5 Typical Causes of Engine Overheating

Engine overheating could be the possible consequence of several problems including a blocked radiator, cracked cooling system, botched water pump, or a bad thermostat. Most car engines operate between 195°F and 220°F range. Any defect with these components can cause this temperature to rise beyond the normal level, leading to the overheating of your car. So in this blog, we will show you about common causes of engine overheating, engine overheating consequences, what happens when an engine overheating, and how to deal with them. Let’s check it out!

Engine Overheating Consequences

The internal combustion engine while burning fuel to generate power will make a large amount of excess heat. If not cooled in time, the car engine will overheat, leading to the risk of fire and explosion, causing danger to drivers. Overheating is one of the most dangerous engine errors that drivers need to be aware of while driving the car. 

Normally, a car engine will need servicing within its first five to seven years. Nevertheless, the engine in some cars can operate for over 10 years without any trouble. However, it is important to maintain your car in order to safeguard your car engine. By doing this, you don’t have to worry about replacing or working on the car engine regularly. Although a car engine is produced with a long life span, it can not bear extremely high temperatures for long periods.

In such situations, the car engine can stop working, moreover, the seals and the gaskets can be damaged seriously when exposed to high temperatures that they can not handle. In all cases, overheating can badly invade the car and even if you have too much money, you can’t do anything to fix it. So this is why it is crucial to know the causes of engine overheating and how to deal with such a situation.

The Typical Causes Of Engine Overheating

It must be annoying when you are driving to catch an urgent meeting but suddenly steam starts spewing from under the hood, and you have to pull over somewhere. What is more terrifying is the possibility of an expensive fix because overheating could be extremely damaging to various parts of your car. Let’s find out some causes of the engine overheating:

1. A leak in the cooling system

The air that enters the system through the leak is one of the possible causes of engine overheating. The coolant drips through the puncture, creating space for air to get sucked in. The air takes the shape of a big bubble, known as an airlock, and occupies the top part of the system. When the coolant has problems such as leakage, blockage, condensation, or the coolant level is too low compared to the standard level, … will cause the cooling process to be interrupted, and make your engine operate improperly and overheat.

2. Condensed coolant

It’s an annoying problem in cold weather, especially in those places where temperature drop below the freezing point. If the coolant is not high-quality, it can get concentrated and cause a blockage. Such a condition will result in engine overheating and damage to the radiator.

Read more:

• Let’s learn about car engine temperature
• Effective tips to avoid overheating for truck

3. Blockage to coolant circulation

It can bring about the same symptoms as the gelled coolant. Sometimes, a defective thermostat, mineral deposit, or a foreign object can block the liquid from flowing through the radiator to disperse heat.

4. Low level of oil

Low oil level is one of the main culprits causing engine overheating. Engine oil itself helps with the cooling process and prevents the buildup of excessive heat. In fact, the fuel removes 75% to 80% of the unused heat in the engine. It also keeps various parts properly lubricated, reducing friction and subsequent overheating. During operation, if the oil is not added enough, your engine will overheat, which can cause severe damage. Therefore, car owners need to periodically check and change to make sure that they always provide the oil for the vehicle timely.

5. Broken-down water pump

It’s one of the most frequent reasons for engine overheating. It is a component that actively takes part in maintaining coolant circulation. It can wear out or break over time, leading to the damage of the impeller that does not turn anymore.

3 Overheating Car Symptoms You Should Never Ignore

Some obvious signs when the engine is overheating are the engine temperature gauge on the dashboard soaring to the red line or H (Hight), steam coming out like smoke from the hood, or smelly. Strange sound from the front near the hood, this could be an oil or coolant leak. Here are three common signals for car overheating to check out:

1. Dashboard caveats

The dashboard can alert you when your car overheats as the dashboard temperature indicator will start to increase. Most drivers often ignore the warning signals given by the dashboard, however, they are very crucial.

The dashboard will not alert you only when the thermostat of the car is broken, in all other cases, it will. In addition to it, in recent car models, if the car begins to overheat, a malfunction light will turn on to notify its driver.

2. Steam or smoke

Whenever you notice steam or smoke billowing from under the hood of your car, the first thing you have to do is stop your car right away. Steam or smoke appearing under the hood is not a good signal in any case. It can illustrate other things as well, such as leaking oil burning in the engine or harmless or an overheated car. In this case, you should get your car engine inspected by a skillful mechanic in order to prevent further damage.

3. Hot air coming out of the air conditioner

Even though hot air from the Air Conditioner of the car doesn’t demonstrate that the car is overheating instantly, it is likely that car overheating will happen soon. Putting coolant in your car is what you can do to tackle this problem.

What To Do If Your Car Is Overheating?

As you already know about the issues that trigger engine overheating, you will know where to look when a temperature malfunction arises. You should check:

• The coolant system
• Level of engine oil
• Radiator
• Thermostat
• Water pump

Any trouble with these things often brings out the heat issue. The measures you can take are to:

1. Flush the cooling system when it’s dirty or at the time recommended by the manufacturer
2. Examine the cooling structure for leakage or any other fault
3. Fill up the tank or change the oil regularly
4. Inspect the radiator, thermostat, and water pump for any damage

Alternatively, as soon as the driver notices signs of engine overheating (the temperature gauge indicates overheating), the driver should immediately turn off the air conditioning or heating system on the vehicle to reduce the temperature of the engine compartment quickly. Then quickly pull over or the emergency lane on the highway, turn off the engine and check the vehicle’s engine and cooling system.

Note that: Do not open the radiator cap at this time, to avoid burns due to high pressure and boiling water in the tank exploding. If you want to check the coolant tank, you need to wait for the engine to cool completely (about 30-45 minutes after turning off the engine), then turn the water tank slightly counterclockwise to release excess pressure, then open the cap.

Check out this video to know the causes of engine overheating and how to fix it:

If you don’t feel confident, let an experienced technician diagnose your vehicle. Even if it overheats for once, you should have it checked and fixed.
Hopefully, the above information will be useful for you. Next time, don’t forget to read more car maintenance tips on Car From Japan to get more useful information from our professional experts.