You don’t need us to tell you that an overheating engine is bad news. It’s important to have the cooling system serviced every 48,000 kilometres to ensure it is healthy and has fresh coolant in it. We recommend you bring your vehicle to our shop faithfully so we can inspect the cooling system thoroughly and replace any malfunctioning or leaking parts. These things can overheat your engine.
Clogged Cooling System
Part of the service at 48,000 kilometres is to flush out the cooling system. This removes dirt and sediment from things like the radiator and radiator hoses so they don’t get clogged and impede the circulation of coolant. If your cooling system is clogged, the coolant will stop at the clog and not go any farther. Consequently, your engine will overheat because it does not have coolant in parts of it.
Leaking Cooling System
The same thing can happen if your cooling system is leaking. The coolant will circulate and cool off the engine up to the point where the leak is and then leak out of the cooling system. This means you will not have enough coolant in the engine to keep the temperature below 104 degrees Celsius. This will also make your car, SUV, or truck overheat whenever you start the engine and operate the vehicle.
Malfunctioning Water Pump
Coolant circulation is crucial to keeping an engine cool. The water pump is the part in the cooling system that moves the coolant through the engine. The water pump has a lifespan of about 10 years or 160,000 kilometres. After this time, the water pump can actually start to malfunction or die completely. If your car needs a new water pump, it will overheat when you are driving it.
Malfunctioning Thermostat
The thermostat lasts about the same amount of time as the water pump lasts. In other words, if your car is older than 10 years old and it’s overheating, you could have a thermostat problem or a water pump problem. The thermostat is the part in the cooling system that measures the engine’s temperature to release the coolant when the engine starts to get too hot.
Finally, if you drive a classic car that is overheating all the time, you may have to replace the radiator to resolve the problem. Eventually, a radiator will rust out and start to leak. In addition, the air inlets in the radiator can get clogged with dirt and sediment. Bring your car to our shop if it is overheating.