Help! My car is overheating and I don’t know what to do about it. I have to add coolant to the plastic overflow bottle regularly and the temp gauges starts to climb up so I know I have to add more coolant.
Yep, I hear this all day long. First thing I do in my shop when I get an overheating car complaint is start with a cooling system pressure test to rule out a possible coolant leak (which is usually what is happening), you could have an internal coolant leak inside the engine from a “blown head gasket” or this could be from a simple external leak like from a leaking radiator hose or water pump.
I found this video where the guy is using a cooling system pressure tester. You can rent one at your local auto parts supplier or you can pay a local mechanic to do it for you. If you are constantly adding coolant, do this step first.
If you are NOT constantly adding coolant to the system you might have a restriction in the radiator, a “stuck” thermostat or a faulty radiator cooling fan motor…which will usually cause an overheating issue when stuck in traffic at idle for extended periods of time.
Watch my video below where I am talking about the different kinds of overheating situations and what you can do yourself to narrow things down and locate the problem yourself.
If you still need help, use the comment section below to send me your question and I will try to help you from there.
Blessings,
Austin Davis