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What to do if the engine overheats?

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maj. tom
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What to do if the engine overheats?

Postby maj. tom » May 23rd, 2020, 7:04 pm

The story is: a few days ago i was on the main road and a Mazda BT-50 was blocking the oncoming lane. Causing a set of traffic. Hood up, steam bellowing out of the front. And the driver had the radiator cap open and pouring a bottle coolant down there. As i got closer i heard the engine rattling heavy. The engine was still running and steam was pouring out.

So when i reached up there, i told the guy to switch off the engine and let it cool at least 15 minutes. I've read this in several car manuals and websites and YouTube videos. He told me "nah the engine go buss" (what this means?) if he do that and he continued to pour coolant down the open steaming radiator. So i just drove off.

And then i realized i didn't really know about these large diesel pickup-truck engines and what they require. Maybe he was right? What's the procedure? Pull aside, switch off immediately and let the engine cool? As far as i know. Then get a tow to a garage, because everybody insurance offers this these days. But was he right? Just wondering if I've been educated wrongly on this.

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Re: What to do if the engine overheats?

Postby Cantmis » May 23rd, 2020, 7:11 pm

Should have bought a Toyota!

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Re: What to do if the engine overheats?

Postby speedmelter » May 23rd, 2020, 7:42 pm

He is hoping to slowly reduce the temperature by leaving it running and adding coolant rather than allowing a slightly faster rate of temperature reduction by switching it off then adding his coolant or water.

With that being said whatever damage is done is done

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Re: What to do if the engine overheats?

Postby sMASH » May 23rd, 2020, 7:47 pm

Same principle as a turbo timer: allow the flows at low speeds to remove the heat and reduce the temps. The flows of the exhaust gas and the coolant and oils circulating.

If he keeps pouring water, the water and the steam eases up, then he got the heat out of internals and temps back in a manageable range.

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Re: What to do if the engine overheats?

Postby alfa » May 23rd, 2020, 7:52 pm

From what I've been told if you pour coolant into an overheated engine that's switched off then the pump wouldn't be able to circulate it and you will have uneven cooling and contraction thereby causing the engine head to crack or warp. Need to keep the engine running.Someone correct me if wrong

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Re: What to do if the engine overheats?

Postby zoom rader » May 23rd, 2020, 8:05 pm

First question is why the engine overheated.

A number of things could happen which is.

Bad thermostat
Cracked head
Cracked block
Clogged Radiator or water passages .
Pump not working.
Water leak
Fan not working

Cracked head or block is easy to spot as you will have to look for oil in the cooling water.

Troubleshooting the pump is also easy, look for flow in the radiator with the engine running.

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Re: What to do if the engine overheats?

Postby adnj » May 23rd, 2020, 8:13 pm

You were right. The best way to cool an engine is to shut it down, open the hood and leave the radiator cap on. Add coolant to the overflow bottle as necessary.

Rejected heat is a function of two major variables: coolant flow rate and differential temperature (the difference between the inlet and outlet of the radiator). The thermodynamics are the same whether it's a 3L pickup or 14L Cummins diesel.

When the truck stopped, radiator air flow was reduced. With the cap open, pressure can drop and a vapor bubble can form slowing coolant flow.

If you travel at a steady speed of about 35 mph, you have maximum fuel efficiency (least amount of heat) and a steady flow of air through the grill (lower underhood temperature).

It may seem counterintuitive, but if your engine overheats, you're better off driving slowly on a highway than a surface street with stop-and-go traffic.

Unfortunately, I had an occasion to prove the theory on a desert test drive.

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Re: What to do if the engine overheats?

Postby Ted_v2 » May 23rd, 2020, 9:42 pm

i have had good experiences with cooling overheated engines by allowing the engine to run and slowly add water, most times however the radiator had almost no water and it wasnt me opening the radiator cap. I got burnt enough times with hot radiator water but wasnt anything to serious.

It would leave your hands stinging for hours.

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Re: What to do if the engine overheats?

Postby VexXx Dogg » May 23rd, 2020, 10:22 pm

if you have a failed themo, dunno how effective that method would be

I still feel the safest approach is kill the engine immediately and let it cool off before checking water/fan/etc

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Re: What to do if the engine overheats?

