8 Reasons Why Your Car May Overheat

You take out your car from the garage every day for going to the office, shopping, dropping off children at school, and what not!  However, if your car is not well-maintained or it has some underlying issues, it is at the risk of overheating. 

There comes several issues with car overheating. You can’t keep driving the car, and you might have to wait for an unknown period in the meantime until the car gets cool again. Moreover, overheating issues can form the grounds for other peculiar troubles in your car.

To prevent the hazards of car overheating, it is essential to know the underlying causes of it. Thus, if you don’t want to end up with costly repair bills, make sure to address the reasons for what is making your car overheat immediately.

Some of the probable reasons which can overheat your car as depicted by our Car Inspector in Los Angeles include:

• Issues in the Coolant System

The cooling system of the car cools the engine. It consists of a liquid or “coolant” that passes through the engine block, thermostat and radiator. As, per one of the highly expert car inspectors in Los Angeles, a small leak in the system which remains unidentified for very longwill reduce the amount of coolant in the system which will reduce its ability to keep the engine cool. This can result in costly major-engine repairs and can certainly be one of the reasons why your car overheats.

• Use of A Wrong Coolant

The type of coolant you use in your car’s cooling system determines a lot of its performance. As per our car inspector in Los Angeles, if you use a coolant that can’t handle high engine temperatures without boiling, this would certainly give overheating issues to your car.

Other than this, an unbalanced mixture of coolant and distilled water in your car can result in overheating issues also. Usually the mixture of water-to-coolant should be 50/50 for best results.

• Your Car’s Radiator Might Be At Fault

The radiator is a vital part of the car’s cooling system. The role of the radiator is to lower down the coolant’s temperature, which in turn cools the engine. Any damage, corrosion, dirt or scale in the radiator will impede the flow of coolant through it and be one of the major reasons that can cause your car to overheat.

• Bad or Failing Thermostat

The role of the thermostat in the car’s cooling system is to gauge the engine’s temperature and enable the coolant to flow to and from the radiator.  If you see signs likeerratic changing of temperature and temperature gauge reading high into the red, it means the thermostat is failing to open to allow hot engine coolant to flow into the radiator. This will cause overheating problems in your car.

• Erupted Coolant Hose

As the name suggests, the coolant hose cools the engine by transporting the coolant from the radiator to the engine. In the event when the hose bursts, it fails to perform its core job of carrying the coolant to the engine, which will eventually cause the engine to overheat.

• Damaged or Inoperative Radiator Fan

The role of the radiator fan in the coolant system is to help regulate the engine’s temperature by pulling or pushing air across the radiator which removes heat from the coolant. In the event of a damaged or inoperative radiator fan, the air can’t pass through the radiator efficiently and consequently results in engine overheating.

• Damaged Water Pump

The role of the water pump is to put pressure on the cooling agent which causes it to circulate through the engine and cooling system. Just like the human heart pumps blood to the various parts of the body, the water pump in the coolant system works to transport coolant through the engine.

In the event of water pump damage, the coolant can’t circulate through the system and consequently results in car overheating.

• Wrecked Drive Belt

Broken or damaged belts can impact the car’s performance in more than one way. It can slip on the radiator fan pulley which can result in the car overheating. Other than this, it can slip on the pump pulley keeping it from circulating coolant through the cooling system which can eventually result in the engine overheating.

DO’S AND DON’TS WHEN YOU CAR OVERHEATS                                        

DO’S

• Switch off the car’s air conditioner to reduce heat on the car’s engine.
• Come out of the car immediately and let it cool for atleast 15 minutes.
• Increase the level of coolant if it’s low.
• Take the car for inspection and repair.

DON’TS

• Don’t keep driving the car
• Don’t immediately open the car’s hood or remove the radiator cap.
• Don’t let the issue persist.

So, these were some of the underlying causes for why your car overheats.

If you’ve overheating issues in your car and are looking for expert car inspection services in Los Angeles, look no further than Car Inspectors.