My car overheated twice at drive-thru but runs fine after i park & add fresh fluids should i...?

Question

...drive with the heater on?

my car overheated once at the drive thru at in-out-burger and the line of cars was a 45 minute wait close to. when i finally pulled up to the window for my food it started to smoke so i pulled into a parkin space waited 10 minutes n put fresh oil. it overheated at the same in and out drive thru and then i put in fresh water and transmission fluid. it was empty i think. the temp, service engine, oil lights come on when i start the car, they go away when i put it in drive. let me know wassup!!!

i heard that driving with the heater on helps and the car seems fine now. i dont have a temp gauge...i have a 92' buick century custom on 20 inch rims. do da rims have anythang 2 do wit it also??? i stay driving in 2nd gear too.

Answer 1

When a car smokes we say they smoked the engine for failure to put fluids in. Sounds like you don't do any checking or maintenance. So here is what I can tell you. It is possible that you have a bad radiator cap and the water is leaking past the cap when it gets low it starts overheating over time, SO the cheapest thing to check first is The cap, you can take it to any auto parts place and they can test the spring pressure for you for free. You can remove it when engine is cold and look at the cap and see if the rubber is broken or indented if so replace it. Also your fan belts might be ok when you are normally driving but be loose when idling for a long time, look at the water pump and push down on the belt that it is connected to if it moves more than a half inch tighten the belt. if it's a serpentine belt tug on it to see if it is pulled easily if so your tension-er may be worn out and that could cause it. allowing the pump to slip and not pump water. if the fan is not electric and has a clutch fan it could be bad. to test it with cluth type fans when engine is hot it should turn hot when it is cool it should turn easly. If it's a electric fan run it untill it gets hot the fan should come on if not you could have a bad temp sensor or relay for the fans. NExt a stuck thermostat will cause the care to over heat in this case replace the thermostat and gasket and add new antifreeze , the antifreeze should be changed every two years as it loses it's capacity to cool over time. As for the transmisson if its an automatic and you ran it low at that was what was smoking your going to be walking soon if it is a manual you may be ok. If you smoed the engine=(Destroyed) the engine you will know soon enough. If it over heated chang the oil and engine filter because when the engine gets to hot it breaks down the oil so that it does not protect the metel parts it's supposed to and will kill the engine. Hope this helps.

Answer 2

You shouldn't have to put the heater on.  If you're losing water out your radiator you have a leak somewhere, fix that and you shouldn't overheat.  Maybe the thermostat is rooted also.  Spend a little money and get it checked out by a mechanic you trust.

Answer 3

Yes driving with the heater on will cool down the vehicle somewhat but you still have a serious problem to deal with and you need to get it checked out asap.

You may have a bad cooling fan or relay that would fix the overheating problem.

The rims have nothing to do with the vehicles condition at all.