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How to Repair an Overheating Vehicle
Many people are incredibly intimidated when their car, truck, or SUV overheats. The smoke pours out from under the hood, you smell something strange, and you go out to find all kinds of funny looking fluid pouring on the ground. This is a time to take action to determine where the leak was coming from. I'm going to give you a layman's guide to fixing an overheating vehicle so that I can help you save money and hopefully help you to avoid a mechanic. There are but a few things that will really cause a vehicle to overheat. It's up to you to determine which of the following things on the cooling system that needs repairing. 1. The coolant fan is not spinning right. In newer vehicles, this is the electronic fan behind the radiator. In older vehicles this is a fan connected to a clutch and belt. Sometimes the motors burn out, or the clutches go out. Be sure that you check very carefully to make sure these components are working right. Both of these types of components can usually be purchased fairly cheaply off E-Bay if you want to save money. 2. A defective thermostat can cause a vehicle to overheat. A thermostat's job is to allow an engine to warm up basically. It is an internal dam that blocks coolant flow until it reaches a certain temperature. If the thermostat gets stuck closed, the coolant will continue to heat until it boils and overheats. 3. A bad water pump can be a cause of overheating. If a water pump is bad, it will not be able to move water through the engine block and radiator properly. You can tell if a water pump is bad if it is leaking water out of a weep hole, is frozen and locked up, or if you squeeze a coolant filled hose when a fully warmed up vehicle is running and feel no coolant movement. 4. A clogged up radiator can also cause a car to overheat. Perform a radiator flush by removing the lower radiator hose (yes coolant will empty) and removing the cap off the radiator. Put a garden hose in the hole on full blast and flush it out. Also while you are at it, wash off the fins on the front of the radiator. 5. A bad radiator cap will prevent water from entering the reservoir if needed. This can cause too much pressure in the radiator and cause it to blow out. A radiator cap is a fairly common maintenance item and is dirt cheap on E-bay if you want to save money. 6. Sometimes it's not the vehicle overheating, but a hose that bursts. The large radiator hoses should be routinely checked to make sure that they are good and “springy” when you squeeze them. If they are “mushy”, degrading, or swelling, replace them. If you pay close attention to the vehicle when it overheats, you can usually fix it yourself pretty easily with common tools and in your driveway. When you finally determine that you have your overheating problem fixed, be sure that you fill it with a 50/50 mix of both antifreeze coolant and common water. Be sure that you pay attention to the area that seems to fail so that you will not have to throw a bunch of parts at your radiator. Keep in mind when you have it open, it's usually a good idea to go ahead and replace the hoses, radiator cap, and some choose to even replace the thermostat. These are cheap “maintenance” parts that can save you headaches and save money for you in the long run.
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