Annoying, dangerous, terrifying. Depending on what neighborhood you’re in and what time of day, having your engine overheat can be all of those feelings. The temperature gauge on the car skyrockets, and the steam of the coolant starts to bellow out from under the hood, and you have to stop the car and pull over to wait for the engine to cool, or call a tow truck to get home. If you’ve been driving very long, it’s probably happened to you. Well, we understand it can be tough, and you just want to get back on the road again. So we’ve put together a little diagnostic checklist to help you evaluate what’s happening with your car. When your engine overheats, we suggest checking the following five components.
Your Radiator is Blocked
Radiators move coolant through the engine and back into the radiator where the excess heat of the engine is radiated’ out of a set of grills with air passing through them. When the pump for the radiator is closed or clogged by some debris, the coolant flow is slowed. When no coolant passes through the engine, the heat from the engine can’t be absorbed and the engine will boil the coolant that is getting through, causing the dreaded steam. A clogged radiator requires flushing or replacing, so it may be good to call a tow truck.
FURTHER READING: 11 THINGS TO CHECK WHEN BUYING A USED ENGINE
Slipping Accessory Belt
The front of most engines has a series of gears that are moved via a rubber belt that turns all the different components. Each piece is necessary, and a belt that is slipping can mean that the pump used to move the coolant into the engine is not working, leaving the engine to overheat. The belt also turns the fan which cools the radiator when the car is idling. You may need a new belt.
Collapsing Bottom Hose
After some time, components wear out and stop functioning. One of the most common is the hose that exits the bottom of the radiator and moves coolant into the engine. This hose has all the vacuum suction of the water pump pulling the coolant through the radiator, and after some time, can collapse under the pressure, stopping the flow of coolant. You’ll need to replace the hose before the cooling system will function.
Low Oil Levels
When the oil is low, much of the heat of the engine cannot be transferred and the components in the engine don’t have sufficient lubrication and the engine can easily overheat as the heat and friction increase.
Late Timing
If the timing of the firing of the spark plugs in your engine does not coincide precisely with the pumping of fuel into the combustion chamber, the car can misfire and create more heat than the engine is designed to contain. The engine can easily overheat and will require the timing to be reset.
We Offer Used Mercedes Engines For Sale!
We understand the purchasing parts when your engine overheats can be very costly. That’s why we offer a means of purchasing complete used Mercedes engines for sale that are almost new and have been salvaged from new cars that have been totaled. The used parts can be sold at an extreme discount. For example, new Mercedes parts in Pretoria are ridiculously expensive, but when a new Mercedes is totaled, a large number of almost new parts can be salvaged and sold at deep discounts. That’s how we are able to offer you fantastic prices on high quality like-new parts.