justitiaomnibus: OP, tenk.

But does overheating knok a car engine?

If yur car engine knoks, wht is the best solution? Is it buying a new engine or repairing the knokd one by changing gaskets and what av u...

Once again, tenk.

If its convenient buy a new one. A blown engine will always have that after effect

DaBullIT:

Alternatively look for a brand new double / triple celled radiator

Double or triple celled radiator CAN NEVER be the solution to overheating. Trust me.

Faulty thermostat

Op God bless you and your generations (born and unborn) This overheating thing has practically crippled one of my cars (Audi A4) This article is really enlightening and I can't wait for the remaining articles. Meanwhile, hoe can one reach you? and how much do these diagnostics cost?

automedicsnig: Those who have experienced it (overheating) before will definitely tell you that it is one incident that they don’t pray to witness again.

OVERHEATING is one word that has been on the lips of many people, it doesn’t knock before sweeping right through and when it does come in, it can be very tricky to diagnose.

Now for the benefit of those who have not witnessed the scenario before, I will give a quick description of what overheating is.

Overheating is a condition in which your engines temperature rises to a very critical level, usually above the middle of the gauge and towards the red line.

It arises as a result of a problem in the cooling system.

In one of our previous write-ups, we discussed the job of the cooling system in the vehicle and why it is important to take proper care of it.

The issue of overheating is actually not a fault, it is a symptom and it is at this junction that many mechanics and DIY’s get it wrong because they always try to solve the symptom instead of looking for the fault.

There are a whole lot of things that can cause overheating but we will be treating only one in this article, other causes will be treated in subsequent articles.

The very first on the list of causes that i will be discussing will be low coolant.

In the cooling system article, I discussed about coolant and its importance.

It is the lifeblood of the cooling system as it is the one that absorbs the heat from the engine. In a case where you have insufficient coolant, then the efficiency of the system is reduced and when this happens heat absorption becomes low thereby leaving this heat to build up in the engine.

A low coolant level can be caused by a leak either external or internal or from outright carelessness, although the latter is not all that common.

An external leak in the cooling system will be found around areas like the water hoses, the water pump, a leak in the radiator, or can even come from a leak in the coolant reservoir.

Sometimes a bad radiator cap will also result in this because it can no longer hold pressure so the coolant will keep flowing freely into the reservoir.

An internal leak will be a little more difficult to diagnose because it’s something you cannot see and it could be coming from anywhere in the system.

One good way to know that you have a leak is when you have to top your coolant every day. The very tricky thing about a leak in the system (especially an external leak) is that you will not notice the leak.

This is because the leak will only occur when the system is under pressure (except it is a very big one) and this pressure will be achieved when the engine is hot and coolant like any other fluid will evaporate at that temperature.

So what you will have is a case where as the coolant is leaking out it is evaporating and this is what at times confuses most mechanics and DIYs. Now someone must be wondering –“if I need pressure to detect the leak and I can’t do it while the engine is hot, then what do I do?”

Its pretty simple –a cooling system pressure test.

Those who are conversant with the radio program would have heard this phrase a couple of times. It is an automotive test that involves pressurizing the cooling system to a certain pressure, so as to simulate a driving condition.

When this happens it becomes easy to detect whether there is a leak and where it is coming from.

Coolant leak is just one of the many causes of overheating and now you know that checking your coolant is very important. When next you have an issue of overheating, you can go ahead to perform the test on your vehicle.

Other causes will be treated in subsequent articles.

Buy a brand new car and forget most of the things discussed by the OP. If you're the fairly used type, then read on to appreciate the wonderful post.

lomomike:

Double or triple celled radiator CAN NEVER be the solution to overheating. Trust me.

More so that might as well have increased the volume of coolant in the Engine of which the original pump and thermostat where not designed to cope with

bubbleforth: Buy a brand new car and forget most of the things discussed by the OP. If you're the fairly used type, then read on to appreciate the wonderful post.

your post goes against everything the Car section is set up for.

DaBullIT:


I have a suggestion but please admin don't ban me o. A beg. I'm trying to help. OK ?

