Veteran car owners and drivers are quite used to dealing with radiator problems. But most of the recent or new car owners and drivers may not be aware of the types of radiator problems they are likely to face. An internal combustible engine is continuously subjected to both pressure and heat. Hence forces the radiator to work continuously when the car is in motion.
It is therefore quite common for the radiator to break down at one some point in the life span of the car. But there are certain situations which enhance the risk of breakdown of car radiators. Hence care should be taken to ensure that the below given conditions do not arise.
- Leakage: The engine of a car needs to be kept at an optimum temperature because overheating can cause it to malfunction. Hence it is very important to keep an eye of the temperature gauge while driving. This temperature gauge indicates the state of the coolant which can get heated up due to a leak in either the
- Radiator hose resulting in the seepage of the coolant or
- Radiator itself which can develop cracks due to even minor accidents.
- Damage caused to water pump: For every 100,000 miles clocked, the water pump of the car needs to be changed. This ensures that proper circulation of the coolant thereby preventing the engine from overheating.
- Broken fan: The fan plays a very important part in keeping the car radiator cool. It enables circulation of air, thereby
- bringing in cool air from the outside and bringing down the temperatures of car radiators and
- Throwing out the hot air from the radiator to the outside temperature.
However, in case the temperature indicator falls to the red zone,
- The car should be pulled to the side of the road and stopped,
- The coolant level in the radiator needs to be checked after the car has cooled down sufficiently,
- Extra coolant or water needs to be added and care should be taken to ensure that the radiator does not get overfilled and
- Drive the car slowly to an automobile repair shop and get it checked by a mechanic.
Another point to be noted here is that the radiator should not be touched or opened when it is heated up since this can result in scalding burns due to its high temperature. Hence it is very important to ensure that the temperature of the radiator has gone down, before even touching it.