FOR ALL DRIVERS: What is "Overheating?"?

Question

Like what exactly is the definition......what happens to your engine......the book I have isn't helping and I'm not finding any sites that can help me......Please help! I might be failing the drivnig part of the class but at least I can do well in the class itself.

Answer 1

the easiest definiton is: Over heating is basically when your engine over heats, from basically if its too hot, if theres nothin to cool it off, theres always a warning guage, and if you dont follow it will overheat and will fail & cut off, for some cars that have a overheating safety feature, it will just cut off no damage, but if dont your engine will burn and get messed up it you dont stop the car for it to cool and put the hood up to air to cool it faster.
overheating of engines, mostly comes from these factors, one, due to over shifting for manuals, if you wait too long to shift at the right time, you engines is over-reving so the engine trys to over-perform which causes heat in the engine to go up 30%, and if you use your car too much, testing it performance for long periods with out cooling egine can cause it too over heat too, you can get many parts too stop from over heating like electric fans, air filter and give your car after driving time too cool off, in short term overheating mostly come from your enigne over doing it, trying to keep with you shift or whatver you are doing with the car & always remember to always have water in it, check pistons and always check for damage to the engine and you need a good engine cooling system, probably from Jegs

Answer 2

Consequences of Overheating
If the engine overheats, the first thing that will happen is a gasoline engine will start to detonate. The engine will ping and start to lose power under load as the combination of heat and pressure exceed the octane rating of the fuel. If the detonation problem persists, the hammer-like blows may damage the rings, pistons or rod bearings.

Overheating can also cause preignition. Hot spots develop inside the combustion chamber that become a source of ignition for the fuel. The erratic combustion can cause detonation as well as engine run-on in older vehicles with carburetors. Hot spots can also be very damaging and burn holes right through the top of pistons.

Another consequence of overheating may be a blown head gasket. Heat makes aluminum swell almost three times faster than cast iron. The resulting stress can distort the head and make it swell in areas that are hottest, like those between exhaust valves in adjoining cylinders, and areas that have restricted coolant flow like the narrow area that separates the cylinders. The typical aluminum head swells most in the middle, which can crush the head gasket if the head gets hot enough. This will cause a loss of torque in the gasket allowing coolant and combustion leaks to occur when the head cools. Overheating is also a common cause of OHC seizure and breakage.

Wait, there’s more. If the coolant gets hot enough to boil, it may cause old hoses or an age-weakened radiator to burst under the increased pressure. Pistons may swell up and scuff or seize in their bores, causing serious engine damage. Exhaust valve stems may stick or scuff in their guides. This, in turn, may cause valves to hang open which can damage pistons, valves and other valve train components. And if coolant gets into the crankcase, you can kiss the bearings and bottom end of the engine goodbye.

A HOT warning lamp should never be ignored. Though a few high tech cars like Cadilac's with the Northstar engine can disable cylinders to "air-cool" the engine and keep it running at reduced power in the event of coolant loss, most engines will suffer serious damage if they overheat. So advise your customers to stop driving at the first sign of overheating. Turn the engine off, let it cool down and try to find and fix the cause before risking further travel.

Answer 3

An internal combustion engine naturally produces huge amounts of heat. A cooling system is needed to remove that heat. Usually in the form of water flowing throughout the engine (to soak up heat) then flowing through a radiator (to expel the heat). If anything goes wrong with this system, (usually from dirty water or leaves blocking the radiator) the engine will be unable to remove the heat, thus overheat. A temperature gauge on the dash will let you know how well the cooling system is working.

Answer 4

It is when the engine gets much hotter than it is designed to and the spark and ignition of the gas in the piston and hot air is not being cooled down by the radiator or the lubrication system, (oil) may be dirty, blocked, or leaking badly. Oil lubricates, seals, cleans, and COOLS just like radiator water/coolant. It could be a number of things but usually radiator/hoses. an overheating engine is not working very efficiently either.

Answer 5

Long story short, its when your engine gets too hot. It typically happens when your radiator is leaking or doesnt have enough coolant, and its not supplying enough coolant to your engine. If it goes on for too long and your engine gets too hot, you can literally blow up your engine. You can also do that by never changing your oil, and what happens is you "throw a rod" what that means is that your pistons completely seize up, and the upward motion of the connecting rod breaks and blows a hole right through your engine block.

The best way to think about it, when you get hot, you drink water to cool you down. Engine works the same way. It gets hot, so it needs water to cool it down. BUT never pour or spray water onto an engine as the shock of the cold water can crack your engine. Thats much the same as when you pour boiling water over a cold glass, or cold water over a hot glass, where it would crack.

Answer 6

Overheating means that you need to put water in your radiator to keep your engine cool. Overheating can damage the heads and cause other expensive problems.

Answer 7

i own a repair shop,and its when your engine gets way over the temperature it was designed to run at and it can ruin a good engine in about 5 minutes or less,it will cause all kinds of leaks and bad running conditions on any engine ,and it can destroy ,just about all the usable parts of the engine,that's if it gets too hot,in most cases it just does minor damage to one,,good luck,i hope this help,s.

Answer 8

Over heating is when the temp rises higher then normal. It can cause damage. That is what the radiator is for to keep the engine cool

Answer 9

Your car got too hot. Check the radiator and make sure there is fluid in there.

Answer 10

when that lite goes on. that looks like a thermometer? that means that you should pull over and stop. or you'll burn up your engine. and if you don't ? " will cost you "abunch of $$$$"