Cooling Systems: New Demands From An Old System

Cooling systems are not quite what they used to be.

Like many components of the vehicles you repair and drive daily, the cooling system operates on essentially the same principles, and serves the same purpose, as it did in the early days of the combustion engine.

Granted, computerized components have made the engine’s cooling system supposedly more efficient and certainly more complex, but in terms of the ultimate goal–providing temperature relief to overheating engine parts–the song remains the same.

What has changed, and changed dramatically, is the manner in which jobbers are providing the necessary parts to their clients, along with the frequency and urgency with which those clients are requesting them. Jobbers from across the country report the emergence of several key issues when it comes to the coolant system, relating not only to the complexities of coolant chemistry, but also some fundamental business realities.

Frank Petit, president of Bloor Autorite Garage in Toronto, Ont., says that the brave new world of engine coolant systems and their avoidable yet predictable failures have a few different faces. Petit laments the construction of modern parts like radiators and their components.

“These days, everything is made from aluminum,” he says. “So when a radiator fan breaks, it can’t even be repaired; it has to be replaced.”

Now, aluminum parts in cooling systems can seem reasonably normal or even appropriate, but when Petit goes on to explain with pride the intricacies of his ’49 Buick, with its original copper components all in perfectly working condition, the first major issue in the new cooling game becomes quite clear. It’s obvious how far we have slipped down the slopes of our throwaway culture.

Petit highlights the shift in the role of both the parts manufacturer and the installer. Whereas previously, many components were dealt with under the repair category, those very same jobs are now decidedly in the replace column. This presents unique challenges for both supplier and consumer. The first major issue jobbers need to learn to handle is the apparent shift from “fix it” to “toss it”.

Is that a tough transition?

Jim McCullough, owner of the Bumper to Bumper store in Strathmore, Alta., while downplaying the challenges–” I don’t think we have any more problems than we did 10 years ago”–agrees with some of the implications. “Most everything they build now is throwaway,” he says. “So that does affect how we carry our inventory. Your dollars are definitely higher, but we’ve managed.”

Although upbeat, McCullough says one topic can’t be ignored in discussing cooling system components: inventory. The term parts proliferation has been scattered throughout the pages of Jobber News for many years now, and it is a trend that is not only continuing, but also growing.

David Wade, manager of APM Limited in Fredericton, N.B., says the change has been quite dramatic. “We have definitely had to shift our inventory, that’s for sure,” says Wade, referring initially to the effects of the fix-it versus toss-it paradigm. “Since cars have been getting more and more computerized parts, there are fewer cooling components that can be removed and repaired, and more that just need to be replaced. It’s had a big effect on the amount of stuff we have to keep on hand.”

Wade estimates that over the course of the last decade, he has been forced to commit at least 30% more space to inventory. “There are so many more models, and choices within those models, these days. Since the choices are broader, there have to be more parts.”

While the new throwaway style of parts and their all-too-apparent inventory implications seems unavoidable, the third major issue is one that looks to be a thorn in the side of many distributors for quite a while.

The world of computer technology has come a long way since kids were wowed by Pong, and the days of computerized everything, including coolant components, requiring their own computerized kits, is certainly upon us.

Ron Brown of Crossfire Enterprises in Halifax, N.S., often finds himself caught in the middle of two worlds. Brown says that that the crux of his business relies more on the old school approach to auto maintenance.

“The guys I see, and my usual list of do-it-yourselfers, really don’t do much in terms of the computer stuff.” However, he does say that the simple fix (without the computer equipment) is getting harder. “Coolant components are getting so complicated, and there are so many more little parts, that it is much harder to diagnose if you don’t have the computerized diagnostic equipment.”

Ensuring that technicians are aware of the technological changes in previously simple systems and are equipped to deal with them is one issue to which jobbers will certainly have to pay keen attention in both the near and long-term future.

Luckily, success in dealing with it could be as simple as paying close attention to ordering patterns of high technology parts, or even the types of parts that are being ordered.

In short, if your major clientele have not yet bought into the newfangled world of electronic everything, you should stock accordingly. But you should also try and keep them as informed as possible, at least in some of the gear that is easier to learn. A gentle push towards new computerized equipment may help both you and a reluctant client in the long run.

One particular part that is seeing some increased activity, according to many across the country, is the various caps involved.

One of the problems mentioned by several jobbers is that in many instances, system caps act as an electronic component of a delicate system, handling and altering the internal pressure.

In fact, modern reservoir caps actually alter the boiling points of the coolants by pressurizing and depressurizing the tanks. As a result, they need to be handled with a little more precision than some technicians are accustomed to, and the effects are starting to show.

Frank Petit says that he works hard trying to inform his clients about new installation specs. “We try and talk to them,” he says. “The problem is, some of the garages don’t keep up to date on these kinds of specifications. The caps need to be installed at a certain level for them to do their job, and some of the old guys just grab a torque wrench and torque it on there.”

Needless to say, even something as simple as a tank cap seems no longer to be so simple, and a poorly installed cap could cause the entire system to lose its ability to both cool and heat.

Furthermore, because of the nature of the part, a failed cap could mean a full fluid replacement, which years ago was not such a big deal. But as Bob Petit at Bloor Autorite mentions, “Coolant can be expensive these days; they’re making coolant that is supposed to last longer, ‘long-life’ stuff, which is driving the cost up even more.”

So, with the issues of replace versus repair, inventory increases, and technological lag all explored, it is pretty clear that in terms of the automotive cooling system, like many other modern components, things are not quite as they used to be.

Gone, or at least going, are the days of the do-it-all auto guy who just twists this and knocks on that to fix a troublesome radiator, and jobbers need to remind their customers of that fact.

By gently encouraging adaptation to the new coolant climate, and doing your best to explain the computer jargon and to embrace the new inventory realities, you might just avoid some overheating clientele.