Postby kamakazi » May 23rd, 2020, 11:36 pm

initially, as quickly as possible pull aside and shut off the engine, once it is safe to do so. assess what is causing the vehicle to overheat and take action from there.

Do not open the radiator cap when the system is hot without some sort of protection unless you want to experience getting burned by hot water/steam. (It could just be a couple of wet rags or a leather type glove)

The boiling point of water is dependent on pressure; it can flash boil when the pressure is reduced by opening the pressure cap. Also be very careful when adding water back into the system unless you want to experience a face full of hot water(the water can also flash boil when being added back to the system if it is hot enough).

There are too many factors to give a one size fits all answer past my advice above

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Re: What to do if the engine overheats?

Postby gastly369 » May 23rd, 2020, 11:47 pm

Infamous WL.. Warp head one time...

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Re: What to do if the engine overheats?

Postby stev » May 24th, 2020, 1:15 am

i feddup overheat over the past 10 years with the trueno...i patched a hole in my upper radiator hose temporarily with electrical tape just to reach home :| and drove with the cap off another time. lol

I actually never heard of cooling it while it's running...this is interesting...i always shut off and wait before doing anything.

Isn't it too risky to pour water / coolant while the engine hot? extreme change of temperature is never good IMO.

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Re: What to do if the engine overheats?

Postby sMASH » May 24th, 2020, 2:54 am

TuRbO tImEr



If allyuh ever remove the thermostat and run ur car, u used to see the temperature go down, when ur not pressing out.
The heat generated by combustion is less that the heat removed by the circulating coolant and airflow through the radiator

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Re: What to do if the engine overheats?

Postby redmanjp » May 24th, 2020, 3:08 am

^ if u pouring it into the radiator yes. but what about the overflow container?

also some years ago i read somewhere u can put the AC temp on hot and turn on the fan. then just about 2 weeks after i read that i actually ended up doing this when the engine overheated and saved it :mrgreen:

but a mechanic cut some hose in the car so that the heater doesn't work so this probably wont work again

so failing that i would just pull aside, switch off engine, open bonnet and let it cool to a safe temp (switch ignition to on to check temp) then add water to overflow container.

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Re: What to do if the engine overheats?

Postby stev » May 24th, 2020, 3:27 am

redmanjp wrote:^ if u pouring it into the radiator yes. but what about the overflow container?

also some years ago i read somewhere u can put the AC temp on hot and turn on the fan. then just about 2 weeks after i read that i actually ended up doing this when the engine overheated and saved it :mrgreen:

but a mechanic cut some hose in the car so that the heater doesn't work so this probably wont work again

so failing that i would just pull aside, switch off engine, open bonnet and let it cool to a safe temp (switch ignition to on to check temp) then add water to overflow container.



WORKS!!!....not for long but this sheit works

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Re: What to do if the engine overheats?

Postby hindian » May 24th, 2020, 5:16 am

Im accustomed to adding coolant while the engine running. Doesn't hurt it as far as I can tell and I've been doing it for years on gas and diesel engines. Trick is to add the water slowly so as to not shock the system with cold coolant
Another thing I discovered by accident is that if you near a water source and you're able to soak the radiator with water before opening the cap, there won't be an explosion of hot water and steamand you'll keep all your skin. Do this at you own risk though...

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Re: What to do if the engine overheats?

Postby sMASH » May 24th, 2020, 7:45 am

That ac ting will get the fan to come on, but not get the compressor to come on, so it would not get more load,,, bright.


Soaking the radiator... That's cooling it from the outside first.


I Pick up some news tricks here.

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Re: What to do if the engine overheats?

Postby Kenjo » May 24th, 2020, 10:48 am

Accident and emergency has seen quite a few people get burnt from opening radiators while hot is all I’m going to add

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Re: What to do if the engine overheats?

Postby cornfused » May 24th, 2020, 11:35 am

It depends on the given situation , I have driven vehicles that have overheated. A slow crawls on a non traffic road would assist in normalizing temperatures. If you have time , pull aside in a safe place. Park with the engine off and with front of front side of vehicle facing wind hood unlocked or raised and the temperature would cool in about an hour before or less. In an urban area park a wait. I do no add fluids to any hot engine. Some have been so bad that you could see the temp guage moving while driving. Zero cracked or warped heads.

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Re: What to do if the engine overheats?

