If you dont trust your gauges or idiot lights how can you know if you are overheating?

Question

My gaugues flux all over faster than coolant could possibly cool down. Its like the bermuda triangle. The oil gague sometimes reads nothing. Sometimes fluxes all over. I know the gagues are screwey but not worth fixing

Answer 1

the warning lights are designed to inform you about possible problems with the vehicle.

Why don't you trust them?

If you have a good reason not to trust them, then do the obvious thing and have the car checked out at a garage, or the actual dealership.

another way you'll know if you're overheating is when you find yourself in the middle of nowhere at night, broken down and no one to help you.

Answer 2

If you top off your coolant, and then double check it in a few days, (if it is at the same level, you are ok) If it is significantly lower, you have a problem.
I suggest starting with the guages as that is what they are there for. If they jump, you only need to replace the sending units. (after you determine that you have a good ground source in the circuit) NOT hard to do!
My temp guage didn't work very well when I bought my latest truck, and it turned out to be the brass sending unit. (less than 10.00)
But to answer you question more precisely, IF you have steam coming from your hood, you have an immediate problem.
If not, you are back to square one. (bad sending unit)

Answer 3

The best way would be to take it somewhere and have them check it with a mechanical gauge to verify the temp. Another way to get a general idea is to check the temp of the air coming out of your heater. If the air is cold, while the engine is at running temperature then you may have low coolant level or another problem with the heater circuit. If the heater air is extremely hot, then the engine likely is running too hot. In that case, have it serviced before it does damage to the engine.

Answer 4

Bill you need to trust your gauges! You dont want to be out in the middle of no place and overheat! If you dont want to trust the gauges, then if your car starts to ping, or get sluggish then you need to pull over and let the car cool down. You can also tell by getting under the hood and checking the hose pressure. Good luck man!

Answer 5

when you bust a hose, water will spray the windshield, if it's already hot, you should start smelling something funny, also watch the oil pressure, it will start dropping the hotter it gets, good luck

Answer 6

You see smoke coming from the hood?

Answer 7

the steam is coming out of your radiator cap, and it smells like burnt antifreeze

Answer 8

Your radiator will boil over.