Signs Your Car is Overheating
Kansas City gets hot in the summer! You have a bunch of ways to beat the heat for yourself. You could go to the beach with the family, or go for ice cream at one of the many popular stops. Perhaps you’d prefer air conditioning which you’ll find in abundance at a movie theater. You have ways to cope with the heat. Coincidentally, so does your car. It’s been built with systems to regulate the heat…but you still need to watch for signs your car is overheating.
Like you, the systems to regulate temperature can fail. It can lead to serious medical conditions in people. Likewise, in your car, it can lead to devastating mechanical failures.
When the temperature starts to spike, keep an eye on your vehicle. Here are signs your car is overheating.
Five Signs Your Car is Overheating
Temperature Gauge
Many cars have a gauge on the dash for coolant temperature, although not as many as used to. The needle on that gauge should always be somewhere in the middle when the car is at operating temperature. If it’s edging up close to the red zone, keep a close eye on it. If it gets up into the red, shut off the engine before major damage happens!
Steam from Under the Hood
It’s a bad sign when you see steam coming from under the hood. At that point, there’s likely some sort of damage already. It happens when the pressurized engine coolant finds its way out of a hole or a hose, spewing hot coolant steam into the air. Never drive with steam pouring out from under the hood.
Warning Light
Sometimes, you’ll get an early indicator that your car is going to overheat. There could be an ‘Engine Hot’ message that comes up on the display, telling you that you need to do something about it. Or, it could be a Check Engine light that comes on. It’s nondescript and doesn’t tell you it’s overheating. Either way, get it checked out.
Coolant on the Ground
Coolant leaking from the front of your car isn’t a symptom of overheating per se. Instead, it’s a good indication your car is about to overheat. Without coolant in the engine, your car can’t regulate its heat properly. That’s bad, if you haven’t picked up on that already.
Knocking Noise
An engine that’s running too hot often makes more engine noise than when it’s running right. It could be pinging or knocking, or just generally sounding worse than normal. If that’s the case, you probably want to get it checked out before you cause it further damage.
Repairing an engine that has overheated is expensive, you can count on that. You might be better off finding yourself a different vehicle. Whether you’re seeing signs your car is overheating or you just want something different, see us at CarUP in Kansas City. We have a great selection of used vehicles and friendly staff to make your car-shopping experience to notch.
