directed into the core, and a fan then blows air though the core and the air comes out of the vents inside the cab of the car.

[aarion]

the thing is, my country all cars don't have a heater. My country is hot enough without a heater. So basically it is to heat up the car. Yes?

Thank you.

[bongo]

No,all cars use heatercores. They probably won't look like the type you see on american cars, but all cars must have a heatercore.

It is used primarily used to cool off the engine. Engineers thought up of an efficient way to use the hot air coming off the heatercore to heat the insides of a car. :D

[mjones73]

It is used primarily used to cool off the engine. Engineers thought up of an efficient way to use the hot air coming off the heatercore to heat the insides of a car.

No, The car's radiator is used to cool the engine. Engineers figured out that they could scavenge heat off the cooling system to warm the car using a heater core (which is just a small radiator) to heat the inside of the car.

The easiest way to locate a heater core in a car is to look for the smaller 1 inch or so cooling lines coming off the motor that attach to the firewall of the car. The 2 barbs sticking out of the firewall are the barbs coming off the heater core, it's usually behind some kind of recoverable cover.

[aarion]

i'm really sorry, call me stupid or something, i don't even know where is the firewall of the car. And that's the only place i don't know in the car.

So you are tell me that all cars have heater cores. Is it some where in between the dashboard and the engine compartment?
Thank you very much again for your help.

[mjones73]

The firewall is the wall behind the engine between the engine compartment and the dash.

[skou]

Not all cars have heaters. When I lived in Hawaii, I had a truck that had two plugs installed at the factory that blocked the holes for the heater hoses. The truck had no heater, fan or any inside air control unit. But in two years, I never needed a heater.

steve