Things Can Never Go Well, Can They?

[dependonyou]

AWA post is postponed briefly, just because I'm not in a good enough mood to talk about the awesome that was had. Instead, today's programming is brought to you by the letter F (for fail) and the number five billion

Comments

[fluffyluggage]

Well, having had some experience with said auto problems, my guess is one of 2 things, and it's not related to oil. Probably either thermostat problem, which is really cheap to fix, or a problem with the radiator or overflow from radiator. Overflow from radiator=easy, probably cheap fix. Radiator problem=maybe cheap, maybe not cheap fix? Take water with you when you go, and check the overflow from the radiator in your engine. If you fill it frequently while you are driving, if the engine starts to heat up, you may be able to keep it cooler and avoid damage, too. I don't know if they mentioned that, but it could help. Most people use antifreeze whole, but my husband is a mechanic, and he recommends to use it half and half with water, don't know why, but he could tell you. Good luck!

[annaonthemoon]

Depends on the brand of antifreeze you get. most mixtures come pre-mixed now, as far as I can tell.

[dependonyou]

Okay, so how do I check the overflow from the radiator... and how do I know if it's a thermostat problem? O.O Thermostat, like, the darned thing just stopped working and started saying it's hotter than it is, or am I misunderstanding?

[fluffyluggage]

Unfortunately, you won't be able to check it at home, but yeah, basically it stops working, and then the engine thinks it's overheating, when it may not be. You gotta get it to a good mechanic. Either way, it sucks. There is an overflow from the radiator, you usually can see the box coming from the radiator. It has obvious cables or whatever coming from the radiator. It should be full of water. It's up near or next to your radiator. It should pretty much stay full of water. When the engine overheats, usually it'll suck that right into the radiator, so if it's staying full, it's a pretty good bet, the radiator isn't allowing the engine to overheat, and it may just be the thermostat fuckin up. That's why taking water along will help keep it cool, and you can refill the overflow. This is all according to my hubby (caveat: if I understand him correctly), who is a mechanic, and worked in the military, so I do trust him. *shrugs* That's about all I really know. Good luck to you, though. Hope you make it ok! :) Hope that helps at least some

[fluffyluggage]

Also, take along some coolant, because if it's sucking up a lot of the water, it'll water down your coolant, and you'll want to add coolant to the radiator, too. But keep the overflow full of water. Just wanted to add that so you would know! :)