Date:         Mon, 17 Jul 1995 15:24:01 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Erik Soule"  <erik@henries.nsc.com>
Subject:      Re: Sqirting water on an oil cooler et al

In message <Pine.SUN.3.91.950717144542.23645C-100000@user.centcon.com>  writes:
>   The only problem with sqirting water on any type of radiator is that it 
> short circuits the cooling process and actualy makes an engine retain 
> heat.  If you keep the radiator nice and cool the engine gets really hot!
> it's a short excersize in physics but if you think about it it makes a 
> lot of sense.  Hence squirting water on an oil cooler will kill your 
> engine twice as fast, on the heads doubly so!.  The reason your engine 
> stays cooler when it's rainy is that the humidity is very high and water 
> vapor carries heat away from the fins faster than air.  If you can find a 
> way to prevent evaporation from occuring on the fins when squirting the 
> water it may actualy help but I doubt it can be done easily.
> 
> Scott

Whoa, wait a minute, something doesn't seem right here. When it's hot out, like 
it was this weekend in the Bay Area, your body (which is really just a big-ass 
radiator) sweats like a pig. When the water evaporates it uses some of the heat 
from your body to do so, thus cooling you off. I think the same concept would 
apply to a VW oil cooler. Please explain how a nice cool radiator makes the 
motor hotter.

I'd like to hear this short exercise in, errr, fizzix....I'm not convinced.

-Erik, who used to call it "therm-blow-dynamics".


NSC Analog Automotive Systems  Tel. (408)721-3476  Fax (408)721-8292  M/S C2611