What to do and what to avoid when the car overheats

If not taken care of in a timely manner, overheating of the car can lead to very costly engine damage.

If you start to see white smoke from under the hood while driving, the temperature gauge starts to rise, there is a smell of boiling coolant, this is a sign that your car is in trouble. overheating.

Why is the car overheating?

There are several reasons why cars overheat, but here we will tell you which are the most common reasons:

1. Damaged radiator

The radiator may have a coolant leak due to rust over time, or perhaps a truck in front of you picked up a foreign object and threw it with the tires, causing damage to the radiator. Lack of coolant will cause the engine to overheat, warp the head, contaminate the oil and eventually get your car stuck on the road.

2. Defective radiator hose.

The plastic and rubber hoses that feed the engine with vital fluids can tear and rupture, leaving drops of coolant on the ground that become a significant leak over time, causing the radiator to run out of vital fluid as well as causing overheating.

3. Faulty thermostat

This small part controls the flow of coolant from the radiator to and from the engine and can get stuck open or closed causing overheating.

4. Faulty radiator fan.

All cars have radiator fans that help cool the coolant or antifreeze. If it goes out, it won't be able to cool the fluid and the car will overheat.

What to do if the car overheats?

First, stay calm and pull over. If the air conditioner is on, it must be turned off. If for some reason you cannot immediately stop the car and you need to keep driving, turn on the heater, as it will suck hot air from the engine and dissipate it in the cabin.

Once in a safe place, lift the hood of the car and allow it to cool for 5-10 minutes. He then performs a visual inspection of the engine bay to determine if the overheating problem was caused by a faulty hose, loss of coolant pressure, a leaking radiator, or a faulty fan. If you can temporarily fix one of those problems with what you have in your car, do it and get a mechanic to fix it properly right away or you'll have to call a tow truck.

What can not be done if my car overheats?

The worst thing you can do is panic, or worse, ignore the overheating and keep going. Don't turn on the A/C or put the pedal to the floor, the only thing you'll do is cause the engine to keep overheating even more.

As with everything broken, the more you use this thing, the more it will break, if you continue to drive with an overheated engine, the following will likely happen:

. complete failure of the radiator

Your radiator is most likely already damaged, but it can be repaired in the early stages of overheating. The more you ride with it, the more likely you are to see hoses burst, a radiator rod fail, and the cooling system explode.

. engine damage

Perhaps this would be the worst consequence, since the parts are designed to withstand certain operating temperatures. If you exceed these temperatures for an extended period of time, you will end up with warped metal on heads, pistons, connecting rods, cams and other components, draining your wallet considerably.

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