Does not heat up. Is there a way of opening the radiator?

The cooling system in necessary to deal with waste heat produced by the internal combustion engine. Each size and type of engine and vehicle will have a unique set of parameters. Of course there is a rather small amount of radiant heat from the external components of the engine and also from the exhaust system. The most common cooling system is liquid to air. The coolant, which is moved about internally by a centrifugal pump in the engine, absorbs heat up to a predetermined point and then is able to transfer the heat out to the atmosphere via the heat exchanger. Coolant is commonly water based. Certain additives are used to both increase density and prevent galvanic action (corrosion). The thermostat is a variable orifice used to restrict the coolant flow into the heat exchanger (radiator) until a pre-set temperature is reached. At that time the thermostat starts to crack open to allow some coolant into the radiator for heat removal. If not enough heat is removed the thermostat opens wider allowing ever more heat removal at the radiator until the thermostat is wide open. This is the point where the radiator must be correctly sized to be able to dispose of all excess heat. Usually a fan is used to force air through the radiator which increases the amount of heat removed.

Yes, the thermostat. I don't know exactly where yours is - but the thermostat is usually on the engine near a radiator hose. When cool, it stays closed to heat the coolant in the engine block and keeping hot coolant in the radiator to be cooled. Once the engine has heated the coolant to 185 ~ 200 degrees, the thermostat opens and allows the hot coolant from the engine to enter the radiator - which forces the colder coolant out and into the engine block - to keep it from over heating.

Your thermostat may be stuck - keeping it from opening / opening fully. You can test it be removing it and dropping it into a pot of boiling water on your stove - it should open in water that hot.

Do not work on the thermostat, radiator or coolant while the engine is hot. Opening the cooling system may result in spilling coolant and making a mess if you are unprepared for it.

thermostat is sticking open

Hello! Thermostat should be a 190 degree...you may have an air blockage...Remove radiator cap start engine and leave cap of until all air bubbles are out (even after thermostat opens)...Cap and test for heat...if there isn't any heat...When that thermostat opens and hot water flows through the upper hose of the radiator that hose will be hot and hard..If you feel the heater hose only one will be hot which means that nice hot water is not passing through the heater core...That could be due to blockage or the control in the car isn't opening the valve on the core...check to see if the heat control is opening the valve...If it is, I would suggest that you purchase a back flushing kit ($10) A plastic tee fits into the inlet heater hose and a garden hose is then connected to the tee...Drain the radiator, remove the thermostat, and turn on the water...do this with heat control on high...The system will back flush out of the top of the radiator and hopefully clean the blockage...Reassemble ...Cap off the tee (cap is in kit)...Install thermostat (190) Is a better choice...Refill radiator...Start engine and leave the radiator cap off until all the air bubbles out............At that point you should have heat...Guru...Saailer

I’m happy to help further over the phone at https://www.6ya.com/expert/david_6df67de3b14de867

When the engine is cold, open the radiator cap and fill with coolant/water mix to top.
Run the engine with your heat on high fan, high heat, wait for the engine to cool again and fill the radiator again. You must get to the point where when you open the radiator cap when it is cold that the radiator is full to the top.
Gary

The problem is that more heat is entering the water than is being extracted by the radiator.

But there can be a lot of causes for that. If you have a head gasket leak, it can introduce hot gasses into the water, increasing the heat load while raising the pressure in the cooling system. That in turn can push water out of the cooling system, and into the recovery reservoir, where it can't help with the cooling of the engine.

If the fins of the radiator are blocked or folded over, that part of the radiator will not contribute much to the cooling.

If the internal water passages of the radiator are blocked, the area of the radiator is effectively reduced.

A worn out bottom radiator hose can collapse from the suction of the water pump, blocking the water flow.

If the fuel mixture is too lean (not enough fuel in the given volume of air) the engine will generate quite a bit more heat, possibly overwhelming the system.

When the engine is cold, the thermostat (a valve in the hose where water exits the engine to go to the radiator) is closed. This prevents water from going to the radiator, and that in turn prevents water coming from the radiator to the engine.

Water instead leaves the engine through the heater hose near the upper radiator hose, and circulates right back to the inlet of the water pump. So the water circulated through the engine, but it has no way to shed any heat it picks up. This speeds up the warm-up process.

The water circulating this way passes by the back of the thermostat, causing the thermostat to warm up along with the water.

When the thermostat reaches its opening temperature, it starts to open, allowing some water to go out of the upper hose to the radiator, and therefore some water from the radiator to enter the engine.

Right away, the water in the engine falls below the opening temperature of the thermostat and it closes.

The newly cooled water gets warmed by the engine, raising it to the opening temperature of the thermostat, and the whole process begins again. But this time, the water coming from the radiator is just a little warmer.

Eventually, the thermostat will stay at a partially opened position where the cooling by the radiator just matches the necessary heat loss through the radiator.

If there is not enough water, the surface area of the radiator is effectively less.
If the radiator is blocked, or the fan is not working properly, the surface area of the radiator is effectively less.

If the thermostat doesn't open properly, the radiator is not sufficiently utilized.

If too much heat is generated by the engine, it can over heat (heavy load at low speed will make a lot of heat without spinning the water pump fast enough, for instance).

These are a few preliminary tests to see what's going on. With a stone cold engine, start it and let it idle. The heater hose leaving the thermostat area should begin to heat up but not the upper radiator hose.

Once the heater hose starts to become uncomfortably hot, the upper radiator hose should start to warm up, slowly at first.

If the heater hose does not heat up, there might be insufficient flow throw that part of the system.

There is a quick check a shop can perform to see if you have exhaust in the water. There is a syringe they can use to draw the vapor in the radiator through a sensing liquid. If it changes color, you have a head gasket leak.

The radiator cap only need to be replaced if it is letting the coolant move into the reservoir improperly. If you coolant level remains fine, that is probably not a problem.

radiator full? Thermistat stuck open. extremely cold and too much air flow on radiator.?Does it over heat at all? Back flush heater core and radiator and replace fluids, block off part of radiator in extreme cold areas. Check controls to be sure they are opening and closing correctly

balance the rads.
upstair radiators turn all valves off,heat will then divert downstairs,open valves upstairs 4 turns on locksheilds and number 4 on trvs if u have any.
then if that does not work get a combi or powerflush.
if u cant afford then drain a little from rads,get x300 sludge remover from plumb shop and put in header tank(not hot water tank).
then fill system up and repeat balancing.

www.jollygreenplumbingmachine.co.uk

It is a small valve, looks like a wing nut located on the lower back side of your radiator. DO NOT OPEN WHILE HOT!!!!

Your thermostat is probably stuck open causing the engine to run cool. One way to check it is to open your radiator when it is cold. Start the vehicle and see if the water is rushing around inside the radiator. If it is you know the thermostat is open. Replace that and you should have plenty of heat.