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Inside your car's engine, fuel is constantly burning. A lot of the heat from this combustion goes right out the exhaust system, but some of it soaks into the engine, heating it up. The engine runs best when its coolant is about 200 degrees Fahrenheit (93 degrees Celsius). At this temperature: The combustion chamber is hot enough to completely vaporize the fuel, providing better combustion and reducing emissions. The oil used to lubricate the engine has a lower viscosity (it is thinner), so the engine parts move more freely and the engine wastes less power moving its own components around. Metal parts wear less.
There are two types of cooling systems found on cars: liquid-cooled and air-cooled. Almost all cars now are Liquid Cooled. The cooling system on liquid-cooled cars circulates a fluid through pipes and passageways in the engine. As this liquid passes through the hot engine it absorbs heat, cooling the engine. After the fluid leaves the engine, it passes through a heat exchanger, or radiator, which transfers the heat from the fluid to the air blowing through the exchanger.
The water pump is a simple centrifugal pump driven by a belt connected to the crankshaft of the engine. The pump circulates fluid whenever the engine is running. The fluid leaving the pump flows first through the engine block and cylinder head, then into the radiator and finally back to the pump. If the pump breaks, coolant will not flow and the engine will overheat.