Now, since summer is approaching, we all tend to go out and have. Some will either go to the beach, some will go to their grandparent’s house, some will visit another country and some might even go camping and hiking to explore the wilderness. While heading out for camping during summer, it is bound to get hot during the daytime and while driving, your car might start to overheat midway and cause you to stop in the middle of the road.
Now, you are stuck in the middle of the road with a smoked car under the scorching sun. This is one of those situations where you definitely don’t want to be stuck at and want to fix this problem as soon as possible. Panic not as we are now going to help you solve this issue and get back to your joy ride in no time.
While you are burning under the blazing hot sun, you will definitely be stressing out about how to fix your car. In such cases, you need to drink plenty of water to keep your body hydrated and your brain well and active. Worrying about the car only won’t fix anything, as your health is more important. Drink a great deal of water and then start working on the solutions for your overheated car.
Hence we suggest you read our article on how to open car hood perfectly it will help you to emit all the hot emissions during your car gets started overheating car.
What might cause a car to overheat?
Well, the answer to that question would be the moment when a car’s coolant system is malfunctioning or is damaged and isn’t keeping the engine and its surroundings cool enough. This will occur when you drive without proper coolant or insufficient coolant levels, which will cause the main coolant system to fail and not provide enough chill for the engine.
How far can you drive once your car starts to overheat?
Given the fact that your car is smoking up, it’s not wise to drive for several kilometers, as the immediate option would be to stop as soon as possible. However, that might not be possible if you are going very fast on a highway.
If your car’s engine is overheating, your car will slowly start to slow down and you won’t be able to accelerate much since the engine is barely working at this point. You can probably go for several hundred meters before you are forced to stop. There is no definite distance on far you can drive your car with an overheated engine.
HOW TO FIX OVERHEATING CAR?
Once you notice your car is overheating, you need to immediately push the Warning Hazard light button to warn the other drivers behind you and slowly reduce your speed and try to move to the curbside. But, how will you even know that your car is overheating? You will notice that this specific light just popped up around your speedometer.
This specific light symbol has a name, and it’s called “Engine Overheating” this is a symbol that shouldn’t be taken lightly as one slight mishap can cause massive problems for both you and your car. You carry out the following steps once you notice that your car’s engine is overheating.
To fix overheating the car is no easy task at all but by maintaining as well as taking some precautionary steps you can easily fix the overheating car. Realizing the fact we have brought some pragmatic steps here by discussing how to fix overheating cars let’s dive into the solutions now.
Step 1: Reduce the speed
Since your car is overheating, the best possible option would be resting. Therefore, to do that, you need to turn the car slowly to your left or right, depending on which side is the curbside since it’s not possible and moral to stop your car in the middle of the running road.
Step 2: Turn off your engine completely
Once your car is safely parked on the curbside, make sure to switch off your car completely to prevent it from using up any more gas and running the engine. The more you keep your car turned on, the more it will run and make the engine even hotter. Therefore, we need to be wise and calm in such situations and turn off the engine as soon as possible.
Step 3: The waiting period
Now, all we need to do is wait for some time because you definitely don’t want to burn your hands. But the engine is hot, so how will I burn my hands? Well, you will want to open your car’s hood and once you do that, you will almost immediately burn your hands, and you might be wondering if it’s the engine that’s overheated and not the hood.
So, how did you burn your hands? Since the engine is extremely hot at that moment; the hood will also get hot due to conduction. Therefore, the moment you touch the hood, you will burn your hands severely. You can wait for a while and then open it which is a much safer option.
Step 4: Opening the hood and let the steam out
After 10-15 minutes, take a piece of cloth and wrap it around your hand. Once wrapped properly, use the wrapped hand to open the hood carefully without letting it touch even a slight bit of your skin. Slowly open the hood and back away as soon as possible because now all the trapped hot steam will come out in a huge wave and might hit you if you stand too close to it.
Step 5: Check the coolant levels
Once you have successfully opened the hood, you need to inspect all the elements that were present underneath the hood and check to see if any of them has been damaged due to the heat.
The one and main part that you must carry out is that you need to find where the coolant tank is. It looks like a plastic jug type of container that is set near the radiator. You need to check the coolant tank and its levels to see if it’s depleting or not. Once you finish this task, you need to head toward the radiator and fix that problem.
Step 6: Re-fill the radiator
One of the main reasons that your car overheats is due to the depleting coolant levels and we need to fix that as soon as possible if we are to resume our journey. If you notice that the radiator liquid has been dried off, then you need to take off the radiator cap. Take a separate container and fill the container halfway with water and the other half with a liquid called the anti-freeze.
Once added and mixed properly, now start filling up the radiator container with the mixture slowly until you fill it up completely. Don’t pour all at once as it might splash back hot liquids at you. Take your time and do it slowly and with breaks.
Now, adding both water and anti-freeze always isn’t the proper solution. Most of the time you need to add both, but if notice that the temperatures are above freezing, then adding the water will just do fine. However, you mustn’t add water at all costs if you see that the temperature is below freezing as this will freeze up the water which in turn freeze the motor and then will crack the block which will damage the engine to a massive extent. Once you’ve poured the liquid mixture into the radiator, take the radiator cap and gently seal it off.
What if the problem is not at all related to the radiator, and it’s coolant levels?
We don’t always break our bones while playing sports. Sometimes it’s due to fall from the stairs, sometimes it’s due to fights and there could be million other ways to break your bones.
Similar to that situation, a car’s engine overheating isn’t always due to the coolant levels depleting and the radiator leaking. Sometimes it could be due to the fan being damaged which leads to not proper cooling inside your car, sometimes it could be due to the thermostat being stuck, and sometimes it could be due to a damaged water pump.
