Car Overheating – Cooling System Basics
What Can Cause a Vehicles Engine to Overheat?
A vehicles cooling system is critical to the operation of the engine. If an engine continues to run in an overheated condition, it could cause severe damage to the engine. Some of the damage that can occur includes a blown head gasket, cracked cylinder head or even a cracked engine block.
Any one of these conditions could cost thousands of dollars to repair. If the temperature gauge is in the red or a red engine light illuminates, the vehicles engine should be safely turned off. To help prevent future problems with the vehicles cooling system, it's important to adhere to a routine vehicle maintenance schedule provided by the vehicle manufacturer.
What are the Signs that an Engine is Overheating?
- Of course one of the tell tale signs that an engine is overheating is the engine coolant temperature gauge is in the red. If the vehicle isn’t equipped with a temperature gauge, a red illuminated engine light is another indication. A red engine light could also mean a loss of engine oil pressure, but the engine cooling system overheating is much more common.
- In some cases if the cooling systems has a sudden loss of coolant, the engine coolant temperature gauge (or red engine light) may not function properly. The sending unit for the gauge actually touches the coolant in order to read the temperature. If there’s no coolant (due to loss of coolant) the sending unit will measure a false reading. If this occurs the engine will start to loose compression and run very rough. Eventually the engine will stop running and major engine damage could occur.
A Basic Understanding of a Vehicles Cooling System
When determining the cause and correction of an overheated engine, it’s important to understand how a cooling system operates. The engine coolant is circulated through the engine with the engines water pump, which is usually belt driven. Since there are moving parts in an engine that creates a tremendous amount of heat through friction and combustion, the coolant helps to cool the moving parts.
The Function of the Cars Radiator
The radiator is what keeps the engine coolant at an acceptable temperature. The radiator is made up of small metal fins where the coolant passes through. A cooling fan sucks air from the radiator and through the fins to cool the coolant. As the vehicle is driven, air passes through the radiator that also helps cool the coolant. That’s one of the reasons some vehicles will overheat if sitting and idling for a long period of time.
The Function of the Engines Thermostat
The thermostat is usually located in a place where the coolant exits the engine. The engines thermostat will open and close according to the coolant temperature. Engines don’t like to run cold so the thermostat will stay closed at cooler temperatures. Once the engine reaches its normally operating temperature, the thermostat will open and allow the coolant to run through the cooling system. The thermostat will continue to open and close as the coolant temperature flucuates.
Understanding how a vehicles cooling system operates will help in finding the root cause if a cooling system component fails. In order to diagnose a cooling system problem, a cooling system check list should be followed in order to find the root cause of the failure. Understanding the importance and the basic fundamentals of a vehicles cooling system will help give the vehicle owner some peace of mind.
Fixing the Problem
|
What do you think about this article?
More in Technology
Latest Articles