An overheating engine can be an expensive engine killer, leaving you stranded and without your car for a period.
A hot engine can do damage to itself, even if you aren't going into a full overheating. However, there are only a few things that commonly cause an engine to overheat regularly that you can look out for.
1. Low Coolant
The first thing you should do if your engine seems to be running hot is check your coolant level as this is the most common cause for engine overheating. Your car relies on coolant to circulate and remove heat from the engine, otherwise heat will build up and your engine will overheat.
2. Electric Cooling Fan Failure
If you have an electric cooling fan that isn't coming on, this can cause your engine to overheat. You can test this by letting your car idle long enough for the engine to heat up.
If the temperature starts creeping up look under the hood to see if your electric fan is running. If it's not, you'll need to figure out why. There are two usual causes to this:
- Either your fan motor is burnt out or
- The switch that tells the fan to come on needs replacing
3. Thermostat Not Opening
If your vehicle is overheating at higher speeds it could be your thermostat. At motorway speeds your engine needs lots of coolant flowing through.
4. Broken Fan Belt
There are still lots of cars out there which have a fan belt to drive the engine cooling fan. The good news is they are easier and cheaper to fix
5. Clogged Radiator
If your car has more than 80,000 kilometres on it, your radiator could start getting gummed up. Flush your radiator every year.
Source: autorepair.about.com