A modern engine quickly overheats – often the driver does not even have time to react properly.
Structural materials, as well as lubricants, have a temperature limit for performance – and here every extra degree becomes really dangerous, notes expert Mikhail Kolodochkin.
Here are the main reasons that can lead to overheating.
1. Not enough antifreeze
This deteriorates the cooling of the upper, hottest part of the engine – the cylinder head, and then leads to a complete cessation of fluid circulation. Antifreeze usually passes through rubber tubes or leaking radiators – the main one and the heater. If the radiator plug steam valve or expansion tank, designed to maintain elevated pressure in the system (up to 1.5 bar in some cars), leaks, the boiling point of the liquid will drop. Then, under increased load, the engine will boil.
2. Stuck thermostatic valve
In the closed position, this prevents fluid from circulating through the radiator and being cooled.
3. Broken drive belt
This can cause the coolant pump to stop working. It happens that corrosion eats up the blades of the impeller, or it begins to rotate on the shaft. Or the coupling that drives the pump may fail.
4. The radiator cooling fan does not work
This can also cause the engine to overheat. There are several reasons: the electric motor, the switch-on relay or the sensor are faulty, the wiring is damaged.
5. Leakage from the cylinder head gasket
This leads to the extrusion of the refrigerant gases, which first empty the cylinder head.
The consequences of overheating can be catastrophic for the engine, more about that in our material.
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