Imagine this. You’re driving down a road when suddenly, you start to see smoke coming out of your hood. You look at your instrument cluster and notice that the needle on the temperature gauge is past the normal level. A strange smell is also starting to emit from the engine. Your vehicle is overheating. You might be wondering, “What do I do when my vehicle starts to overheat?” In this post, we are going to teach you what to do and how to prevent your vehicle from overheating. Keep reading to start learning.
How to safely handle an overheating vehicle
The first thing you should do is turn off the A/C and turn on the heat. This will draw heat away from the engine and might be enough to stop your vehicle from overheating. Pull over to the side of the road in a safe spot. Call for roadside assistance or a tow truck. If you don’t have roadside assistance, do not open the hood for 15 minutes. This will allow the coolant to cool down enough so that you don’t burn yourself. After everything is cooled, slowly open the radiator cap with gloves on. If you have coolant, slowly add some until you reach the full line. Then, turn on the engine an see if the temperature gauge returns to normal. Finally, go to a service center immediately.
How to prevent your vehicle from overheating
Now that you know what to do when your vehicle is overheating, you need to know how to prevent it from happening. There are a few things you can do to prevent overheating:
- Regularly check the coolant and radiator
- Monitor the temperature gauge
- Have extra coolant and water on hand
- Get regular coolant flushes
- Don’t use A/C in very hot weather
[ Check this out next: What do the Warning Lights in My Nissan Vehicle Mean? ]
Schedule service appointment at Nissan/INFINITI Guam
If you’ve been having problems with your vehicle overheating, schedule a service appointment at Nissan/INFINITI Guam today! We can perform a coolant flush or a vehicle inspection to see what is causing your problem.
