Holes by the radiator

[holypaulie]

As you can see I have bellypan and everything is cover besides holes right by radiator. Should I close or leave those holes open by the radiator? What are they for?

[cfg83]

holypaulie -

Originally Posted by holypaulie

As you can see I have bellypan and everything is cover besides holes right by radiator. Should I close or leave those holes open by the radiator? What are they for?

I can't speak directly for your car, but my radiator has some kind of pressure-overflow-valve-thingy that dumps coolant if the radiator is overheating :



(BIG) IF your radiator has the same pressure-overflow thingy, I would engineer a cover that allows the coolant to splash out :



Does this make sense?

CarloSW2

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[aerohead]

My guess is that they were included for drainage,should frozen precip. get in there during winter snow,allowing for a way out when melted by heat of radiator.Obviously they "vent" pressure ahead of the radiator.Consider your potential driving environment,and whether or not a little drainage might be handy.

[gascort]

CarloSW2,
I don't think the drainage thing at the bottom is for high pressure; I believe it's the petcock for you to drain and flush the system. The high pressure release on your car I would bet to be off the radiator overflow tank - water overflows into it as it expands, and if the rad. boils over, water leaks from the overflow tank.
That said, the petcock is not a problem to cover up, if that's what it is. I never use it - much less risk of breaking something to just take off the lower rad. hose. I broke the petcock on a '73 corvette I was helping a family member with; I felt horrible!

[cfg83]

gascort -

Originally Posted by gascort

CarloSW2,
I don't think the drainage thing at the bottom is for high pressure; I believe it's the petcock for you to drain and flush the system. The high pressure release on your car I would bet to be off the radiator overflow tank - water overflows into it as it expands, and if the rad. boils over, water leaks from the overflow tank.
That said, the petcock is not a problem to cover up, if that's what it is. I never use it - much less risk of breaking something to just take off the lower rad. hose. I broke the petcock on a '73 corvette I was helping a family member with; I felt horrible!

Ok, that makes a lot more sense. Mine was leaking recently and my mechanic just tightened it up a little bit, so I misunderstood its use.

CarloSW2

[Bicycle Bob]

To me, those holes look like a way to lighten the part and make assembly easier. The most efficient arrangement is to have any air that gets in go through the radiator.

[instarx]

I'm with Bicycle Bob. Is that metal or plastic? Both cost money. They lightened the car and saved some raw material at the same time.

[Peter7307]

Originally Posted by Bicycle Bob

To me, those holes look like a way to lighten the part and make assembly easier. The most efficient arrangement is to have any air that gets in go through the radiator.

Exactly right.
Most car makers pay great attention to the way the car is built and by that I mean how long it takes to be sent down the production line.

The end result is some items making no sense whatsoever after the car is sold but a lot of sense when an individual items is being installed on a production line.

By the way there is a need for ambient temperatures air to be taken in for cooling things like the battery , power steering pump , alternator , ABS unit and so on.

This is one reason for the holes and other gaps left around the radiator normally to the sides and cut into the radiator support panel.

Saving weight and controlled structural deformation are other reasons.

Pete.

[lunarhighway]

i've thougt about the same wen building my undertray. theres a series of oval holes through the top and bottom of the radiator support beam... the top and bottom ones are not aligned, most likely for strength reasons. the way they look i'd say they're mainly for lighting the beam. the interesting bit is they give way to the area in front of the rad so one would assume they they decrease the pressure in front of the rad by allowing air out again, especially since they're directly behind the airdam so there should be a little lower pressure there . on my final undertray wich was also bigger i just closed them off.

the new tray did better then the original one so i left things as they are.

i've noticed cooling temps are a fraction lower with the tray in place, but i'm not sure if it's because the holes are closed off

heres a pic with the prototype tray with a cutout trough wich you can see the holes