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There is something I don't understand. A radiator is not necessary for a car to work, specially in a freezing place. A radiator is needed to refrigerate the e

There is something I don't understand. A radiator is not necessary for a car to work, specially in a freezing place. A radiator is needed to refrigerate the engine. In a very cold place the engine is refrigerated just by natural convention. Probably you will have to stop and open the car hood from time to time. Without globes touching metal could be dangerous, but it is strange. Traveling to very cold places,what you notice is that globes are not accessories, they are vital elements.

s0rce 6y ago
That's an interesting point, I tried to search but I couldn't find any examples. Can you really run a watercooled engine without coolant or a radiator in arctic (-40 to -50C ambient temperatures?). Its not like an air cooled engine designed for natural convection. Seems like at the very least they could run the engine as long as possible until its about to overheat, then turn it off and it will very quickly return to operable temperatures in the very cold conditions. Certainly better than dying outside in Siberia!
- Shog9 6y ago
  One possible hitch: if you lose ALL your coolant, you might have a hard time monitoring your engine temperature, as the usual temp gauge monitors coolant temp. Might still be fine, but... By the time you know it ain't, could easily be too late.
- joehenriod 6y ago
  I blew an engine driving in sub zero temps when the radiator died. I only drove for about 10 minutes. Maybe this plan could work if you drove 2 minutes at a time and kept the hood up. But some of the components in the engine heat up pretty fast.
jessaustin 6y ago
A while back (probably last winter) I was driving a truck that needed a new thermostat, in what I thought was fairly cold weather. Reading TFA, I understand it wasn't really so cold. As long as the heater worked, I was fine. As soon as it started blowing cold air, I knew the thermostat had gotten stuck in the wrong position again. I figured out that I could simply slam on the brakes to solve this problem. In this fashion I was able to drive about 25 miles to a mechanic. The truck had a functioning radiator and appropriate coolant levels. The only thing wrong was the thermostat. Even in that configuration, the temperature gauge climbed into the "danger zone" if I neglected the brake-slamming trick.

s0rce 6y ago

That's an interesting point, I tried to search but I couldn't find any examples. Can you really run a watercooled engine without coolant or a radiator in arctic (-40 to -50C ambient temperatures?). Its not like an air cooled engine designed for natural convection. Seems like at the very least they could run the engine as long as possible until its about to overheat, then turn it off and it will very quickly return to operable temperatures in the very cold conditions. Certainly better than dying outside in Siberia!

Shog9 6y ago
One possible hitch: if you lose ALL your coolant, you might have a hard time monitoring your engine temperature, as the usual temp gauge monitors coolant temp. Might still be fine, but... By the time you know it ain't, could easily be too late.
joehenriod 6y ago
I blew an engine driving in sub zero temps when the radiator died. I only drove for about 10 minutes. Maybe this plan could work if you drove 2 minutes at a time and kept the hood up. But some of the components in the engine heat up pretty fast.

jessaustin 6y ago

A while back (probably last winter) I was driving a truck that needed a new thermostat, in what I thought was fairly cold weather. Reading TFA, I understand it wasn't really so cold. As long as the heater worked, I was fine. As soon as it started blowing cold air, I knew the thermostat had gotten stuck in the wrong position again. I figured out that I could simply slam on the brakes to solve this problem. In this fashion I was able to drive about 25 miles to a mechanic. The truck had a functioning radiator and appropriate coolant levels. The only thing wrong was the thermostat. Even in that configuration, the temperature gauge climbed into the "danger zone" if I neglected the brake-slamming trick.