A vehicle’s cooling system is critical to the operation of the engine. If an engine continues to run in an overheated condition, it could cause severe damage to the engine. Some of the damage that can occur includes a blown head gasket, cracked cylinder head, or even a cracked engine block.
Any one of these conditions could cost thousands of dollars to repair. If the temperature gauge is in the red or a red engine light illuminates, the vehicle’s engine should be safely turned off. To help prevent future problems with the vehicle’s cooling system, it’s important to adhere to a routine vehicle maintenance schedule provided by the vehicle manufacturer.
Table of Contents
Of course one of the telltale signs that an engine is overheating is the engine coolant temperature gauge is in the red. If the vehicle isn’t equipped with a temperature gauge, a red illuminated engine light is another indication. A red engine light could also mean a loss of engine oil pressure, but the engine cooling system overheating is much more common.
In some cases, if the cooling systems have a sudden loss of coolant, the engine coolant temperature gauge (or red engine light) may not function properly. The sending unit for the gauge actually touches the coolant in order to read the temperature.
If there’s no coolant (due to loss of coolant) the sending unit will measure a false reading. If this occurs the engine will start to lose compression and run very rough. Eventually, the engine will stop running and major engine damage could occur.
When determining the cause and correction of an overheated engine, it’s important to understand how a cooling system operates. The engine coolant is circulated through the engine with the engine’s water pump, which is usually belt-driven.
Since there are moving parts in an engine that creates a tremendous amount of heat through friction and combustion, the coolant helps to cool the moving parts.
The radiator is what keeps the engine coolant at an acceptable temperature. The radiator is made up of small metal fins where the coolant passes through. A cooling fan sucks air from the radiator and through the fins to cool the coolant.
As the vehicle is driven, air passes through the radiator that also helps cool the coolant. That’s one of the reasons some vehicles will overheat if sitting and idling for a long period of time.
The thermostat is usually located in a place where the coolant exits the engine. The engine’s thermostat will open and close according to the coolant temperature. Engines don’t like to run cold so the thermostat will stay closed at cooler temperatures.
Once the engine reaches its normal operating temperature, the thermostat will open and allow the coolant to run through the cooling system. The thermostat will continue to open and close as the coolant temperature fluctuates.
Understanding how a vehicle’s cooling system operates will help in finding the root cause if a cooling system component fails. In order to diagnose a cooling system problem, a cooling system checklist should be followed in order to find the root cause of the failure.
These are basic steps that the average car owner can take to find and fix a problem with the vehicles overheat condition. If the problem cannot be diagnosed using the following steps a professional automotive technician should be consulted.
Check the radiator or expansion tank (if equipped) coolant level. Never remove a pressurized coolant cap when hot, it could spray hot coolant and cause server injuries. If the coolant is low, add the recommended mixture of coolant. Run Engine and recheck the coolant level. If the coolant is low there’s a good probability that there’s an internal or external leak.
Visually inspect the radiator, radiator hoses and heater hoses for leaks. Visually inspect the engine area, for any signs of coolant leaks. If there are wet spots on the front floorboards of the interior or the windshield fogs up when the defroster is on, the heater core is probably leaking.
Look and see if there’s an excessive amount of white smoke coming out the exhaust tailpipe. This is an indication of a bad head gasket.
Pull the engine oil level indicator (dipstick) and see if there is a milky color to the engine oil. If coolant is in the engine oil, this is an indicator of serious engine damage.
A thermostat that is stuck closed will cause the engine to overheat. To test if the thermostat is stuck in the closed position, place the thermostat in boiling water. If the thermostat doesn’t open than the thermostat is defective and needs to be replaced.
Since the cooling fan pushes air through the radiator to cool the coolant, a fan that’s not working properly will cause an overheat condition.
Some radiators are mounted on the front of the vehicle (especially rear-wheel-drive vehicles) and road debris could damage the radiator. Also, there may be an obstruction to the radiator like a newspaper or cardboard that could block the radiator. The radiator cap could also be bad and not holding pressure. In order for the cooling system to function probably a certain level of pressure must be maintained.
To help ensure that a vehicle is in top running condition, it’s imperative that the vehicle adheres to a routine vehicle maintenance schedule. If the vehicles brought in to an auto shop for cooling system service or flush, ask the service advisor if they check the cooling system pressure as part of the service.
Cooling system pressure will help to ensure that there are no other problems with the cooling system and give the driver a little more peace of mind on the road.
If you’ve ever been stuck in the middle of muddy, sloppy, or other difficult terrain and tried to slog your…
If you're in the market for new car speakers, you'll know that there are a number of options available. Numerous…
Due to their construction, subwoofers need a significant amount of power to recreate low-frequency sounds. A subwoofer amplifier is an…
Sound systems without subwoofers will have a faint and uninspiring sound. So, in order to get that deep bass and…
Despite the fact that your car radio is mainly designed for listening to music, you may connect other devices to…
An air compressor is a tool for creating controlled amounts of air pressure. You can use it to inflate items,…