While there are several things you can do to avoid experiencing a breakdown, one of the best is to pay close attention to your car’s cooling system. Here at Darson, we do our best to not only take superior care of our customers but also educate them on what they can do to get the most out of their vehicles. Learn why it’s important that you keep a close eye on your cooling system to better avoid being stranded on the side of the road with an overheated engine or a car that won’t start.

Understanding How Your Cooling System Works

To understand how a properly functioning cooling system helps you sidestep breakdowns, you’ve first got to understand how your cooling system works. If there’s too much heat trapped under the hood, it can lead to severe problems for your engine. To help abate this, your vehicle’s cooling system channels the extra heat into the atmosphere around it. When your cooling system isn’t performing optimally, it’s not able to do as good of a job dissipating the heat, which increases the chances of engine failure.

Reasons Vehicles Overheat

There are several reasons for your car to overheat. It could be because it’s left to idle for too long, you have a broken thermostat, you’re stuck in traffic for a while or your vehicle’s water pump doesn’t turn as fast as it should. These can result in there not being enough antifreeze, also known as coolant, being transferred from the radiator to the engine and back. If there’s a crack in your radiator hose that’s causing coolant to leak out, you might be able to smell it or see it underneath your car in the form of a green puddle.

preventing breakdowns

Now that you have a better idea of how your car’s cooling system works and why you might experience a loss of function, it’s time to learn what steps you can take to avoid an unnecessary breakdown. Should you ever notice your vehicle’s temperature is starting to rise more than normal, you’ll want to turn off the air conditioner if you’re using it. Doing so will ease the amount of work your engine has to do. You can also turn on the heater to siphon off some of the heat from your engine to help ease the rising temperature. It’s also best to check your vehicle’s coolant levels before heading out for a lengthy drive during the warmer months of the year. No matter which preventative measure you take, be sure you bring your car into a Sun Devil Auto service center to have one of our professional technicians take a look under the hood to get to the bottom of why your vehicle is overheating in the first place.

Be sure not to neglect your cooling system during routine vehicle maintenance. Not only will a little time and attention keep you comfortable, but it can also be just the thing needed to keep you from being stranded and paying for avoidable and costly repairs.