Postby VexXx Dogg » May 24th, 2020, 11:46 am

stev wrote:
redmanjp wrote:^ if u pouring it into the radiator yes. but what about the overflow container?

also some years ago i read somewhere u can put the AC temp on hot and turn on the fan. then just about 2 weeks after i read that i actually ended up doing this when the engine overheated and saved it :mrgreen:

but a mechanic cut some hose in the car so that the heater doesn't work so this probably wont work again

so failing that i would just pull aside, switch off engine, open bonnet and let it cool to a safe temp (switch ignition to on to check temp) then add water to overflow container.



WORKS!!!....not for long but this sheit works



Used this in the past for minor overheating on a dirty rad with clogged fins, not catastrophic cooling system failure.
If you have a blockage, leak, or other issue the secondary radiator ac method will not help at all.

Switch off.
Assess.
Determine best course of action to protect yourself and the motor.

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Re: What to do if the engine overheats?

Postby ScHoolboySoloQ » May 24th, 2020, 1:39 pm

Often I see many people doing engine wash/under wash but I never see anyone de-greasing their radiator.

Is it necessary to do it and if so when should you do it (once a year, twice a year etc)

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Re: What to do if the engine overheats?

Postby cornfused » May 24th, 2020, 2:28 pm

I did this recently . The dirt and stones that may come out the lower eight of the radiator my be a lot for some vehicles. During our normal wash a hose cannot reach this area of the radiator as it is located where the radiator sits on the front member.

To properly clean the vents on a car radiator , remove from vehicle.

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Re: What to do if the engine overheats?

Postby redmanjp » May 24th, 2020, 4:24 pm

So, do newer vehicles have some audible alert to tell you this is happening before it becomes dangerous or destroys your engine?

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Re: What to do if the engine overheats?

Postby kamakazi » May 24th, 2020, 4:33 pm

I mean there is an idiot light on some vehicles to let you know that the engine is to far gone.

I hope that people know that the methods being discussed here apply differently depending on what is causing your vehicle to overheat

Adding water makes no sense if your leak is big enough. Turning on the a/c heater has been little effect if the rad is dangerously low on fluid etc.
redmanjp wrote:So, do newer vehicles have some audible alert to tell you this is happening before it becomes dangerous or destroys your engine?

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Re: What to do if the engine overheats?

Postby toyolink » May 24th, 2020, 5:33 pm

The approaches outlined are almost all valid and correct except when to apply and what to apply may differ depending on the cause of overheating.
In cases where the cyl head gasket has experienced a significant crack and there is interface between the combustion environment and internal cooling ports, turning the engine off my mean that the engine wont restart even after cooling and introduction of a cooling medium.
In the scenario outlined the more experienced would carefully release the radiator pressure (this requires some skill and courage) and this having been done attempt to recharge with a cooling liquid (water is fine for this) until temps seem to settle (someone may have to help keep rpm above 1000).
The situation outlined is only properly curable with a head job and the approach described is designed to get you to a safe controllable environment.
BTW, the reason vehicles with this kind of issue most times wont restart is because after cooling and introduction of liquid, the liquid may flood the combustion area and negate the possibility of reignition.
What could be the root cause for all this could be broken water pump belt, failed thermos, leaking cooling system, failed cooling fan, collapsed water hose or sometimes just wear and tear.

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Re: What to do if the engine overheats?

Postby redmanjp » May 24th, 2020, 8:56 pm

kamakazi wrote:I mean there is an idiot light on some vehicles to let you know that the engine is to far gone.

I hope that people know that the methods being discussed here apply differently depending on what is causing your vehicle to overheat

Adding water makes no sense if your leak is big enough. Turning on the a/c heater has been little effect if the rad is dangerously low on fluid etc.
redmanjp wrote:So, do newer vehicles have some audible alert to tell you this is happening before it becomes dangerous or destroys your engine?


only some? and even if there's a light u would be watching the road most of the time- if an overheating situation happens very suddenly chances are u may not have glanced down and seen this light- which is why i would say an audible alert in addition to the light should be better- cars these days have all kinda fancy ting like reverse sensor but cyah have something so critical- unless they want you to just fork out more money and buy a new engine or a new car.

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Re: What to do if the engine overheats?

