One of the major concerns that can arise while operating a truck is overheating. The heat outside can adversely affect your truck engine’s temperature causing it to shoot up and create a number of problems.
As the temperature rises, your truck becomes more prone to overheating, thus increasing the chances of accidents. It is important to know whether your truck is prone to overheating. Sometimes, a flaw in the design of your truck’s engine or additional features of the engine could be responsible for the overheating.
The good news is, overheating of your truck’s engine can be avoided if you follow certain preventing measures. Let’s take a detailed look at these.
Table Of Contents
Check for Leaks
All engines come with a coolant system that comprises a coolant fluid. This fluid cools and lubricates the engine. A leak in the fluid container is one of the primary reasons of overheating. Detecting the leak could be a little difficult since the color of the coolant fluid is no longer the same for all engines. Manufacturers no longer stick to the bright green hue of the coolant fluid like before. If you spot a puddle of coolant fluid beneath your truck, it is time to get the leak fixed.
That being said, a small leak may not have any signs indicating its presence. Therefore, one sure way to check this would be to keep a watch on the level of coolant fluid on the tank. Refill the fluid if this level goes below the standard level.
Keep a Watch on the Temperature Gauge
It is crucial to regularly check the temperature gauge of your truck’s engine. The first step is to locate your truck’s temperature gauge.
Once you have done that, you would need to find out the standard operating temperature of your truck’s engine. For this, note down the temperature of your truck’s engine after it has operated for a certain length of a journey. Repeat this on a couple of occasions. This reading should:
- either vary consistently within a certain limit
- or, stay stable at a certain temperature reading
If you find the temperature increasing by a large amount, you would immediately need to get this problem taken care of.
Avoid Overloading Your Truck
All trucks have a maximum limit of the weight that they can carry. Overstepping that mark can be potentially dangerous to the life of your truck’s engine. Wondering how?
When you load your truck with excessive weight, each component of the truck has to work harder to accommodate this weight while keeping the truck in motion on the road. This means, your truck’s engine has to work more as well, thus causing it to generate more heat than it should. This also means the engine’s coolant has to work equally harder to offset this heat. In case, it fails to squeeze in the extra work, your truck’s engine is going to get overheated.
Therefore, it is always advisable to find out the maximum permissible load limit of your truck and stay within the specified limit. Apart from that, you would need to ensure that your truck’s towing capacity is not exceeded under any circumstance.
Monitor the Condition of All Components
Overheating of your truck’s engine may result from various causes. One of these may be the abrasion of components like hoses and lines. These may get damaged due to overworking, resulting in a host of problems.
Therefore, while monitoring your truck’s engine, the level of coolant fluid and the temperature gauge, it is also important to keep an eye on the condition of the hoses. Ensure that the clamps are in place. If you spot any defects in these, get those repaired immediately.
Another component that you should keep an eye on is the brake. Dragging brakes can be one of the reasons of overheating of the engine.
Proper Maintenance is Necessary
Last but not the least, keeping your truck adequately maintained and serviced will eliminate a lot of problems. This would help in detecting any defects and increase the efficiency of your truck. In the unfortunate event of a truck accident, Texas truck wreck attorneys can be of great help if you live in Texas, to retrieve compensation for the accident.
