Overheating: ‘Single Cell’ – ‘Double Cell’ Radiator

There’s a trend going on in Nigeria at the moment — a very disturbing one for that matter: most vehicles with single-core radiators, once they have an overheating episode, are replaced with dual-core options.

They call the radiators ‘single cell’ — and they replace the units with what they call ‘double cell’. Pretty straightforward, huh?

The logic of the Kazeem ‘mechanics’ who recommend this is that, due to the ‘hot’, tropical weather of Nigeria, imported vehicles struggle with efficient cooling with their original single-cell radiators once here.

This makes sense on the surface: but, do single-core radiators truly help with cooling and overcoming overheating bouts in tropical Nigeria?

Turns out the reality is far from the truth.

The ‘Double Cell’ Radiator Has No Advantage Over the ‘Single Cell’!

My daily driver came standard with a single-core radiator — and for over 5 years of daily use in Nigeria, it has never overheated once, despite my spirited driving.

This means, for my daily driver, buying a bigger, dual-cored radiator for it is actually a waste of money and serves no true purpose. 

But why is it so? It turns out the answer is much more simpler than you imagined: the vehicle you’re driving was designed to use a single-celled (single-core) radiator from the factory — if that is what it came with.

The volume of coolant the single-core arrangement takes is enough to keep the engine in working state, despite the ‘hot weather’ in Nigeria. Remember, there are a lot of places even in the US with weather a lot hotter than Nigeria and yet, these cars work there without any overheating issues.

But, Changing to ‘Double Cell’ Solved My Overheating Issues!

This is what I keep hearing every time I try to educate folks here on the senselessness of a bigger radiator on a regular car.

The truth is that, NOTHING was solved: instead, what happened is that the increased fluid the dual core unit held meant temporary additional cooling power that helped with making the vehicle seem under control, for a while.

However, since the cause of the overheating issue is usually not treated, it comes back with a rare fury down the line, especially when very hot days with spirited driving, when the water/coolant in the radiator drops or generally, when another minor challenge like the radiator caps present issues that should ordinarily not cause overheating. 

So, usually, you’d be back to square one, for an issue you believed was solved before now.

Why Your ‘Single-Celled’ Radiator ‘Causes’ Overheating

When your vehicle begins overheating and you have a single-cored (single—cell) radiator in it, 99% of the time, the issue is not the radiator: it is something else: using water in your cooling system (instead of coolant), a thermostat that is stuck in the closed position, rust in the radiator/cooling system generally, a wrong/bad radiator cap or a myriad of other issues.

Hardly is your ‘single-cell’ radiator to blame for your overheating episodes!

The manufacture who put a single — core radiator in your car is perfectly sure that the radiator will serve the car, anywhere on earth (BTW, cars are meant to function almost anywhere of the earth’s planet, not just where they are manufactured).

Don’t let a local mechanic or a confused car owner tell you otherwise.

When You Truly Need a Bigger Radiator

There’s one instance however, when you need a bigger radiator and when it makes sense to consider the so-called ‘dual-cell’ (dual-cored) radiators: when you’re using the vehicle in a manner the manufacturers did not envisage or when you’ve substantively modified a vehicle, over and away from what the manufacturers thought out.

For instance, because of the nature of haulage trucks must perform (and the accompanying stress on the engine), most trucks are fitted with a dual-core radiator.

If you’ve modified, say a sedan to function as a truck, it makes sense to also modify its radiator to avoid overheating episodes.

Another example would be when you decide to use a regular passenger vehicle as a race car or on the track…since such a vehicle wasn’t designed with such a use in mind, you’ll need to modify its radiator if its engine is to work satisfactorily without overheating.

Wrap Up

99% of the time, you don’t need a bigger radiator and changing from a single-cell (single-core) to dual-cell (dual-core) is a complete waste of money and offers no direct benefits.

However, there’s an instance where it makes sense — and this is only when you use your vehicle in a manner not intended by the manufacturer.