There’s no denying that there are lots of benefits attached to owning a car. However, you need to understand that owning a vehicle also has its issues. That said, one of the many issues that drivers encounter when driving their cars is engine overheating.
Engine overheating can be caused by several different factors, including improperly circulating coolant, damaged radiator, damaged cooling fan, malfunctioning thermostat, low oil level, and many more. Furthermore, car overheating could be a serious issue, which is why it’s not advisable to continue driving when you see a warning sign, such as when your temperature gauge has deflected towards the hot end.
When it comes to fixing an overheating issue, one of the commonly known fixes is to pour cold water on the engine in order to cool it down faster.
While it can be a useful technique for an emergency, it is not ideal to pour cold water on an extremely hot engine. Surely, cold water will reduce the temperature of the engine a little bit – but this process could end up hurting your engine in the long run.
Can I pour water on my engine to cool it down? What exactly will happen if you pour water on a hot engine? What is the best way to cool down a car engine quickly? These are the questions that you’ll find answers to as you read through the rest of this article.
Can I Pour Water On My Engine To Cool It Down?
Engine overheating is one of the most common issues that drivers encounter from time to time. If you’re currently experiencing this issue, you need not get too worried about it. In case you don’t know, several different factors can contribute to why your engine is overheating.
Some of these problems can be serious while some are just minor issues that could be addressed quickly. That said, one of the factors that could contribute to why your car engine is overheating is when you have a faulty thermostat.
The thermostat is designed primarily to keep the coolant from entering the engine until it’s warmed up. However, if this component becomes faulty, it won’t allow the coolant to flow in at the right time, causing overheating.
Another common cause of engine overheating is low oil levels. Motor oil is essential to keeps moving parts of your vehicle running smoothly. However, if the oil is insufficient, it could cause overheating of the engine.
A faulty radiator is another factor that could increase the temperature of your engine. During normal working conditions, radiators are meant to decrease coolant temperatures, reducing the amount of heat entering the engine. However, if the radiator is defective, the control of temperature inside the engine becomes impossible.
Another factor that could make your engine overheat is when you have a broken water pump. The pump is designed to circulate the coolant to relevant places inside the engine. However, if the pump becomes defective, the circulation of the coolant will become almost impossible, causing overheating.
Several other factors could make your engine overheat unnecessarily. But for the same of this post, I’ll pause here and address the burning question of whether or not it’s ideal to pour water on the engine to cool it down.
The simple answer: It’s not ideal to pour water on a hot engine.
Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Pour Water On A Hot Engine
There’s no denying that when you pour water on your extremely hot engine, it helps to bring down the temperature slightly. While that’s true; one thing you need to also know is that this simple process will bring about a difference between the inside temperature of the engine and its outside temperature. This could hurt your car engine, which is why this method is not advisable.
What Happens If You Pour Water On Your Extremely Hot Engine?
As earlier mentioned, it’s not a good idea to pour water on your extremely hot engine. What exactly will happen if you end up pouring water on the engine?
The simple and direct answer, which I already mentioned above, is that you’ll end up hurting your engine. As you already know, pouring cold water on your hot engine can help you lower the temperature on the outside. But what exactly will happen to the inside temperature of your engine?
Here’s the thing; when you pour cold water on your vehicle’s hot engine, it will decrease the outside temperature of the engine. This simple process will then bring about a difference in temperature (inside and outside of the engine). The effect of the sudden temperature difference could cause the engine block to crack.
If you must pour water on your hot engine, although not advisable at all as there’s a more effective way to address the issue, the best you can do is to add it slowly, ensuring that your car is running in neutral or “P”.
How To Cool Down A Car Engine Quickly?
Car engine overheating is a warning sign that everything is not okay with your vehicle. If you must cool down the engine quickly, there are a couple of things that you need to do. Let’s have a quick look at them below:
- Start by switching off the air conditioner, which is one of the components that could put a lot of load on the engine.
- Next, switch on your car heater so you can blow away excess heat from the engine to your car. Although this simple process is effective for reducing engine overheating, it’s not recommended during the summer.
- Another thing you can consider doing to cool down your extremely hot engine is to rev the engine when your car is set to neutral or “P”.
- If you’re not in a rush, you may consider parking your car in the right place. After that, open the hood of your car and allow the air to blow on the engine for about 30 minutes. At this point, you need to check the water in the radiator and your oil level.