If you’ve never been in a car when it starts to overheat, that can be an overwhelming experience. There can be steam coming out from under the hood and sudden warning lights on the dash that startle you. Star Motors European wants to help you to be prepared for this situation should it ever happen to you.
Find a Safe Place to Pull Over for a Few Minutes
As soon as you notice that the car is overheating, you need to get the car stopped and the engine off. That means finding a safe place where you have room to pull over and let the car cool down. A parking lot is a great option, but might not always be available. Make sure that if you have to pull over onto the shoulder you’re aware of your surroundings and that you use your hazard lights to warn other drivers you’re stopped.
Get a Clear Picture of What’s Happening
Are there dashboard warning lights to help you understand what’s happening? Sometimes when the car overheats, there’s just the temperature gauge showing that the temp is high, but there could be other indicators like the oil light or the check engine light. Once you’ve got the hood popped, try to see if there’s enough coolant in the reservoir, because that could be the problem.
Be Patient and Let the Car Cool Off
This next part is the tough part. You’re going to need to let the car cool down as much as possible. This can take quite a while if the temperature got really high. After about ten to 15 minutes, you should be able to at least turn on the accessory setting and see if the temperature gauge is still reading too high. If it is, you really shouldn’t start the car again. If possible, add coolant to the reservoir and see if that helps to get the temp down. Assuming that helps, you may be able to go ahead and start the car again.
Get the Situation Fully Assessed Right Away
The important thing to remember is that this is usually not an isolated incident. Even if the problem was that the coolant reservoir didn’t have enough coolant, there might be other damage to the engine from overheating. It’s a good idea to go ahead and get the car checked out so that you know for sure everything is alright.
Star Motors European in San Juan Capistrano, CA can help you with all of your European car service and repair issues. Call us today and we’ll take a closer look at what’s going on.
