Top Tips to prevent your car engine from overheating

With the harsh summer heat around Queensland, many vehicles overheat. Your friendly mechanic on Gold Coast has these top tips to help you prevent your car engine from overheating.

Check your car’s coolant regularly

A good way to avoid a car engine overheating is to regularly check the coolant in the reservoir and radiator. This means you can be sure you have enough coolant to keep circulating to felicitate the effective cooling of the engine.

The engine oil level is also important not only for lubricating the engine’s moving parts, but also to draw heat away from the interior, so it’s a good policy to check the oil level using the dipstick every time you fill up with fuel.

Be mindful of your vehicle’s temperature gauge

Many people constantly check their fuel gauge while traveling, but it’s also important to monitor the temperature gauge as well. Some vehicles are fitted with a warning light instead of a gauge, but which ever one you have, they are there to give you warning that your engine is overheating. If your engine starts overheating in normal driving conditions you need to check the cause.

Sometimes when under load such as driving up steep or very long hills or when towing the engine can slightly overheat, which is normal. If it overheats too much it can cause a loss of the coolant so the cause needs to be determined.

Find a safe place to pull over and raise the hood, this allows excess heat to disburse while you wait for the engine to cool. It normally takes about 20 minutes for it to cool to a safe level where you can remove the radiator cap and fill with new coolant.

A soon as possible, take your vehicle to your friendly local mechanic on the Gold Coast to ascertain the reason for the overheating and to find a suitable solution.

Turn off the air con

If you find your engine temperature is rising, turning off the air conditioner can help as it removes some of the strain on the engine. The average car aircon, while operating on full, uses about 5 horsepower of your engine’s power, this can be enough to cause a higher than normal, engine temperature.

If you lower the windows and turn on the heater and blower it will help to draw the heat from the engine quickly.

Overheating in Traffic

It’s quite common for vehicles to overheat while stuck in traffic, one solution is to place the engine in neutral and rev the engine so the fan comes on and delivers more air around the engine. This can be done with the air con turned off and the heater turned on.

Have the cooling system flushed regularly

Most engine coolants need to be replaced every two years or more often for high mileage vehicles. Ask your friendly local mechanic on the Gold Coast to service your cooling system at least every two years.

A well maintained vehicle should not overheat under normal circumstances. Have your cooling system serviced by your friendly local mechanic on The Gold Coast and then check the coolant levels in the reservoir and radiator when you fill up and especially just before taking a long trip.