Your coolant's tank cover should have the name of preffered products if you can't find that in Lag .P.H or Abuja. Try myafricanstore. I purchased goods with them and it was delivered

Thanks!!!,

I'll do just that............

erico2k2:
More so that might as well have increased the volume of coolant in the Engine of which the original pump and thermostat where not designed to cope with

Cars are put through rigorous battery of tests in various conditions ( including climate, humidity, altitude, temperature and other factors) with various parameters before being released for sales as a particular model Year. MAjority of cars in operation in Nigeria are American spec, European and Asian spec automobiles which found their way to Nigeria. Trust me the cooling systems of cars cope well in Middle East, some Regions of North America and other parts of the world with factory OEM installed radiator. The engineers who specified, designed and installed these systems aren't fools or ignorant. They designed these system with a range of tolerances in them.

When I was using a Carina ii, my radiator was single cell it never had problem until one dumbasz electrician carried out operation on my headlamp and tampered with the fan then bypassed it and removed the termostat that was when I started getting wahala before I sold it off.

my 96 camry over heats each time it drives above one hour, fan is working fine, radiator is ok and has been washed. the coolant reservoir has a hole at the top, i suspected water evaporates from it and i told my mechanic, but he insisted it could not be the couse.

pls can a hole at the top corner of the coolant reservoir, course such over heating.

iiiyyyk: my 96 camry over heats each time it drives above one hour, fan is working fine, radiator is ok and has been washed. the coolant reservoir has a hole at the top, i suspected water evaporates from it and i told my mechanic, but he insisted it could not be the couse.
pls can a hole at the top corner of the coolant reservoir, course such over heating.

I drive a 96 CAMRY too. Here is what you need to do. Find people to seal the coolant rubber. Make sure fans work properly and change the water pump. If the radiator doesn't have any leakages definitely your temp. won't be rising.

expert101:

I drive a 96 CAMRY too. Here is what you need to do. Find people to seal the coolant rubber. Make sure fans work properly and change the water pump. If the radiator doesn't have any leakages definitely your temp. won't be rising.

thanks, i will do that Asap, and pray the heating stops completly.

Overheating is the one car problem I seriously dread, especially in this Lagos traffic. Persistent overheating killed the engine of my car. I changed radiator, fan everything, not solved. It was hellish pumping 700k to buy a complete engine.

kajoula:

Repeat what ERIKO2k2 told you "when your car is on and stationary turn your wheel to the extreme end in either direction,observe if the engine speed increase/decrease in sound....

if it changes,then it might be ..

1. Your car AC Compressor might be a lil bit stiff .....( ie you need change it before it weakens your car engine )

2. check your compressor/engine tie belt.....(Maybe it needs re-positioning/tightening)

3. Though your car engine might be weak...


Hope you'll find this helpfull.

God bless u......

erico2k2:
Hmm ok, this is going to be difficult without physically seeing your veh. Well try inspect your belt and check your tensioner, I'm hoping too others would suggest something too.

Thanks bro!

Many reasons why car overheats but it boils down to the cooling system: Radiator, hose, water pump, thermostat, fans, caps and coolant reservoir.

Mine was in 2006 Honda Accord EX, it happens because the hose under the cap inside the coolant reservoir fell into the reservoir.

Effects:
No resuctioning of coolant back into the radiator.
Radiator constantly losses pressure cause no flow of coolant round the engine.

Symptoms:
Coolant reservoir overflowing
Top radiator hose (hot) soft while engine runs
Temp gauge at 3/4

automedicsnig: Those who have experienced it (overheating) before will definitely tell you that it is one incident that they don’t pray to witness again.

OVERHEATING is one word that has been on the lips of many people, it doesn’t knock before sweeping right through and when it does come in, it can be very tricky to diagnose.

Now for the benefit of those who have not witnessed the scenario before, I will give a quick description of what overheating is.

Overheating is a condition in which your engines temperature rises to a very critical level, usually above the middle of the gauge and towards the red line.

It arises as a result of a problem in the cooling system.

In one of our previous write-ups, we discussed the job of the cooling system in the vehicle and why it is important to take proper care of it.

The issue of overheating is actually not a fault, it is a symptom and it is at this junction that many mechanics and DIY’s get it wrong because they always try to solve the symptom instead of looking for the fault.

There are a whole lot of things that can cause overheating but we will be treating only one in this article, other causes will be treated in subsequent articles.

The very first on the list of causes that i will be discussing will be low coolant.

In the cooling system article, I discussed about coolant and its importance.

It is the lifeblood of the cooling system as it is the one that absorbs the heat from the engine. In a case where you have insufficient coolant, then the efficiency of the system is reduced and when this happens heat absorption becomes low thereby leaving this heat to build up in the engine.