Postby maj. tom » May 24th, 2020, 9:17 pm

Yes it does. It's not an idiot light. It's just a light so you know what's going on while driving. What you're supposed to put your finger on the engine while you're driving to know it getting too hot? In modern cars there aren't a million gauges always on and monitoring everything on the dash, the error indicator only lights up when there is something wrong. It's by design so a driver won't get distracted. (those clever Japanese!)

Image
The light is red when ignition is turned on and the car is booting up. Turns off after ignition sequence. Normal
The light is blue when the engine is cold. Turns off when it's optimal temperature. Normal
Blinks white while driving means the temperature is rising and you're pushing the engine too hard, eg. on a hot day with AC blasting and going uphill too long. Ease off the throttle and AC and drive slow. Will turn off when temp goes back to safe.

Red and blinking/lit means something is wrong and temperature is continuing to rise. Car will lose power. Stop and wait for engine to cool. Get to a garage once it's cooled enough to drive again, or call a tow truck.
Amber and blinking/lit, constantly means immediately stop and call a tow truck.

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Re: What to do if the engine overheats?

Postby skylinechild » May 24th, 2020, 10:03 pm

redmanjp wrote:^ if u pouring it into the radiator yes. but what about the overflow container?

also some years ago i read somewhere u can put the AC temp on hot and turn on the fan. then just about 2 weeks after i read that i actually ended up doing this when the engine overheated and saved it :mrgreen:

but a mechanic cut some hose in the car so that the heater doesn't work so this probably wont work again

so failing that i would just pull aside, switch off engine, open bonnet and let it cool to a safe temp (switch ignition to on to check temp) then add water to overflow container.


what youre actually doing is opening up the HOT side of the Ac system.

automotive ac systems can both cool and heat .
( except on cheaper models of cars where there they only install the cold side of the system)

but we only concerned about the cool part .

what the mechanic do is he cut the hose to the heater core and bypass the core altogether .


sMASH wrote:That ac ting will get the fan to come on, but not get the compressor to come on, so it would not get more load,,, bright.


Soaking the radiator... That's cooling it from the outside first.


I Pick up some news tricks here.



so exactly how to do is is like this

1. is you turn the blower speed to high.
2 press the ac button to turn off the compressor so the blower will continue to run.
3. slide or turn the temp control from cold to hot.
this allows coolant to start flowing through the heater core and blows hot air through the vents.

NOTE - make sure to put the vents away from your face as the hot air might cause u to get a stroke .

SIDE NOTE
this procedure is also the same way how you bleed the radiator when you doing coolant change.
the only additional thing is you will have to connect a spill free funnel and let it come up to temp and then rev the engine at a constant rpm say 1800 rpms till the fan comes on.
release the pedal... let the fans turn off on their own ...and rev and hold again till the fans come on. ( do about 2-3 times)

always watching the funnel to ensure the funnel doesnt run out of coolant.

simple basis is the air will flow to the highest point and escape via the funnel but cant get back in as the funnel has coolant !

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Re: What to do if the engine overheats?

Postby kamakazi » May 25th, 2020, 4:05 am

maj. tom wrote:Yes it does. It's not an idiot light. It's just a light so you know what's going on while driving. What you're supposed to put your finger on the engine while you're driving to know it getting too hot? In modern cars there aren't a million gauges always on and monitoring everything on the dash, the error indicator only lights up when there is something wrong. It's by design so a driver won't get distracted. (those clever Japanese!)

Image
The light is red when ignition is turned on and the car is booting up. Turns off after ignition sequence. Normal
The light is blue when the engine is cold. Turns off when it's optimal temperature. Normal
Blinks white while driving means the temperature is rising and you're pushing the engine too hard, eg. on a hot day with AC blasting and going uphill too long. Ease off the throttle and AC and drive slow. Will turn off when temp goes back to safe.

Red and blinking/lit means something is wrong and temperature is continuing to rise. Car will lose power. Stop and wait for engine to cool. Get to a garage once it's cooled enough to drive again, or call a tow truck.
Amber and blinking/lit, constantly means immediately stop and call a tow truck.
So simple that an idiot can figure it out.

Give me a gauge any day. It doesn't have to be linear, I know what normal operating temp is and I can tell if I'm running cooler or hotter than normal. Better if it have temp values.

By the time the red light is on, prepare for a new headgasket and a shaved engine head.

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Re: What to do if the engine overheats?

Postby shogun » May 25th, 2020, 9:54 am

Hmmm, some good info in here.

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