Our GMN Gap Seals are plastic and a great choice for washdown applications, such as food conveyors and food manufacturing facilities

But what we haven’t mentioned is that this contact force creates pressure where the rolling element is pushing on the raceway; this is called Hertzian contact pressure or Hertzian stress.

We hope you found this article helpful. If you’d like further information on bearing loads, our on-site engineers would love to discuss it with you. Fill out our contact form or give us a call at 281.858.7000.

If an application requires high speeds, consider using an angular contact bearing with smaller balls, like our KH series.

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A bearing load is defined as the force that’s transferred from one bearing ring, through some or all the rolling elements, to the other bearing ring.

Take a trip to the land of no radiators. An automobile with an internal combustion engine – with its thousands of mini-explosions an hour – produces so much heat it could melt metal and bring the entire operation to a halt. The engine would seize up within a few hundred miles of driving. This is why it’s important to determine why your radiator is leaking and how to fix it.

As the radiator ages under the constant stress of pressure and heat, it begins to wear and break down. Rust, corrosion and microscopic cracks begin to develop and allow air and sediment to enter and gouge larger holes. Eventually the holes get large enough to allow for the outflow of fluid. Replacing a car radiator can cost $600-$900, in a truck it may be a couple of hundred dollars more. The radiator itself is about $100 of that.

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Typically, you’ll see an equal distribution of forces on each ball. Because the balls contact the raceways at an angle the resultant forces will radiate outward and in line with the bearing axis.

The quickest way to estimate a bearing’s lifespan and performance is by knowing all about the application load that will be placed on the bearing.

The tubes that carry coolant to and from the radiator are also subject to extreme conditions that eventually wear them down and cause them to become weak and brittle. The connections between these hoses and the radiator, water pump and heater core are all particularly vulnerable to wear and are often the primary site of the leak. Replacing a single hose costs about $150 at a service station, with labor accounting for half the cost.

This is the one to wish for, though it is much less common than the three above. Radiator caps operate under extreme pressure and heat, which is why the engine should always be allowed to cool down before the radiator cap is removed. Even then, you should still use a rag to protect your hand from any steam that might be released.

A bearing supports many different load combinations but most types of application loads can be boiled down to these four main groups:

My radiator is leaking on top after fixing it. It will go down to bottom leaking again. I got a new radiator same problem continue. Fix my water pump, changed top gasket same problem continue. What should I do?

If you are still unsure as to where the leak is coming from, it may be best to have the vehicle’s cooling system pressure tested by your local mechanic to pinpoint where the loss of coolant is coming from. Once you identify the leak point, you can replace the leaking culprit.

If the head gasket is indeed the culprit, avoid that kind of expense with a $60 bottle of BlueDevil Head Gasket Sealer. Use of this product is identical to the Radiator and Block Sealer. It is poured into a cold engine with the engine running and heater turned up and then allowed to idle.

Bearing preload is a predetermined load that is applied to a bearing and is separate from application loads. Adding a preload establishes an optimal synergy between the rolling elements and the bearing races.

No built-in ball bearing support. Has no RPM limits & Supports high torque needs: 609 to 14,060 Nm. Bore (ID) sizes: 38.09 to 220 mm (1.499 to 8.66 in)

How quickly are you losing coolant? Is the engine overheating at all? Please contact our technical support line at 888-863-0426 for further assistance.

It would be difficult to say where the leak is coming from in this instance. Based on your description, we’d agree that is most likely a hose leak or a connection leak, especially if you are losing water just as quickly as you add it. It would be best to get the vehicle up on a lift to pinpoint where the leak is coming from.

I just had my water pump, radiator, hoses replaced. Now I have a leak under radiator, seems to be a bolt there. Any suggestions?

Debris can also clog the water pump and prevent the smooth flow of coolant through it, building up pressure inside the pump and causing a breach. Even if this does not cause a leak, an inoperable water pump will not circulate coolant, allowing the engine to overheat.

Are you saying the new radiator is leaking? Prior to replacing the radiator, was the engine overheating at all? It’s possible an air pocket or some kind of pressure was building up to cause the leak. It does not sound like the water pump is the culprit. We’d recommend bringing the vehicle to an ASE certified mechanic for a proper diagnosis.

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If the leak cannot be stopped by using a sealant or the vehicle continues to run hot, bring it to your local car care professional. They have the diagnostic equipment and expertise to determine why your radiator is leaking and recommend a solution. Allowing an engine to run hot for any length of time can result in needing a whole new engine, which can cost several thousands of dollars.

Axial loads transfer force in an equal, uniform way onto the rolling elements thereby creating a balanced load distribution.

