Stranded in a smoking hot car

WE see it often — a driver stranded on the road, armed with a coolant/water bottle in hand, as she watches helplessly while thick clouds of steam rise from the hood of her vehicle. It’s a result of the car overheating, and there may be several causes.

Your car’s cooling system may malfunction for many reasons such as a faulty radiator cap or cooling fans, a leaking radiator or damaged radiator, or leaking head gasket. But whatever the reason may be, auto mechanic and car enthusiast Dermaine Johnson said that it is important that you pull over as soon as you realise that your vehicle is overheating because it can be dangerous.

“Once your car is overheating, it should not only raise an immediate red flag, but you should begin to prepare to stop as soon as possible because while it might not explode immediately, and may in fact seem fine minus the smoke, you should not continue to drive as per usual because this could cause irreparable damage to the engine,” Johnson advised.

Unsure just what to do if your vehicle starts to overheat? Johnson shares a list of things that you should as well as shouldn’t do:

WHAT TO DO

• If you have the air conditioning on, then turn it off. This will reduce the load on the engine and help it to cool down.

• If it’s a cold day and you don’t mind it, turn on the car’s heater. This will blow the excess heat from the engine into the car. Otherwise, wind all windows down and complete same. This will also help to cool down the engine.

• Find somewhere safe and pull over. Driving an overheating vehicle is never recommended. If you must, however, try not to drive it no more than a quarter mile because this will only cause further damage to the vehicle.

• When you are parked safely, wait a while, then open the hood of the vehicle. You don’t want to do this too hastily because of the hot steam. Opening the hood of your vehicle, however, will release the trapped heat and allow air to circulate through the hot engine. Just be careful when opening the hood — hot steam may come blasting out.

• If you are in traffic when the car starts to overheat, then pulling over might be difficult. What you can do instead is to shift into Neutral or Park and rev the engine a little. When you do this it activates the water pump and ups the fan speed, which draws more liquid and air through the radiator. The increased air and liquid circulation help to cool things off.

• When the vehicle cools down, lift the radiator cap by slowly twisting it off with a towel. If needed, fill coolant to the top of the radiator. Put the radiator cap back on.

• Check for other things such as the upper or lower radiator hose and any of the heater hoses to make sure that they have not been blocked, disconnected or burst.

• Restart the engine. If all seems well you can continue on your journey, but be sure to keep a close eye on the temperature gauge.

• If when you start the engine you realise that the problem has not been resolved, you need to have your vehicle towed to the mechanic to have it assessed professionally and fixed.

WHAT NOT TO DO

Never use cold water in the engine

The moment many people realise their car is overheating they immediately want to pour water in the vehicle, but Johnson said that you are only causing more damage to the car by doing this.

“Pouring cold water in your vehicle may cause several problems. For one it may damage the engine, block it, as well as crack it— all of which could mean having to buy a new engine,” Johnson advised.

Never check the radiator when your vehicle is overheating

Think about your pressure cooker at home— the way it builds up pressure and could explode if you were to try to lift the lid. It is the same way Johnson explains that the pressure is beneath the radiator cap. He said that if you were to lift the cap of the radiator while the car was overheating, it could project hot fluids and potentially cause burns to your body, as well as anyone else’s who may be around.

Never ride on your brakes

If you are in traffic, for example, under normal circumstances you would need the brakes more often. If your vehicle is overheating you should try to use it less since it also increases the load on the engine and increases heat.