Overheating too often at too high of a temperature can cause serious engine damage to your European automobile, including causing the hoses and electrical components to melt. This, of course, creates even bigger engine problems that, if severe enough, can result in thousands of dollars in repair bills or even a total engine replacement. Avoid this by bringing your vehicle into Lucas Auto Care at the first sign of trouble. Here are common reasons that cause your car to overheat.
Leaks in the Coolant System
The coolant system is a closed system, i.e. coolant should never leak out of it. Engine coolant circulates through the radiator, through various hoses, and through the heater core and other parts of the cooling system. If there are leaks anywhere in that system, your engine loses precious coolant that it needs to reduce the overall temperature. Low coolant caused by leaks is a common cause for overheating.
Old Engine Coolant
When engine coolant has been around for a while, it picks up dirt and debris. It can even pick up moisture, which dilutes it and diminishes its ability to cool your engine. If there are leaks, that makes the problem even worse because the volume of coolant decreases and you don’t have enough to circulate through the system and keep the engine cool enough. Change your coolant every 30,000 miles.
Radiator Issues
One of the biggest pieces of your cooling system that could fail is your radiator. As impermeable as it seems, it’s, unfortunately, really easy for something to happen. Rust can form on the inside of the radiator and eat outward, causing leaks in places that are really hard to locate. Routinely flushing and refilling the system can help detect radiator problems before they become a huge headache.
Problems with the Water Pump
The water pump is part of what helps to keep engine coolant moving throughout the cooling system. If it isn’t working properly for some reason, that means that coolant doesn’t get where it needs to go. That ultimately leads to overheating, as does a broken thermostat. This part is responsible for opening up the coolant flow so the water pump can push it through the cooling system while your engine is running.
If your European car or crossover is suddenly overheating, bring it in to Lucas Auto Care in Cypress, TX. We can diagnose the problem and get it fixed as quickly as possible. You’ll be back on the road again in no time.
