What should I do when my Engine Overheats?

When your engine overheats, it is always important to shut it off immediately or risk your car’s engine having a fatal end. To avoid frying your engine, you need to pull over and shut down the engine as fast as possible. It’s also advisable that you open your hood up as it allows for faster cooling. In case you don’t have a place to pull over, you can run your heater to help cool things down while you look for a spot. Running your engines heater helps cools your engine down by acting as an extra radiator. As much as this might be a terrible idea on a hot day, it will help cool the engine down and help you get down the road a little farther.

Also, ensure that your AC is off, this is because the Ac usually causes an increased heat load on the system, and the last thing that you will need when your engine is experiencing high temperatures is more heat.

After you have your hood up, DO NOT REMOVE THE RADIATOR CAP! This is because the cooling system is under pressure and in case you remove the cap, you could suffer serious burns from the coolant steam that tempts to gush out when opened at high temperatures.

Also, avoid pouring cold water on your hot engine, this is because you could damage it. Use room temperature and not water that has been melted from ice, in case you are going to use melted ice water let it sit in the sun for a while.

After your car has cooled down, you can fill the radiator with tap water. You will, however, want to use distilled water in your cooling system this is because Tap water has impurities, but if you are losing the coolant at a faster rate then use whatever you can, because no coolant at all is much worse than putting something to help cool the engine down.

As stated, the overheating engine can be fatal to your engine. Therefore, you want to avoid it at all costs. Make sure that you use whatever coolant you can until you get to a place where you can properly look at the problem. It’s vital that this problem is checked immediately, therefore, consult with your local mechanic over the issue as soon as possible.