And Now my Car is Overheating

If you didn't follow my advice on how to help you car beat the heat you might of had some overheating issues with the recent heat. There are ways to deal with an overheating vehicle until you can get it to a shop or home to be fixed and not wreck your vehicle.

Turn up the heat
Now this may not be what you want to do on a hot day, but if your vehicle is starting to overheat you can head it off by turning on the heater to max temp and max speed. This will help cool your engine down as the heater core is basically another radiator thus by letting hot coolant flow through it and blowing air across it will increase your vehicle's ability to get rid of excess heat. Please roll your windows down and open your sun roof otherwise it is going to get really hot really fast in your car.

Add some Water

Now if your vehicle has overheated please shut it down and let it boil over and cool down. This will prevent you from causing serious damage. Now once it is cooled down (about 30 minutes) open the cap and go find some water to fill it back up with. The water doesn't have to be cold. As I mentioned in a previous post water transfers heat better than coolant so by refilling with water you will be able to increase the cooling capacity.

Fix that leak

If your vehicle leaks coolant some where (sometimes coolant leaks are really hard to find) you should always carry some extra coolant in your trunk or back seat. If you let it get too low your vehicle will loose its ability to stay cool and may overheat. This is the worst kind of overheating as some parts of the engine may be starved for coolant such as the heads. This can be disastrous as you could blow a head gasket, crack the head, or crack the block which may be an engine ending failure. If you don't have some premixed coolant then regular water will work as will those stop leak products. 

The good news

The good news is that most gas stations carry products that can help to temporally resolve your overheating issues. Most will sell some automotive products like oil, coolant, stop leak, and gas additives. Also they carry water which you can use in a pinch and/or have a hose and spigot out back. Once you get the vehicle home or to a repair shop get the issue resolved. This may be replacing hoses, a radiator, or a flush and fill. Getting a flush and fill will do wonders if you have a vehicle that has a neglected coolant system, if you regularly exchange your coolant you probably don't need a flush and fill as it will only cost more money.

Beat the heat

With some really oppressive heat and humidity over us here in the mid west (I know those of you down south get it worse) I have noticed a number of vehicles broken down on the side of the road. This kind of heat is just as hard on your vehicle as the bitter cold (sorry for those of you down south you can't even compete on that one). So how do you keep your vehicle running well in this kind of weather.

Coolant
If you haven't changed it recently you might want to consider doing so. A good flush and fill will go along way to ensuring that your car will stay cool and continue running. Also if you haven't checked your coolant level recently do so and fill as necessary as you will want the maximum amount of cooling capacity. If you have a vehicle that has been modified to produce more power you factory cooling system my not be able to keep up. A little trick to ensure that these vehicles stay cool is instead of using the standard 50/50 mix of antifreeze and water is to run almost 100% pure water with a product like Water Wetter to lubricate the pump (also it decreases the surface tension in the water allowing for more cooling). Granted this mix doesn't have as high of a boil over protection, but will keep your engine running much cooler since 100% water has a much better thermal transfer than a 50/50 mix of water and antifreeze.

AC
If yours isn't working as well as it use to you may just need a new cabin air filter. Changing these is similar in difficulty to changing the engine air filter but a little more expensive with the filter costing $10 to $15. If this still doesn't help you may be low in refrigerant in the AC system. Unless you know what you are doing I suggest you  take your vehicle to a professional as it is pretty easy to over fill the system and then wreck seals thus making your poorly working AC into a non working AC

Tires
Tires should always be properly inflated, especially in hot weather. Too little air and your tire will over heat and you will be suffering a blow out and have to change a tire in this crappy weather. Too much air and your tire may just burst and you will be stuck changing a tire in this crappy weather.

Battery
Heat kills batteries so if you have a battery that is old and questionable you might want to change it out before you get stuck. Also keep your battery properly charged will go along way to preventing the stresses that can prematurely kill a battery.

Oil
In addition to providing lubrication to your engine oil also helps cool it as it flows. In extreme heat you should ensure that you have the proper amount of oil so as to maximize the cooling capacity. Additionally using a synthetic oil will decrease the internal friction thus helping your engine stay cool.

Shade
If you have the opportunity to park in the shade or in a covered ramp I suggest doing so. Not only will this keep the interior of your car from becoming an oven, but it will help protect interior trim and the pain. Heat is what causes the plastic in things like dashes to dry out and crack. Also by keeping your vehicle out of the sun it helps protect the paint from UV damage thus helping the paint prevent your car from rust. If you can't park in a shaded area I highly suggest getting one of those windshield shades and cracking your side windows to keep the interior heat down.