What is the difference between a single row radiator vs a 3 row (core) radiator? I am confused.

 

core is the usual term used also. that is how many rows/core the rad has. the more cores it has the better cooling. the cores would be viewed from the top. if the rad was cut off at the top, you'd see three rows of cooling tubes perpendicular (tank to tank) to the engine if it was a 3 core rad. sometimes you can see this if you look inside the opening of the radiator cap. I suck at explaining, but I hope that helps.

 

In layman's terms, going one step further... open the radiator cap (ONLY when the car is cold. If you do this when the car is hot or even warm sometimes, you'll get a face full of burning hot coolant) and look down into the radiator. You'll probably have to use a flashlight. You'll see many small, about 1/4 inch lengthwise openings. Those openings are from where the coolant exits and fills the radiator. If you want to watch and see what I mean, you can do this ONLY (safest way) by opening (lifting off) the cap when the car is cold and turned off. Then after you removed the cap, turn on the car. Don't worry, the coolant will not flow out. After the car heats up, (it will take a few minutes [it will begin to flow faster in warmer climates and the opposite in colder]) look into the cap area and you will see the coolant flowing and you can count how many rows there are. Then put the cap back on. Don't forget to push down hard and turn clockwise or it won't seat properly and you will have coolant spurting everywhere when the car gets hot.

Normally, the more rows (cores) the radiator has, the better and faster it can keep the car cooler. What kind of radiator you have is very important. An aluminum radiator in my opinion works great for keeping cars cool, even in extreme hot climates. Aluminum radiators are very costly compared to say, stock or OEM ones. They can be double or triple the price. But, in my opinion, they work much much better to cool the car. A 4 core non-aluminum radiator cannot cool the car as well as a 2 core aluminum one, if that aluminum radiator is a well made unit and not some cheapo, el crappo aluminum radiator. Also in my opinion, and I'm sure many Forum members here will attest to the fact that Dewitt makes a top notch aluminum radiator. It is a 2 core, but works phenomenally well and can cool and maintain a cool temperature in just about any car - even a big block. Dewitt is obviously not the only well made radiator out there, but I picked Dewitt because I have one and many members here do too and are quite happy with it.

So it's not just the amount of cores (rows) that will keep your car cool. It's also the radiator's "genetic makeup" that will determine how well it can cool the temperature of the car and keep that temperature maintained.

I hope this also helped.

 

Guys,

Thank you very much. I did not understand this at all but now have a comprehension of Core/Rows. This should be posted somewhere where others will be able to understand such good explanations......jim