A low coolant level can be caused by a leak either external or internal or from outright carelessness, although the latter is not all that common.

An external leak in the cooling system will be found around areas like the water hoses, the water pump, a leak in the radiator, or can even come from a leak in the coolant reservoir.

Sometimes a bad radiator cap will also result in this because it can no longer hold pressure so the coolant will keep flowing freely into the reservoir.

An internal leak will be a little more difficult to diagnose because it’s something you cannot see and it could be coming from anywhere in the system.

One good way to know that you have a leak is when you have to top your coolant every day. The very tricky thing about a leak in the system (especially an external leak) is that you will not notice the leak.

This is because the leak will only occur when the system is under pressure (except it is a very big one) and this pressure will be achieved when the engine is hot and coolant like any other fluid will evaporate at that temperature.

So what you will have is a case where as the coolant is leaking out it is evaporating and this is what at times confuses most mechanics and DIYs. Now someone must be wondering –“if I need pressure to detect the leak and I can’t do it while the engine is hot, then what do I do?”

Its pretty simple –a cooling system pressure test.

Those who are conversant with the radio program would have heard this phrase a couple of times. It is an automotive test that involves pressurizing the cooling system to a certain pressure, so as to simulate a driving condition.

When this happens it becomes easy to detect whether there is a leak and where it is coming from.

Coolant leak is just one of the many causes of overheating and now you know that checking your coolant is very important. When next you have an issue of overheating, you can go ahead to perform the test on your vehicle.

Other causes will be treated in subsequent articles.

Nice one OP,from your write up I believe you would be either an automobile technician or a mechanical Engineer,can you please describe the overheating pressure test in simpler terms that a layman would understand??Or describe how to carry it out properly

Not all cars are water cooled (example Danfo, Ijapa, etc) and they too overheat.

Engine oil also works on cooling the engine.

Educating and informating

DaBullIT:

Check your steering oil , but if it sounds when you turn to limit look for another belt.

Your compressor is probably weak

Thanks

Faulty Waterpump

Flat engine jasket

low cell radiator(tokunbo cars) for Nigeria Temp.

U quite know that this ur How-to-do-it peice is sucidal better refer them to a mechanic

automedicsnig: Those who have experienced it (overheating) before will definitely tell you that it is one incident that they don’t pray to witness again.

OVERHEATING is one word that has been on the lips of many people, it doesn’t knock before sweeping right through and when it does come in, it can be very tricky to diagnose.

Now for the benefit of those who have not witnessed the scenario before, I will give a quick description of what overheating is.

Overheating is a condition in which your engines temperature rises to a very critical level, usually above the middle of the gauge and towards the red line.

It arises as a result of a problem in the cooling system.

In one of our previous write-ups, we discussed the job of the cooling system in the vehicle and why it is important to take proper care of it.

The issue of overheating is actually not a fault, it is a symptom and it is at this junction that many mechanics and DIY’s get it wrong because they always try to solve the symptom instead of looking for the fault.

There are a whole lot of things that can cause overheating but we will be treating only one in this article, other causes will be treated in subsequent articles.

The very first on the list of causes that i will be discussing will be low coolant.

In the cooling system article, I discussed about coolant and its importance.

It is the lifeblood of the cooling system as it is the one that absorbs the heat from the engine. In a case where you have insufficient coolant, then the efficiency of the system is reduced and when this happens heat absorption becomes low thereby leaving this heat to build up in the engine.

A low coolant level can be caused by a leak either external or internal or from outright carelessness, although the latter is not all that common.

An external leak in the cooling system will be found around areas like the water hoses, the water pump, a leak in the radiator, or can even come from a leak in the coolant reservoir.

Sometimes a bad radiator cap will also result in this because it can no longer hold pressure so the coolant will keep flowing freely into the reservoir.

An internal leak will be a little more difficult to diagnose because it’s something you cannot see and it could be coming from anywhere in the system.

One good way to know that you have a leak is when you have to top your coolant every day. The very tricky thing about a leak in the system (especially an external leak) is that you will not notice the leak.

This is because the leak will only occur when the system is under pressure (except it is a very big one) and this pressure will be achieved when the engine is hot and coolant like any other fluid will evaporate at that temperature.

So what you will have is a case where as the coolant is leaking out it is evaporating and this is what at times confuses most mechanics and DIYs. Now someone must be wondering –“if I need pressure to detect the leak and I can’t do it while the engine is hot, then what do I do?”

