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Overheated engine is a pretty serious issue which can lead to expensive repairs. It is important that you know how to cool down your overheating engine fast. When your engine starts to heat up, your quick reaction is key and will make a huge difference later on when your repair bill comes.
If you are not a mechanic, you probably don’t know what to do and how to react if your engine overheats, so here are some tips:
”If your engine starts to overheat, it’s very important that you cool it down fast. In order to cool down your overheating engine fast, you will need to turn off your A/C and turn on your heater on full blast. This will allow the heat from the engine to go into the cabin and will cool down the engine. If this doesn’t help, park on the side of the road, pop the hood up and wait for the engine to cool it down and then check your radiator and add fluids if needed”.
This is just a quick preview of what you should do, but don’t worry, I will provide you with a complete step-by-step instructions on why your engine might overheat and how to cool your overheated engine fast which are very easy to follow and will someday come in handy.
What Causes The Engine To Overheat
Your car engine can overheat
due to many reasons. These reasons are mainly because of some kind of failure with your cooling system such as clogged cooling system, leakage in some of the hoses or at the radiator itself or faulty radiator cap.
Clogged Cooling System
The main reason why car engine overheats is due to faulty cooling system. If your cooling system is clogged, the coolant will not circulate around the engine and it won’t be able to perform its mission which is to cool down the engine. It is very important to perform coolant flush from time to time. You can check out our complete guide on how to perform a coolant flush. You will be surprised what might come out of your cooling system.
How Do You Do A Coolant Flush? Complete Guide
Broken Radiator Cap
This might seem a bit much, but whenever I buy a used car or when I am driving the same car for the past 3,4 years, I always change the radiator cap. The radiator cap costs around $20 and you can order one on amazon.com . This cheap item plays a big role in the cooling system and can save you a lot of money in the long run. The cooling system works as a pressurized closed circuit. If your radiator cap is damaged or broken, you won’t have a closed circuit and the coolant will not flow as it is supposed to which will lead to overheated engine at some point.
Leakage In The Cooling System
There are a lot of stones, glass and other trash on the road that can enter into the engine bay. I know there are protective plastics on the bottom of the car, and even though these plastics do a great job, sometimes a very small stone gets inside the engine bay and it can cause all kinds of problems, in this particular case, it can damage the cooling system( hole in a radiator or a hose). This will cause the coolant fluid to drain slowly or excessively and once your cooling system has insufficient fluids, the engine will slowly start to overheat. If this happens, it’s important to park your car on the side of the road and wait for the engine to cool down. Once the engine is cold, add some fluids ( coolant or plain water) and drive to the nearest mechanic.
How To Cool Down Overheating Engine Fast
Now that you know what causes your engine to overheat, its time for you to know how to cool down your overheating engine fast.
The newer model cars will send you a notification on the dashboard if your engine starts to overheat, but the older models have that good old arrow which you will have to monitor yourself. This old system is very easy to monitor. You have two letters: C(cold) and H(hot). If your arrow is in the middle, you are good to go. If your arrow starts to climb up towards the letter H(hot), that is the first sign that your engine is overheating. It is important that you don’t panic and remember these steps:
- Once you see the arrow on the dashboard going toward the letter H(hot), this is the indicator that your engine heat is increasing. You don’t have to assume the worst because this can happen if your engine is just overloaded. At this phase, it is important that you turn off your A/C and turn on the heater on full blast mode. This will allow the heat from the engine to go inside the cabin. It is important to continue driving and monitoring the arrow.
- If the heat is still rising, park the car safely on the side of the road.
- Turn off the engine and open up the hood.
- At this point, all you can do is wait for the engine to cool down. Make sure not to touch the engine while its hot because you will burn yourself.
- Once the engine heat drops, which will take around 25-30 minutes, open up the radiator cap with some cloth or gloves.
- Check to see if you have coolant in the radiator. If you don’t have coolant, add some. If you don’t have coolant in your car
, you can add plain water. Drive your car to the nearest mechanic. - If you have coolant in the radiator, and your car engine is still overheating, don’t drive the car. Park it on the side of the road and call a tow truck. You don’t want to drive your car with an overheated engine because the damage could cost you thousands of dollars.
Thank you for reading. If you have any experience with overheated engines, please make sure to leave a comment and tell us all about it.
