Some owners, having sensed the "death rattle" of their car in time, try to sell it as quickly as possible. Their victims, as a rule, are people who have forgotten Pushkin's "don't chase cheapness, priest." As a result, such a buyer, even if he doesn't get into an accident, will be forced to pay for serious expensive repairs soon after the purchase.
Experienced drivers will find the information provided trivial. However, the majority of motorists who have not attended "automotive universities" are prone to driving until the "characteristic crack".
How can we avoid a disastrous ending? Today we will focus on the possibility of engine failure and talk about one of the signs of such a situation – overheating. And it is no coincidence. A hot summer is coming. And, as practice shows, in most cases the root cause of engine failure at this time of year is its overheating. The insidiousness of overheating is that, as a rule, the results do not show up immediately, but they always show up. And if urgent measures are not taken, the consequences of overheating will inevitably lead to serious failures, or even to engine failure. This entire path is clearly divided into four stages.
The first stage is the emergence of causes of overheating. As a rule, these are:
- leakage of coolant with subsequent decrease in level below the upper radiator hose and, as a result, cessation of circulation of liquid in the radiator and formation of an air lock;
- loosening of the belt, failure of either the fan motor itself, or the fan motor switch sensor, or the fan viscous coupling;
- incorrect ignition timing adjustment;
- high degree of carbon formation in the combustion chamber;
- clogging of radiator cells.
The second stage is the overheating itself. It most often occurs when waiting in traffic jams on the roads and the engine is idling. This happens like this: the driver sees that the temperature gauge needle is starting to move towards the red zone, but believes that until this needle reaches it, there is nothing to worry about. This is the first and main mistake.
The engine temperature control system is very inertial. The temperature sensor is located in the water jacket of a massive cylinder block, which has a large capacity. This means that the temperature in the cylinder block when a coolant leak occurs and its level shifts will be significantly lower than the temperature in the cylinder head. The formation of an air lock in the radiator and the boiling of the liquid lead to the fact that the cylinder head remains practically without cooling. What this means is clear to everyone. But the driver, at best, slightly nervously, glances at the arrow and continues to warm up the engine. And then, depending on the degree of overheating, the third and fourth stages occur, respectively.
During the third stage, the engine continues to heat up. And it's good if it ends with the valve seals failing. Otherwise, the cylinder head gaskets may "go bad", and the situation will smoothly move to the fourth, final stage.
It should be highlighted especially. After all, if the consequences of the previous stages of overheating can be corrected in one way or another within the framework of an average repair, then the fourth stage involves irreversible destruction:
- overheating and breakage of rings with cylinder scoring;
- coolant getting into the oil and, as a result, scoring of the crankshaft journals;
- deformation of the cylinder head;
- formation of cracks in the cylinder head and the block itself.
Statistics allow us to identify the brands of cars that are most vulnerable to overheating and that "reach" the fourth stage more often than others. Saab cars are "in the lead" here, and by a large margin. Their forced engines with minimal gaps do not forgive the Russian "maybe". Our fans of this model consider it shameful to be towed and would rather ruin the engine than ask to tow their car from a traffic jam to a car service. And as soon as the reason for the stop - the "traffic jam" - resolves and the Saab owner presses the gas pedal to get away from other cars with slippage, the remains of the cooled antifreeze in the radiator will gush into the red-hot head and block, which will find nothing better to do than crack from such rudeness.
Engines of other brands of cars, although not so "delicate", also do not forgive inattentive attitude to them. Therefore, in order to save your movable property and the contents of your wallet, it is worth remembering clearly: overheating is never accidental and never remains without consequences. And if you have discovered a tendency for your car's engine to overheat, immediately stop using it until the reasons are clarified.