Centrifugal force is the apparent force that is felt by an object moving in a curved path that acts outwardly away from the center of rotation.

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The plastic tank that supplies the coolant to the radiator via hoses is also subject to wear and tear. The container itself, its cap, or the connection point with hoses can all crack and begin to leak. The tank costs $150-$200; it takes about an hour of labor to replace it, for a total of $250-$300 at a service station.

If the application has high Hertzian pressure, then changes may need to be made to the application to reduce the pressure.

The best protection for your bearing. Easy to install with a simple “drop-in” next to your bearing. No added space needed. CF seals offer 100% sealing efficiency against splashing liquids.

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No built-in ball bearing support. Good for large orders & low to high torque needs: 1 to 2673 Nm. Bore (ID) sizes: 2 to 240 mm (0.078 to 9.448 in)

This heavy-duty clutch (aka a hold-back clutch) is good for high torque operations and ensures motion freezes in place. Bore (ID) sizes: 15 to 40 mm. (0.59 to 1.73 in)

Ongoing maintenance can eliminate or head off many of the problems that lead to a radiator leaking coolant, but not all of them. All elements of the cooling system endure extraordinary pressure and temperature gradients and will eventually succumb over time.

These problems are easily avoided by occasional inspection and care of the cooling system. Because older coolant can turn acidic and wear away metal in the radiator, it should be flushed and replaced every 100,000 miles or so. See our instructions on flushing the coolant here. Check the hoses and connections for cracking and deterioration, and use the sealant to repair any damaged gaskets before experiencing any issues.

Engineers should think about bearing loads when designing a new application, tweaking an existing application, and especially after a bearing failure or malfunction.

Replaced my radiator with a new one and it is now leaking after several days. Could it be the water pump? Please need advice here. My vehicle is CRV rd5

How quickly are you losing water/coolant? Is the engine overheating at all? Please contact our technical support line at 888-863-0426 so that we can get a little better understanding of the vehicle’s condition and be able to make any appropriate recommendations.

In a rotating bearing, the interaction between the rolling elements and the outer ring produce a centrifugal radial load, here’s how:

Generally speaking, if you are designing a high-speed application consider using a light preload on your angular contact bearing. We recommend our SM angular contact bearings or KH angular contact bearings.

Just to add some complexity to this, axial loads that are offset from the center of the axis, like a bevel gear, have a “moment force” applied to the inner race. When a moment force is applied, the load distribution on the bearing’s rolling elements isn’t as uniform.

Among other problems, as coolant seeps into the engine it is less and less able to do its job and the engine can overheat. Fixing a blown head gasket is time-consuming and expensive because much of the engine must be taken apart to access it. A typical head gasket replacement costs more than $1000. Fortunately, this is much less common than leaking hoses or a corroded radiator.

It is critical for the radiator cap to maintain a tight seal, otherwise coolant heated to a gaseous state can seep out beneath the cap. Coolant in liquid form can escape if the opening becomes large enough. This is the easiest and least expensive problem to fix: you can spend ten bucks for a new radiator cap and easily replace it yourself.

Daughter’s 2012 jeep GC came home hot. Radiator cap NOT hot. Opened it coolant erupted out but not hot??? Looking for a hose leak I ran water through the system. I could hear it hitting the ground. The water was pouring out back on the ground dead center middle of motor. Ideas?

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A bearing’s ability to withstand a load is determined by how close the Hertzian contact pressure is to the stress limit of the bearing. The closer it is to the bearing’s stress limit, the less time it will take for the bearing to experience plastic deformation.

Early automotive inventors devised a cooling system to extend the life of the automobile engine. In essence, a mixture of water and antifreeze is pumped through a series of hoses around the engine to absorb its excess heat and then back to the radiator where exposure to the air allows the heat to dissipate. The cycle is repeated continuously while the vehicle is in operation, keeping the engine cool enough to continue working. When the radiator is leaking fluid (or any other segment of the cooling system is leaking), the coolant level drops, reducing its ability to cool the engine.

A new water pump costs about $50, but the cost to replace it at a service station varies depending on how and where the pump is attached. The total cost varies from $200 to $800, with the average near the lower end.

The water pump pushes the coolant through the hoses to the engine and back to the radiator. Without the pump, the fluid will not circulate to cool the engine and release its heat through the radiator. Driven by a belt and hanging down near the ground, the water pump attaches to the lower hose of the radiator. If the connection with the hose loosens or the pump corrodes or gets hit by road debris, it can spring a hole that causes coolant to leak. If you see the radiator leaking from the bottom, that is often the result of the water pump.

