Lets start with giving some warnings here. If your engine starts to overheat stop driving and turn the car off and get it towed to your garage. When you keep driving a car that is overheating you may cause some serious damage to your motor. Most likely the damage will be a warped or cracked head that will cost you about $1100-$1500 to fix. That is lot more expensive than a cab drive home and a tow truck even if you include a repair bill.

The first thing you should do when you take notice that the engine is overheating is the coolant level in the bottle, not the radiator as that could cause you some pain and severe burns if steam runs out the top of it. If it low in the reservoir bottle it more than likely is that you have a coolant leak. When you don't have enough coolant in the motor the effect will be that it will overheat and this is the most likely the cause of an overheating engine.

The second thing that you should take notice after that is if you have enough coolant in the bottle check for heat coming out of your vents. The most likely the cause of this is not a thermostat it is a water pump. When the water pump breaks and the coolant doesn't flow the motor will overheat. If coolant doesn't flow the other effect that it has is there is no hot coolant going through the heating core which in turn gives you no heat in you car. When that happens it could be a cold winter and a short life for your engine if you keep on running it.

The last of the most common problems that overheats a car is the Thermostat. This is sometimes a little hard to diagnose but if you know the things to look for you will be fine. The first thing to look for if you have heat and there seems to be no leak go outside after you open the hood and carefully touch the top radiator hose. If the thermostat is the problem it should be cool but remember to grab it close to the radiator so you are not likely to burn yourself. And now be very careful about this if you can reach the bottom of the radiator hose. Now this hose should be a lot hotter than the upper one and if that is the case the most likely cause is the thermostat as it is not letting the hot coolant flow through the radiator it can not cool down . Now if you getting confused about a thermostat not letting the coolant flow like the water pump you are right. Here is the difference in the two, usually the heater hoses are before the thermostat and if that sticks you will still have hot coolant to flow through the heater core.

Now understand all this these are the most common causes and the easiest ways to diagnose them. ASE certified mechanics use this same technique to diagnose your cars for this problem. Now there are other things that could cause an overheating engine and if you are at any point unsure of what are you doing take your car to a garage with an ASE certified mechanic and he will diagnose the problem for you. It is always better and less stressful to get the car fixed right the first time.

Learn more about this author, Dallas Herr.
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