What to Do If Your Car Overheats

The hot summer season comes with a test for your vehicle’s radiator. In hot weather, the vehicle heats up usually and can cause serious problems for the engine and the mechanical setup of your vehicle. There are several measures and precautions to avoid such unwanted situations, especially on the road.

Whenever your engine heat gauge goes up, you should follow some basic steps to regulate the vehicle’s temperature as shown below:

• Drive your car to a safe place then turn off the engine.
• Wait till the engine gauge goes down to cool level or you feel that the car engine is now in stable condition, then open the hood.
• Locate the coolant reservoir once you open the hood, if you are unable to locate it then refer to your vehicle’s user manual.
• Once coolant reservoir located, open it and check the water level.
• You should take extra precaution when opening the radiator cap. Most of the time, the gauge level may show radiator is cool but the radiator cap is usually hot, meaning hot water or steam may likely explode.
• Twist the cap clockwise with a soft towel and be careful of the radiator steam. This is very important as the steam from the radiator can cause scalds if care is not taken.
• Fill the coolant to the desired level then close the cap.
• Restart the engine and wait for a while to see whether the gauge is increasing at a normal pace or still on high rise speed.
• If the gauge is okay, close the hood.
• If after doing this, the problem persists, then you need to contact a nearby mechanic.