Why Do Engines Overheat? Engines can overheat for many reasons. In general, it’s because something’s wrong within the cooling system and heat isn’t able to escape the engine compartment. The source of the issue could include a cooling system leak, faulty radiator fan, broken water pump, or clogged coolant hose.
There are two basic engine cooling systems; – Air and “water”. Air cooled engines for automobiles are no longer in production. Todays engines are mostly water cooled. The term water was used in the earlier liquid cooled engines.
Water as a coolant is discouraged for the following reasons: –
- Impurities