You have no cellphone, no means of communication and the last car you saw was 3 hours ago. Your car is overheated. What do you do?
by 
anonymous
ANSWERS: 30
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Keep sweating until I have enough liquid to pour into the tank. OR there is the 'other' option. You know, somehting related to restrooms.
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Daytime? Start walking. Nightime? Lock myself inside and sleep until morning, hoping a police officer sees me and helps me. I know nearly nothing about cars, so I wouldn't even try to fix it for fear of breaking it more.
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probably wait it out inside the car. if worse came to worse i would start walking towards the nearest road with traffic.
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Check the water level in the car. replenish and check for leaks. if you have a container, get as much spare water as possible as you might need to refill regularly. Look for the leak in the radiator. If its small try and bung it up by forcing some chewing gum or the like into the hole. In a dire emergency, you can use urine as a water replacement for the vehicle, though it wont get you far. Make frequent stops so as to cool the car down. Dont over rev. If its a lack of oil thats the problem, DO NOT USE THE VEHICLE, as you will cause irreperable engine damage. Walk for assistance or wait for help.
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I'd be OK, even if you're taking away my CB, because I have water, oil, washer fluid, tools, all kinds of good stuff in my trunk. The last car I saw was three hours ago, but where was the last exit? If I started walking, I'd first change into my military uniform, or my old mover uniform. I always take one or the other on a long trip (depending on the weather), because I'm more likely to get help from a trucker that way.
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We don't have a cellphone. People had these problems in the past and they coped. We carried water in our cars and most people knew a little about their cars. Even cars were simple back then, no computers on board:-) Check the water level. Check oil. Check of leaks. Plug them if you find them. Put your water in and look around for more water to refill your container. Drive carefully watching your temp. When it starts to get hot. Stop. Add water if need be and refill if you can. Keep doing until you get somewhere. We once camped out waiting fro our brakes to cook enough coming down an unbelievably steep road. We just plain ran out of daylight and wanted it light to descend. Lowest gear wasn't enough. But it was fun:-)
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well if the last car you saw pass you was 3 hours ago, then your car probably has cooled down enough to drive it a bit more
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Cry.
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I have always kept a small tool box in the car something my father always insisted we all do. So I would find out why it overheated. If it is a leak, try to fix it. Drive the car around 50 mph. This way I get good air flow through the raidator and keep the rpms low. Watch the temp gauge and if it starts to get hot again pull over shut it down until it cools off some. Then keep doing that until I get it to town.
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Kickback, turn on the panic lights of my car, and go to sleep. Someone will come along eventually.
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Same thing I did the last 47 times. Ever drive with a blown head gasket, just waiting for payday so you could fix it? How about blowing a water pump while you are in hock and CAN'T spare the $$$ to replace it? In a place with no coverage or traffic?
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let it cool down ,check the oil ,check the water after it cools drive as far as you can until it starts to heat up again. you can get a long ways down the road by doing this,
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take a nap and then by the time i wake up the car will have probably cooled down. check everything and try to get back from where i came if it's not too far, or keep going onward and hope i run into a payphone
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shut off car, crawl in and take a nap, w/the hood open
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if you have water in the radiator, turn the heater to full blast - it helps cooling ALOT. You NEVER want to shut off a hot engine unless worst case scenario - you can warp your heads and blow the head gasket.
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(Australian question) you might give the engine time to cool down so you can drive it. When it's a queston of survival you may have to move the care into the middle of the road with the hood up, and hunker down until help finds you. You may bury yourself up to the neck in shade to preserve your body's water.
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Wait 3 hours until the cutie in the red Vette comes back in the other direction.
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Let it cool down. Drive it as far as you can. Repeat.
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Well if you dont know how to fix the problem, your best bet is to start walking!
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Pee on the engine and continue on my merry way.
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Wait for it to cool down
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Open the windows, and turn on the heat as high as it will go. Make sure your A/C switch and defrosters are OFF. Make sure there's oil in the engine and water in the radiator. If there's no water, improvise. If you have a chance, you may also want to check under the hood once the engine heats up and make sure your cooling fans are going. Overheating has many causes, but it could also just be a problem with the fans or thermostat. Drive like that and keep an eye on the temp gauge so it doesn't get into the red. Turn off the engine every few miles, wait a little while, then start it up and repeat the process until you get home, or to somewhere that can help you.
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Well.....I kind of cheat a bit.....I always keep a gallon or two of water in back. Plus a extra fan belt, water pump, alternator, starter, one tire, 5 gallons of gas and tools. And if thats not enough to fix the problem. Then I'll just back my riding mower off the back of the pick-up & drive it. And just by some reason Iam not hauling it with me. I'll just start walking...I need to walk off some belly fat anyway....LOL................M.C.S.
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hhhmmmm, Nobody mentioned that you can turn on your heater to full blast and it will also help cool down the engine, and you could also pop the hood and drive under 50 mph. The hood safety latch will keep it from flying all the way open, and it will let in more air. But like one other stated, in the old days (prior to 1991) we didnt have cel phones, and we knew a little about maintaining our vehicles before getting into that situation in the first place.
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turn the heater on and roll up my pants leg for the next trucker and/or start pushing. emergency supplies in trunk ;)
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urine in the radiator after its cooled ofcourse open the hood to cool it faster evry so often when its cooled down drive it until it almost overheats and keep doing it over and over until you can get somewhere to fix it or hell if you have water u can use that too or drink it just so u have an excuse to piss in your engine trust me its SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO fun :) rate this if u want
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take the thermostat out and hot wire the cooling fan
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If im confident that my levels are fine, my headgasket hasnt blown and its something simple like cooling fan's packed up or radiator troubles then i just open the windows, put the heater on full and get to the next place i know. This is what pretty much happened a few weeks ago when the fans died in my Fiat :(
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If your car is still overheated after 3 hours, then you either, do not have enough water in the radiator; the belt that drives the water pump is off or missing; the belt on the electric fan is slipped off, some cars have two fans with one electric motor; one of your hoses usually a lower hose is collapsed internally; your radiator is completely calsified from being to close to the alternator, dont believe me? look at the underside of your hood next time you check the oil, youll see a white deposit that is above the alternator; or last but not least the temperature guage or light is faulty, wouldnt the first time, thats why there often called "idiot lights".
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I'd probably fix it on the spot.
- M.C.S. - Dave RELATED QUESTIONS
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