Vehicles are made up of countless parts. When some of these parts aren’t working correctly, a vehicle can overheat. Here’s what you should do if your car overheats:
An overheating engine can present itself in a few different ways. You may see steam coming out from the hood of your car. You may also notice the temperature gauge on the dashboard spiking up to H. Additionally, your car may smell strange. If leaking coolant is causing your car to overheat, you may smell something sweet. If an oil leak is causing the problem, the smell will be more burnt.
Your car can overheat at any time, so it’s helpful to keep certain supplies on hand. Keep a small, basic tool kit in your car. You can also travel with quarts of oil, 1 gallon of coolant, a towel, and some heavy-duty gloves.
Once you’ve identified that your car is overheating, you want to turn on the heater. Doing so actually draws heat away from the engine, which lessens the burden of the cooling system.
Then, pull over. Turn off the engine and call roadside assistance to help you. After this step, you should wait at least 15 minutes for your engine to cool down. Do not open the hood until your car has cooled down substantially, as an overheated engine can be as hot as 230 degrees. Even the steam from an overheated engine can burn you.
After waiting patiently for the engine to cool down, add coolant to your engine. To do so, open the radiator cap and fill it with coolant until it reaches the full line.
If roadside assistance is not on the way, drive to a service station for help. If roadside assistance is coming to help, remain patient until they arrive.
Now that you know how to care for an overheated engine, you’re ready to shop for a car of your very own. Discover our inventory at Sarasota Car Sales. We are located at 1683 Cattlemen Road in Sarasota, and if you’d like to speak with us directly, feel free to give us a call at (941) 925-7150!