Are you trying to figure out a little more about car radiators but are continually left scratching your head and wondering "what the heck is that?" Well, we've created a cooling system glossary to help you out.

Radiator Terms:

• Belt: Your cooling system uses an engine belt to drive the blower fan. Some cars have an additional electric motor to force air over the radiator cores.
• Blower/Blower Motor: the fan assembly that pushes air across the cooling cores of your radiator.
• Coolant: The standard mix of anti-freeze and water used for cooling automobile engines.
• Coolant Overflow Tank: When your car gets hot, the coolant expands and partially fills the coolant overflow tank. This is normal.
• Fan: See Blower.
• Heater Core: The opposite of the radiator's cooling core. It uses hot coolant coming from the engine to heat air for your car's heater.
• Hoses: All radiators use several hoses to pass the coolant to and from the engine. They are affixed to the radiator and engine with hose clamps.
• Oil Cooler: A secondary cooling system used in cars with automatic transmissions. It cools the oil from the automatic transmission.
• Radiator: The grid of specially shaped metal tubes behind the grill of your car. Hot coolant passes through these cores and is cooled by the air passing over them. This is the principal method of cooling an internal combustion engine.
• Radiator Cap: The pressure sensitive cap on the top of your radiator. It increases the pressure in your cooling system, allowing more efficient cooling. It is also designed to expel excess pressure caused from the coolant becoming too hot or boiling. This prevents damage to the cooling system.
• Thermostat: This regulates the flow of coolant through the engine. It only opens when the engine gets hot enough, allowing your engine to heat up quickly (good in the winter!).
• Transmission Oil Cooler: See Oil Cooler.
• Water Pump: This pump forces the coolant through the cooling system.