It can be very scary to drive down the road and have your engine overheat. If it’s bad enough, you may not be able to see through the steam coming out from under the hood. You might think you’re on fire and you panic. As you shut the vehicle off after pulling over to the side of the road, you might assume this means you’re going to have a large, expensive auto repair in Philadelphia, PA on your hands.
While larger repairs are possible, that’s the worst-case scenario. When the car overheats, it’s showing you that the engine isn’t cooling properly. You definitely don’t want to ignore this, wait for the car to cool down and keep driving. That places lots of stress on the engine and can do further damage. If you leave the overheating issue alone for too long, it could lead to a complete engine replacement, which is hugely expensive.
Your engine could overheat for a number of reasons. Some of them are easy to solve while others require more work. The engine creates a lot of heat when it’s working so there has to be something that cools it down as it runs. You will see a temperature gauge on your panel control that tells you whether your engine is running in the normal range or heating up above where it should. Some older cars don’t have those gauges, but rather have a light that turns yellow when the temperature gets too high.
Most cars have a liquid cooling system that reduces the heat in the engine as it runs. Coolant is circulated through the engine to take on the heat and then vented through the radiator. Radiator fan cycles to ensure the airflow and the water pump keeps the coolant moving back and forth. If any of those components break down or leaks, you could overheat.
The most common problem that leads to overheating is a leak in the coolant system. IT could be a head gasket, water pump, a hose, or other things. Air will enter the system and the coolant won’t be able to do its job properly. Diagnosing those leaks is easy enough and can usually be fixed by professionals with ease as well. If there are radiator issues instead, that will cause some larger expenses to get things cleared up.
Whatever the cause, if your car overheats, or you notice the engine gauge is running hot, you need to get things checked out right away. You need auto repair in Philadelphia, PA, small or large, before things get worse and cost you more than you expected. As soon as you notice the engine getting too hot, bring the vehicle to Schafer’s Auto Center for an inspection. With any luck, it’s something small and simple that you caught early so the professionals can fix it fast and have you on the way. Either way, you want your vehicle to run well and safely whenever you take it on the road.
