Behr Hella Auto Parts

Behr Hella Service provides unparalleled market coverage with more than 7,500 quality articles in more than 20 product groups! As a customer, you can benefit

• from the expertise of Behr and HELLA
• from the high level of service expertise in parts supply
• from the provision of technical information, training sessions and sales support—both for independent parts retailers and for independent garages.

This is an ideal combination of our product ranges and expertise: HELLA’s global sales organization plus the OE product know-how of Behr and the coupling of activities in the fields of vehicle air-conditioning and engine cooling.

The demands for engine cooling systems are constantly increasing. Today more than ever, new solutions aim to have a positive impact on fuel consumption, emissions, driving comfort and driving safety via heat transfer.
Products from Behr Hella Service are distinguished by their quality, reliability and long service life. The OE know-how and the expertise at Behr are crucial and directly influence our product development.

The most important component of an engine cooling module is the coolant radiator. It consists of a radiator core and water tank with all the necessary connection and attachment elements. The radiator core itself is made up of the radiator network—a tube/fin system—the tube headers and the core covers. Conventional coolant radiators have a coolant tank made of glass-fibre reinforced polyamide that is sealed before being joined and crimped to the tube header. The state-of-the-art all-aluminium radiator is extremely light and compact and 100% recyclable.

The expansion tank is used to trap the expanding coolant from the coolant circuit. High coolant temperature results in the pressure in the cooling system rising as the coolant expands. The increase in pressure is dissipated by valves integrated into the cap of the expansion tank. If the pressure increases, the system pressure is reduced by the valve and brought back to the preset value. When the coolant temperature returns to normal, a partial vacuum forms in the cooling system. This in turn results in the vacuum compensation valve in the tank’s filler cap opening. Ambient air flows into the tank until the preset system pressure is reached again.

Improved performance throughout the speed range, lower fuel consumption, optimized engine efficiency, lower emission values, reduced thermal load on the engine—there are a variety of reasons to cool the combustion air of supercharged engines with intercoolers. Basically, two types of cooling can be distinguished. Direct intercooling, where an intercooler is installed in the front end of the car and cooled by the ambient air (wind), and indirect charge-air cooling, where coolant flows through the intercooler, absorbs heat and transmits it to the ambient air.

The numbers of vehicles equipped with turbochargers is increasing all the time. Since almost all modern vehicles with turbochargers are also equipped with intercoolers, this also affects the spare parts market (such as accident repair or impacts from stones).

Dissipating the heat in commercial-vehicle and high-power passenger car engines requires not only high-capacity radiators, but fans and fan drives capable of providing an efficient supply of cooling air as well. Visco® fans consist of a fan wheel and a Visco® fan drive. They are used in the case of longitudinally mounted engines. They are fitted in front of the radiator (direction of travel) and are driven by a V-belt or directly by the engine. A bimetallic or an electronic component controls the fan, depending on the ambient temperature. Controlling the cooling air flows as needed reduces fuel consumption and causes less impact on the environment, including minimizing noise levels and maximizing efficiency.

The Visco® fan drive is designed to form a frictional connection to the fan wheel and to influence its speed, dependent on the temperature. If no cooling air is required, the Visco® fan drive shuts down and rotates at a lower speed. The Visco® fan drive is actuated by a bimetallic element which is exposed to the ambient temperature. A pressure pin clears a bore hole, which allows silicone oil to flow from the storage chamber to the working chamber. In this chamber, wear-free fluid friction is used to transfer the drive torque to the fan wheel, whose speed is adjusted infinitely in line with the operating conditions. The electrically controlled Visco® fan drive is controlled directly via sensors. A regulator processes the values and a pulsed control current transfers these to the integrated electromagnet. The defined guided magnetic field regulates the valve which controls the internal oil flow via an armature. An additional sensor for fan speed completes the closed-loop control circuit. This increases the dynamics of fan engagement/disengagement. Cooling on demand improves the coolant temperature level, engine noise level and fuel consumption.