Overheating Sign on Dashboard – Reasons and Your Immediate Actions

Some signs on your dashboard should never be ignored, like the overheating warning. If you're seeing the overheating sign on your dashboard, the main reason is pretty obvious: Your engine is running too hot and needs time to cool down. The next concern is what exactly is causing your engine to overheat. What could be the possible reason why the engine is overheating? What should be your immediate actions to keep this from becoming a serious issue?

You need to pull over and stop as soon as the overheating sign comes up on your dashboard. Once you've done that, you need to wait for the engine to cool down. Now you can start trying to find the source of the overheating problem. Your engine could be overheating for several reasons. In most cases though, engines overheat because of low coolant or a bad thermostat. There could also be a problem with another part of your car's cooling system.

In this article, we'll explore the reasons why your engine is overheating. We'll also walk you through what needs to be done when you see an overheating warning on your dashboard.

Why Are You Seeing the Overheating Sign?

When the overheating sign comes up on your dashboard, it's a warning that your engine is currently above the maximum safe temperature. This warning should always be treated as urgent because overheating can result in catastrophic engine damage.

What Is Causing Your Car to Overheat?

Overheating is tough to deal with because there are so many causes. In most cases, overheating is caused by an issue with your car's cooling system. If your engine can't cool off, then heat will start to build up. This heat will eventually reach dangerous levels.

Let's take a look at the reasons why your engine is overheating.

1) Low Coolant or Leaking Coolant

This is the most common cause of an overheating engine. Coolant is the lifeblood of your cooling system, it's useless without it. It's only a matter of time before your engine starts to overheat when your coolant level is too low. Your car will have no way of moving heat from the engine to the radiator. Heat will build up inside the engine compartment, making it overheat.

You'll need to fill up your coolant to a suitable level if the fluid level is too low. With fresh coolant, the engine will be able to keep itself cool. Make sure to wait until the engine is cold before checking or topping up your coolant. You should never check the coolant when it is hot. Boiling coolant can bubble out of the reservoir and cause burns.

Usually, there shouldn't be much of a drop in your coolant level. Your car's coolant is kept in a closed system that it cycles through until the fluid is dirty or degraded. You might have a coolant leak if you notice a drastic drop in your car's coolant.

If you've noticed a leak, you won't be able to add more coolant. You'll need to fix the leak in your cooling system before you can top up your coolant.

2) Faulty Thermostat

The thermostat is a sort of gate for the coolant between the engine and the radiator. The thermostat keeps the temperature of the engine in control by opening and closing. It opens to cool down the engine by letting coolant in. The thermostat closes when the engine is cold, keeping the coolant out. Sometimes the thermostat goes bad and gets stuck in a certain position.

The thermostat can prevent coolant from getting to the engine if it gets stuck open. This will quickly cause the engine to build up heat and overheat.

If you have a faulty thermostat, you'll need to replace it.

3) Faulty Radiator Fan

The radiator fan keeps the engine cool by pulling air through the radiator. This removes heat from the coolant running through the radiator. This in turn allows the radiator to supply the engine with cold coolant. The radiator fan is especially useful when the car is idling and air isn't being pushed through the radiator by the car's movement.

If the radiator fan fails, the engine loses part of its ability to cool itself. A bad radiator fan causes the temperature to rise and can lead to overheating.

4) Clogged Coolant Pipe

The coolant gets through your engine through the coolant line. If you add dirty or contaminated coolant to your car, there's a possibility of your coolant line getting clogged. This prevents coolant from moving between the radiator and the engine, resulting in overheating.

If the lower radiator pipe remains cold after the engine has been running for a while, then there is a blockage in the coolant system. The lower pipe should be filled with warm coolant if the system is working normally.

5) Broken Water Pump

The water pump moves coolant through the car's cooling system. If the water pump breaks down, there's no way to get cold coolant moving through the engine, or hot coolant moving to the radiator. This results in overheating.

6) Blocked Radiator

The radiator allows your coolant to cool down through the movement of cool air over its fins. But the radiator's position at the front of the car means that it's exposed to all sorts of dirt and debris. This dirt can build up on the radiator and block the airflow over it.

While dirt on the radiator might seem like a normal occurrence, the blockage can become quite serious in areas with a lot of debris on the road. If the radiator is significantly blocked, it can lead to overheating. You can clean off the radiator using a spray of water from a hose.

7) Bad Head Gasket

A bad head gasket is already a serious engine problem on its own, but it can also cause worse issues to develop. One of the most common signs of a blown head gasket is overheating. This is because a bad head gasket can cause coolant leaks to develop.

A bad head gasket can also cause engine oil to get into the coolant, causing it to become less effective.

What Should You Do When You See the Overheating Sign?

When you see the overheating sign on your dashboard, you should treat it as an urgent situation. An overheating engine is at risk of failure at any moment, so you shouldn't drive one foot more than you absolutely need to.

• Stop the Car

Don't panic, and stop the car as soon as you safely can. Once you've brought the car safely to a stop, you will need to wait for the engine to cool down.

Don't open the hood, especially if you see steam or smoke coming out from under the hood.

• Turn Off the AC and Turn On the Heat

Once you've stopped the car, you should turn off the AC. Running the air conditioning puts some extra stress on the engine, which you can't afford when it's overheating. If you can, you should turn on the heater as high as you safely can. Running the heater should pull heat from the coolant, helping the engine cool down more quickly.

• Check the Coolant

Once the temperature gauge has fallen to a safe level, and you can't see steam or smoke from the hood, you can check the level of coolant in the engine. You can quickly top up the coolant level if it's too low. This should help to lower your engine's temperature and protect it from some of the effects of overheating.

• Have Your Car Checked

If the issue isn't fixed by topping up your coolant, you probably have a more serious issue with your car. You'll need to get your car to a mechanic to determine which repairs will need to be made. You can have your car towed to a nearby mechanic to avoid the risk of overheating the engine again.

You might decide that you don't want to have the car towed. As long as you drive carefully, the engine should be okay. Start the car and remember to drive slowly. Don't push the engine too much to avoid raising its temperature. Make sure that you keep one eye on the temperature gauge as you drive. If you notice the needle is starting to climb too far, you should pull over and allow the engine to cool down again.

What Can Overheating Do to Your Car?

An overheating engine is a critical situation. You should never ignore an overheating warning. If overheating is allowed to go on for too long, it can have serious effects that have catastrophic results on the engine.

• Cracked or warped cylinder head
• Cracked engine block
• Burnt or melted cylinders
• Damaged head gaskets
• Complete engine failure

Conclusion

Driving with an overheating can cause catastrophic damage to your engine. You should pull over safely and stop driving as soon as you notice the overheating sign on your dashboard. Then you should kill the AC and start the heater. This will help your engine cool down.

Once your engine has cooled down, you can start to tackle the underlying cause. Try topping up your coolant. Then you can have a mechanic inspect your car.