However, these problems are all second priority, as our first and foremost priority is to check and make sure the radiator and coolant tank is up and working properly. After we notice that those are working properly, but the car is still overheating, then we start to check for other faults and identify them. It might be slightly hard to identify them as you need to dig deep into the car and that isn’t always possible on the side of the road under the scorching sun.
Therefore, you need to take it to the closest mechanic from your current location and fix it as soon as possible. But how will you do that with your car overheating? To minimize further damage to your car’s engine, you need to first make sure your engine has returned to its normal temperature or almost normal temperature.
Then only you can drive, but only for a very small distance before turning off your car and letting your engine cool down. This is a very slow and annoying process. This is also a very dangerous process, which is why this must be your final option after trying everything else such as pushing your car to the nearest petrol station, calling a tow truck, etc.
Now, since we have discussed on all the possible methods of bringing an overheated engine under control, let us now talk about how to prevent a car’s engine from overheating in the first place.
how to take precautionary steps before overheating car
Step 1: Maintaining your radiator
One of the main reasons why a car’s engine overheats is due to its radiator, which we discussed earlier. Radiator plays an important role in keeping the car’s engine under check. Always maintain your car’s radiator from time to time and make sure you always have some anti-freeze in your car because you never know when you may need it.
Therefore, keeping one in your car will save some time in the future when you might need it as you won’t be wasting any time looking for it from nearby car shops or other cars.
Step 2: Change your coolant liquids
When you keep a glass of water still for several hours, you will notice that some of it have evaporated while the rest of them has been covered with dust and other dirt and possibly algae might even start forming up if the water had been kept like that for days. However, if you keep changing the glass of water regularly, then you will notice that the water will stay fresh and be in a proper state
Similar to that situation, you need to change your coolant tank’s liquid from time to time, or else it will start to set in there improperly and later on cause massive problems for your car and its cooling systems.
Step 3: Never ignore the signs
Usually, in a car, the signs will show up on the dashboard whether it’s the passenger not wearing the seatbelt, or the car key in but not yet started, or the fuel tank almost drained out. You will see all kinds of signs on your dashboard including the overheating sign.
You mustn’t at all ignore that and keep on driving because if you keep on driving, your engine will keep on heating up and up and eventually be damaged completely. Worst case scenario would be the engine explodes due to too much heat and killing you and the rest of the people present in the car. Always keep your eyes on the road and take peeks at the dashboard to see if there is anything wrong.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, an overheating car is never any kind of good news and once we encounter that, we must try to cool down the car’s engine as quickly as possible and smoothly. We can’t just take a bucket of ice and dump it on the engine as that is not the viable nor the proper solution. We must be calm and follow the solutions provided above when it comes to cooling an overheating car.
We mustn’t ignore any kind of symptoms of a potential overheating car because it’s better to be safe than sorry. Hoping that this piece of the article was able to help you on how to cool an overheating car. If you have any other questions, you can refer to our other articles which might help you.
FAQ:
why is my car overheating with a new thermostat?
A new thermostat may be causing your car to overheat. The thermostat regulates the temperature of the engine, and if it is not correctly installed or if it has been damaged, it can cause your car to overheat. In order to determine if your car is overheating because of a new thermostat, you will need to take several steps.
First, check the fan and radiator fluid levels. If they are low, that may suggest that there is an issue with the cooling system.
Second, check for any leaks around the air conditioner or heater core.
Finally, test the thermostat by turning it off and on several times. If the problem persists, then you may have a faulty thermostat and should replace it.
why is my car smoking but not overheating?
Many people are unsure about why their car is smoking but not overheating. The most common cause of this problem is a defective thermostat. When the thermostat malfunctions, it fails to signal the engine to stop burning fuel which can cause a build-up of heat in the engine. Over time, this excess heat can cause your car to start smoking and even overheating. In some cases, a failing air conditioning compressor may also be to blame for the smoke and heat coming from your car. If you notice that your car is smoking and not overheating, it is important to have it checked out by a mechanic as soon as possible to determine the root cause of the problem.
why is my car leaking antifreeze but not overheating?
One common issue that drivers experience is their cars leaking antifreeze. However, many times these cars will not overheat. This can be a perplexing problem as it seems like the car should be overheating, but it is not. The most likely cause of this discrepancy is the Coolant Temperature Sensor (CTS).
The CTS monitors the coolant temperature and determines when the car needs to be serviced. If the coolant temperature falls below a certain level, the CTS will trigger a warning light on the dashboard. However, if the coolant temperature rises too high, it can damage other parts of the engine including the thermostat, and eventually cause an overheating.
If your car is leaking antifreeze and not overheating, there is a good chance that your CTS has failed.
what temperature is considered overheating in a car?
Overheating is a serious problem in cars, and it can lead to irreversible damage. When the car’s engine reaches its operating temperature limit, the engine will start to overheat. This can happen in a number of ways: if the car’s air conditioning isn’t working properly, if the windows are closed all the way, or if there’s too much heat coming from inside the car.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) defines overheating as reaching an internal temperature of 130 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. The NHTSA also recommends that drivers avoid driving their cars when they’re above 95 degrees Fahrenheit and that they keep their windows up when it’s hot outside.
why is my car overheating when idle?
When you’re driving your car, it’s always important to be aware of the temperature gauges. You should also be aware of the idle temperature, which is the temperature your car is at when it’s not being used. Idle temperatures can vary depending on the make and model of your car, but there are some common reasons why a car may overheat when idle. One reason is that the air conditioning system isn’t running constantly enough, so the car overheats quickly.
Another reason is that there may be too much exhaust heat coming out of the engine or bad airflow in the vehicle. Finally, if you have a cracked or leaky radiator, then water will cool down and start to form crystals inside of it, which will cause your car to overheat when idle.
