Summer is here and with it comes rising temperatures outside, but hopefully the same isn’t said for inside your car. Overheating is a common issue that plagues drivers and the reason for why it happens ranges from coolant issues to radiator problems to a leak in the cooling system. Basically, if you’re not on top of your car’s maintenance it can cause a major problem.
If you find your car overheating it’s recommended you pull over as soon as possible, turn off your engine, and call a tow truck. And that’s it. A problem like an overheated engine can only diagnosed and fixed by a professional and continuing to drive with this issue and cause permanent damage to the engine.
Once you’ve pulled over it may be a natural action to look at your engine yourself but it’s not recommended you open the hood until the car has completely cooled off which typically takes 30 minutes. Even then your engine wouldn’t be safe to touch for an hour.
Some things you can do to diagnosis the problem while you sit on the side of the road are:
- Check the coolant.
- Check for a leak or blockage in the hoses.
- Look for obvious problems with the engine.
Outside of these suggestions though there isn’t much you can do on the side of the road which is why calling a tow truck to go to a professional is recommended.
It’s never good to find yourself in this kind of situation but you can avoid it by regularly checking the coolant level and taking your car in for it’s required maintenances. Very straight forward tips but they’ll save you a lot of headache in the long run.