How Cooling Problems Can Affect Your Car
When your car overheats, it can cause more problems than just the immediate inconvenience. Having a vehicle breakdown by the roadside is bad, and maybe dangerous if you’re stuck next to a fast moving road.
But your car’s engine could be able to incur some serious damage, that’s seriously expensive to repair. Specifically, the head of an overheating engine is prone to distorting and cracking. Aluminium blocks and heads are most in danger, but even heavy old-style cast-iron power plants are open to damage.
If cracking or distortion does occur, you are looking at stripping down and replacing some of the most expensive mechanical parts in your vehicle.
A blown head gasket
The head gasket sits between the cylinder head and engine block, making a seal which stops coolant, lubricant and combustion gases mixing. As the engine overheats, even a very small distortion may cause the head gasket to ‘blow’ due to extra pressure. At this stage combustion gases mix with lubricant and coolant, causing a wide range of problems.
Piston damage and lubrication problems
A damaged gasket can potentially leak coolant, which will cause the engine to overheat again. But that isn’t the whole story. Coolant can find its way into the crankcase or the cylinders, mixing with the oil and reducing its effectiveness as a lubricant. In the longer-term, this increases wear in the cylinders and to the piston rings. Less efficient lubrication can also lead to more overheating, leaving the engine in a downward spiral.
Back to basics
Although engine problems can be the cause of overheating, the most common cause is simply lack of proper cooling. Faulty thermostats stop coolant circulating; leaky hoses allow coolant to escape, as does a corroded or damaged radiator.
Other common causes of overheating are problems with the radiator fan not coming on, or switching on too late or not at high enough rpm. A faulty fan will not cool the engine enough, which can lead to other damage.
Maintenance is the key factor
While the consequences of overheating are complex and may well require the services of a qualified garage, it is usually easy to prevent problems happening. Simple, regular checks and being aware of what can happen with your car should be sufficient. Ensure your checks cover coolant levels, radiator, hoses, the fan belt and fan. A little time spent doing simple cooling systems maintenance can save you a huge amount of trouble and expense.
