Cooling System

Cooling System Repairs & Services in Dover, NH

The Cooling system is important for a well functioning engine. Your cooling system helps the engine maintain efficient temperatures.

The Cooling System:

  • Removes excess heat from the engine.
  • Brings the engine up to operating temperature as quickly as possible.
  • Provides warmth to the passenger compartment.

Anti-freeze is a component to your coolant system, it prevents your coolant from freezing.

Anti freeze also:

  • Increases boiling temperature.
  • Lubricates components within the engine.
  • Reduces the likelihood of corrosion.

As discussed on the Air-conditioning page, the engine doesn’t actually make cold air, instead it takes the heat out of the engine and uses it for your A/C.

On the other side, The heater core transfers heat from the engine to warm all passengers. A cabin air filter cleans the air that blows through your car.

Cooling System

Warning Signs that your Cooling System needs attention:

  • Vehicle has a sweet odor when running hot.
  • Vehicle has a musty odor when running hot.
  • Engine is overheating.
  • Warning Indicator light on.
  • Heat is not working.
  • A/C not working.
  • Coolant leak or dripping anti-freeze.
  • Vehicle is consuming coolant very quickly.

Vehicle has a sweet odor when running hot:

This could mean that you have a potential heater core leak.

Vehicle has a musty odor when running hot:

This is often a dirty cabin air filter that is resulting in this unpleasant odor. We recommend you bring your vehicle in for service so we can verify this is where the odor is coming from.

Engine or vehicle is overheating:

This could be a number of things:

  • Coolant is low
  • Improper coolant mixture
  • Clogged radiator
  • Faulty thermostat (stuck closed)
  • Restricted radiator hose
  • Fan not working
  • Faulty temp sensor
  • Faulty water pump
  • Drive belt loose
  • Faulty radiator cap

If your engine is overheating, your vehicle needs to be brought in for diagnosis. Further heat to the engine can cause much more expensive repairs with the possibility of losing the engine all together,

Vehicle has a warning indicator light on:

Any check engine light, cooling temperature gauge or coolant level light that turns on should be diagnosed as soon as possible. For more information on warning indicator lights, check out our Diagnostic Services Page. This could be any number of problems including:

  • Faulty or broken thermostat (stuck open)
  • Faulty temperature sensor
  • Coolant temperature is too high
  • Not enough coolant in the system

Heat is not working:

If your vehicle is not blowing heat, this could be several issues. We most commonly see the vehicle’s thermostat stuck open, low coolant or a clogged heater core or control valve as the culprit for this problem.

Air Conditioning not working:

If your vehicle is not blowing cold air you most likely have an issue with your air conditioning system. Our A/C page details our process for fixing these issues.

Some reasons why this issue occurs:

  • Vehicle is not running at an efficient operating temperature.
  • Your A/C system has lost freon.
  • Your A/C compressor has failed.

Vehicle has a Coolant leak or is leaking anti-freeze:

With any leak, there can be lot’s of reasons that causes it. With your coolant system, this is no exception. We recommend getting your vehicle in for diagnosis. Running low on coolant is not good for your engine.

Here are the first things we would check:

  • Crack in block or cylinder head
  • Defective seal or gasket
  • Engine is overheating
  • Heater core leak
  • Hole in a hose
  • Hole in Radiator
  • Loose hose clamp
  • Worn water pump

Vehicle is consuming coolant very quickly:

More often than not, the reason why your vehicle would be consuming coolant at an irregular rate is bad head gaskets. We recommend getting your vehicle diagnosed for this issue as for some vehicles it can be a very costly repair.