COMPARISON OF LIQUID

AND AIR-COOLING SYSTEMS

ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES
Liquid-Cooling System
Advantages Disadvantages
Compact design of engines with appreciably smaller Dependent system in which water circulation in the
frontal area is possible. jackets is to be ensured by additional means.
Fuel consumption of high compression liquid-cooled Power absorbed by the pump for water circulation is
engines are rather lower than for air-cooled ones. considerable and this affects the power output to the
engine.
The cylinder head and valve seat temperature reduced In the event of failure to the cooling system serious
because of the even cooling of cylinder barrel and damage may be caused to the engine.
head due to jacketing.
Not necessarily installed at the front of vehicles. High cost
The size of the engine does not involve serious System requires considerable maintenance of its
problems as far as the design of cooling systems is various parts.
concerned. In case of air-cooled engines particularly in
high horsepower range difficulty is encountered in the
circulation or requisite quantity of air for cooling
purpose.
Air-Cooling System
Advantages
Simpler design compared to liquid-cooled system.
Low cost with minimum maintenance problems.
No danger of coolant leakage.
Engine is not subject to freezing troubles.
Weight is less than liquid-cooled engine.
It is a self-contained unit where no external
components required like radiator, tank etc
Easier to install
Disadvantages
Can be applied only to small & medium sized engines.
Ambient temperature is lower.
Cooling is not uniform.
Higher working temperature.
Produce more aerodynamic noise.
Specific fuel consumption is slightly higher.
Lower maximum allowable compression ratios.
The fan absorbs up to 5% of the engine power.
Conclusion
• Although gasoline engines have improved a lot, they are still not very
efficient at turning chemical energy into mechanical power. Most of
the energy in the gasoline (perhaps 70%) is converted into heat, and it
is the job of the cooling system to take care of that heat. In fact, the
cooling system on a car driving down the freeway dissipates enough
heat to heat two average-sized houses! The primary job of the cooling
system is to keep the engine from overheating by transferring this
heat to the air, but the cooling system also has several other
important jobs.