what can cause a radiator to explode?

[lostforawhile]

Ok i was reading an old thread about an exploding radiator,and i thought i would pass this on. I had this same thing happen to me one time and this is what causes it.
the coolant in the radiator is under pressure when it is hot,this raises the boiling point to higher then normal temprature,what happens is if the car is already hot,and a catastropic radiator failure occurs such as a cracked seam,all that coolant is already at the boiling point,and a release of pressure causes it to instantly boil. all that boiling coolant releases steam which has to go somewhere,if the cap fails or sometimes even if it doesn't fail,all that steam will blow out the weakest point in the radiator. thats also why it's dangerous to be around a running hot engine with a known damaged radiator. you never know when it's gonna go. this is the same reason so many people get severe burns when they take off a radiator cap on a hot engine. the instantly boiling coolant blows straight up and everywhere. thought i would pass this on.

[halxi]

Never really thougth about it, but now that i have, it all makes sense lol

[Immeraufdemhund]

there could be a few reasons for it to be under more pressure than normal. If you have a cracked head gasket your getting an extra 100lbs of pressure in your system.. so hope your cap is working correctly. If not then one of your hoses usually busts first.

and as for the radiator I dont see why people would put jb weld on it or the like just for a few moments. I understand being in a bind for that time period, but once it's broken fix it right away. I got a brand new one from ebay for like 70dollars shipped. I can get it from advance for about 90. Seems like a lot, but compared to hospital bills or a new engine i think i can handle the 90 better.

[lostforawhile]

yea that can cause it too. I've had to jb weld one before until a new one came in but not permanently. I've tried to explain to people before about not taking the cap off and some of them won't listen. it's basic pysics, fluid under pressure boils at a higher temp. thats the entire point of a pressurized cooling system. it's like the old experment about water boiling in a vaccume.