If your temperature gauge suddenly starts climbing toward hot, this is not the time to see whether you can make it another twenty miles.

An overheating engine can become an expensive engine very quickly.

First: Pay Attention to the Warning

Depending on the vehicle, you may see a temperature gauge climbing, a temperature warning light or a dashboard message.

You may also notice steam, coolant smell, reduced performance or other symptoms.

Find a safe place to get off the road.

If the engine is overheating, continuing to drive can cause serious damage.

Don’t Open a Hot Cooling System

This matters.

A hot cooling system can be under pressure.

Opening a radiator cap or pressurized coolant reservoir while the system is hot can release extremely hot coolant and steam.

Let the vehicle cool and follow the manufacturer’s instructions. If you aren’t sure what you’re doing, don’t open it.

Why Cars Overheat

There are plenty of possibilities.

A coolant leak. A cooling fan that isn’t operating. A thermostat problem. Water-pump trouble. Radiator issues. A belt problem on vehicles where the relevant components depend on one. Internal engine problems can cause overheating too.

The important point is that adding coolant doesn’t automatically fix whatever caused the temperature to rise.

“But It Only Overheats in Traffic”

Tell us that.

A vehicle that runs normally on the highway but gets hot while sitting still gives us useful diagnostic information. So does the opposite.

The conditions under which the vehicle overheats can help us determine where to start testing.

Watch for Coolant Loss

If you’re repeatedly adding coolant, the coolant is going somewhere.

A small external leak may leave evidence. Other leaks can be more difficult to find.

Repeatedly topping off the reservoir without determining why it’s low can allow the underlying problem to get worse.

What If the Gauge Goes Back to Normal?

We’d still want to know why it got hot.

Intermittent cooling problems are still problems.

A fan may work sometimes and not others. A leak may occur only under pressure. A thermostat may behave inconsistently.

The fact that the gauge came back down doesn’t erase what happened.

Overheating Is One of Those Problems Where Early Matters

There are automotive problems you can monitor. Severe overheating isn’t one we’d gamble with.

A cooling-system repair is one thing. Cylinder-head or engine damage caused by repeatedly driving the vehicle hot is another.

If the temperature starts climbing, protect the engine first. We’ll worry about diagnosing why afterward.

If your car has been running hot, don’t wait for it to get worse. Call Automotive Services at (770) 928-6126 to get the cooling system checked.

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