Its pretty simple –a cooling system pressure test.

Those who are conversant with the radio program would have heard this phrase a couple of times. It is an automotive test that involves pressurizing the cooling system to a certain pressure, so as to simulate a driving condition.

When this happens it becomes easy to detect whether there is a leak and where it is coming from.

Coolant leak is just one of the many causes of overheating and now you know that checking your coolant is very important. When next you have an issue of overheating, you can go ahead to perform the test on your vehicle.

Other causes will be treated in subsequent articles.

BLOWN HEAD GASKET:

Aside from most of the symptoms that you have mentioned, a blown head gasket could also cause severe engine over heating due to combustion pressure forcing its wasy into the water jackets of the engine block hence stopping the coolant from circulating.

Easiest way to test for this is to fill up the radiator with coolant, remove the radiator cap, start the engine and rev up to 2500rpm. If its a cylinder head gasket failure you will have the coolant gushing out profusely from the radiator filler top.

Car-Doctor.

erico2k2:
In 9ja terms it same thing that where yyou are meant to put your water, however in the west we just don't put water into the cooling system, there are coolant sold for diff seasons winter and summer, one has higher level of Anti freeze the other has the ability to slow the molecular heating of the fluid. So if you can get your hands on proper coolant for summer, that would be ideal for you car in Nigeria. or you can do 50-50

Thanks alot

one very uncommon reason (tho when this happens, it is very hard to detect and it gives a lot of mechanic headache) is when the top gasket bolt is worn. this causes the top cylinder or cylinder head not to be tightly bolted onto the engine block. this causes continous overheating.
a mechanic friend of mine made me know this because he was trying to fix a car that was over heating. he had done everything thinkable including changing the radiator, the top gasket even the fan, all to know avail until he later on discovered that 0ne or two of the bolts were worn and didn't hold on tightly enough. we later learnt that the owner had taken it to numerous mechanics all to no and there was no solution until she brought it to hi. the technical terms i used may not be correct tho, but you experts in the house should know what i mean.

lomomike:

Double or triple celled radiator CAN NEVER be the solution to overheating. Trust me.

Maybe !!! I'm not an expert , just speaking out of experience , I own and use a 05 Rover 75 he he he trust me when I say that car = overheating .once resolved though it rarely returns

DaBullIT:

Maybe !!! I'm not an expert , just speaking out of experience , I own and use a 05 Rover 75 he he he trust me when I say that car = overheating .once resolved though it rarely returns

How do you manage your Rover 75? I love the chrome bits and the leather interior but the build quality is wayward (no insults intended). As with the case of double or triple celled radiator, only a lazy mechanic would tell a car owner that. It might stop the overheating but what the mechanic successfully did is to mask the real underlying problem which caused the overheating.

lomomike:
How do you manage your Rover 75? I love the chrome bits and the leather interior but the build quality is wayward (no insults intended). As with the case of double or triple celled radiator, only a lazy mechanic would tell a car owner that. It might stop the overheating but what the mechanic successfully did is to mask the real underlying problem which caused the overheating.

Boss, to mange ,adore and enjoy Rover 75. You need to own one !!!!! Its an awesome ride, your impression about the 75's build may not be entirely true. But then maybe I'm blinded by my love for it .

Anyways your question about how I manage it

Simply put : I bought a launch mini diagnosing machine

Parts are a bit expensive but are available in so many more shops thus cutting the price down . the secret is be paranoid enough to visit your mech if/ when you detect something strange or different while you drive

Best part is since I discovered a store that'll ship items for me , I've opted for buying on Amazon UK that way I'm sure I get new parts and quality is guaranteed .

BTT:

and

A dislodged/cut fan belt

Na em be "fan stopped working" na! Haba!
Besides cars now uses elec fans not belted fans, be current.

wristwatch: Faulty Waterpump

Flat engine jasket

low cell radiator(tokunbo cars) for Nigeria Temp.

There is no such thing as Nigerian Temperature.this has been established in subsiquent post plz follow up

victorazy:

Na em be "fan stopped working" na! Haba!
Besides cars now uses elec fans not belted fans, be current.

See you. Na you old school pass.

I used the word 'fan belt' for ease of understanding, which too is the street-credible name.

In some brands/models, of especially Nissan/Infiniti, the serpentine belt across the steering-pump, a/c compressor, roller, etc is actually belted to the water pump.

You have that belt cut, and there you go.