Includes built-in ball bearing support. Supports MEDIUM loads & low to medium torque capacity: 53 to 267 Nm. Bore (ID) sizes: 17 to 40 mm (0.669 to 1.57 in)

If your application will place an axial load on the bearing, then an angular contact bearing with a higher contact angle around 25° will be a good bearing choice.

Usually, you’ll find an axial load directly in line with the shaft, like a drill. Other times an axial load can be a reactive load offset from the shaft axis, like a bevel gear.

This article will discuss these four types of application loads, how it affects the bearing and what bearing to choose that will best support the application load.

A few solutions could be changing the bearing size, using ceramic balls, or adding more bearings to the system to help divide up the loads.

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In the worst-case scenario, the head gasket that separates the engine block from the cylinder head corrodes or cracks, allowing gas, coolant and oil to all end up in the same place. The head gasket endures searing heat, immense pressure and the constant battering of the various fluids just mentioned. When the head gasket blows, the engine is in danger of imminent failure.

If replacing the gasket is not an option for you, invest in a $25 bottle of BlueDevil Radiator and Block Sealer. The easy-to-use formula permanently repairs radiator gasket leaks. After allowing the engine to cool, start the engine and run the heater full blast. Slowly pour the Radiator and Block Sealer into the radiator. Replace the cap and allow the vehicle to idle for 45 minutes to circulate the sealant. If the radiator is not full, top it off with antifreeze. Any leaks should be sealed, once the 45-minute idle is complete and the engine is able to cool down.  If problems with the cooling system persist, the problem may be the water pump, head gasket or something else altogether.

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If your application will place a radial load on the bearing, then either a radial ball bearing or an angular contact bearing with a low contact angle will be a good bearing choice.

BlueDevil Products can be found on Amazon.com or at AutoZone, Advance Auto Parts, O’Reilly Auto Parts, NAPA, and other major auto parts retailers.

BlueDevil Products can be found at AutoZone, Advance Auto Parts, O’Reilly Auto Parts, NAPA, Parts Authority, Auto Value, Bumper to Bumper and other major auto parts retailers.

So far, all the loads we’ve discussed are from a contact force that is transferred from one bearing ring to the other bearing ring through the rolling elements.

The gasket that seals the connection between the radiator and the tank holding the coolant can also wear, developing a weak seal that allows fluid to leak. The result is the same—coolant exiting the system and forcing the remaining coolant to work harder.

Another option is to switch from bearing steel balls to ceramic balls. All our GMN angular contact bearings and radial ball bearings are available with ceramic balls.

We know that not every application requires super, high-precision bearings. We stock other industrial parts from quality brands.

Centrifugal loads come from the rotational speed (RPMs) of an application. High-speed applications can produce a powerful centrifugal load which can sometimes be the reason for the max speed of an application.

The rolling element directly under the application load is usually the one that’s receiving the most force. Then each successive rolling element, in both directions, transfers less and less load to the other.

Some examples of a radial load on a bearing are the weight of a horizontal shaft assembly, gears, pullies or cutting tools.

When in operation, the shaft assembly pushes radially on the inner ring of the bearing transferring a load through the rolling elements to the outer ring.

Ordinarily, coolant circulates around the engine, through the hoses and into the radiator in a closed system. Nothing enters the system and nothing exits, a bit like the blood that pumps from your heart, around your body through arteries and veins, and back. A bodily injury that causes bleeding creates an open system into which foreign bodies can enter and cause an infection. Likewise, a break in the cooling system can cause air or debris to enter the system and cause problems.

I had a coolant reservoir replaced along with a fan and all the pump clamps are tighten. But it’s still leaking coolant and now their saying it’s the radiator. Is that possible. It’s gonna cost about 900.00 on a volvo c30 2009.

Thank you for asking about your Volvo. Is coolant leaking to the ground? If so, the shop should be able to identify the location of the leak by putting it up on a rack and getting underneath the vehicle or performing a pressure test to identify the leak’s location. If the radiator is leaking, that is something the shop should be able to physically see.

On the other hand, if you are designing an application that needs tight rigidity and precision then you may want to consider a medium or heavy preload on your angular contact bearing. We recommend our S angular contact bearing series.

Includes built-in ball bearing support. Supports HEAVY loads & has a high torque capacity: 53 to 588 Nm. Bore (ID) sizes: 10 to 60 mm (0.393 to 2.362 in)

For steel AISI 52100 ball bearings, the stress limit is generally accepted to be 4,200 MPa. GMN considers Hertzian contact pressures above 1,500 MPa for steel balls and 1,800 MPa for ceramic balls to be close enough to the stress limit to have a significant impact on the overall life of the application.

Designed with grooves in the outer ring to offer more protection (than our L-type seal) against contamination and direct spray liquids. Liquid gets pushed out through outer grooves when in rotation.