Maintenance
How Long Can I Drive With Low Coolant?
If you are a car owner, maintaining your vehicle properly should be your utmost concern. Often people ignore the engine coolant, during their inspection. The engine coolant doesn’t have to be refilled periodically, like the fuel. However, it too depletes slowly and excessively if there are leakages. If you don’t address the issue on time, the engine might run out of coolant or run on low coolant, both of which are dangerous to your vehicle.
The engine coolant is an important fluid that you shouldn’t neglect. It performs certain important functions like regulating the car’s temperature and prevents it from freezing. The engine coolant doesn’t have to be replenished periodically, but after a few months one must inspect it and flush out the old coolant.
Car owners should never drive cars when the coolant level is low. It can cause severe damage to you and your vehicle. Often times a coolant leak occurs and car owners have no idea about it. So you have to be conscious of these incidents taking place. If you notice a high-temperature gauge reading red, probably it’s indicating a leakage. A malfunctioning AC or a sweet-smelling odor inside the car is also indicative of a leakage. Bring it immediately to the attention of a professional mechanic and repair the leakage.
How Long Can Your Car Run Without Coolant?
Whenever you drive your car with a low engine coolant, you might discover smokes along with a sweet smell odor, indicating that the coolant has spread everywhere. In such situations, one shouldn’t even drive the car for even a minute. Doing so can severely damage the engine and lead you to incur huge expenses for repairs.
Driving for even a minute with no or low engine coolant is dangerous. Besides damaging the functioning of the engine, it can cause several other parts to malfunction. Usually, with low engine coolant, your car will be able to run for 15 seconds maximum. You must not try to drive the car for more than at. The coolant might not be moving due to the thermostat, it, however, continues to function as a major heat absorber.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the coolant functions as long as the thermostat remains open. It takes some time to spread the coolant. If the coolant is constant, it will absorb heat from the motor, if not from the thermostat to continue functioning. This will harm the motor of the car too.
How often should you change the coolant?
As we already said, driving with low coolant is extremely harmful to the vehicle. However, the coolant doesn’t have to be changed regularly unless there are signs of leakage. Sometimes, car owners replace the engine coolant after five years and that’s alright. However, not replacing the coolant for prolonged periods can make it acidic. If it becomes acidic, the coolant will no longer protect the engine. It will instead erode it gradually. So, car owners must flush the system periodically, even if there are leakages, and refill the engine with fresh coolant.
Now that you know the importance of the engine coolant, you must consider that while inspecting your car. It absorbs the heat produced by the air and the fuel when the car is in motion. If the heat isn’t absorbed, it will cause severe engine damage. Hence, maintaining the required amount of coolant is important for the proper functioning of the engine. So, the moment you notice a low coolant or abnormal reduction of coolant level in the engine, check the issue on time and bring it to the attention of a professional mechanic. If needed, get all leaks repaired and new coolant added.
As we all know Ford Explorer is an SUV manufactured by Ford Motors, which is at present in its sixth generation is the explorer which has a wide range of powertrain layouts and chassis developed by its production. The engine is considered to be the heart of a car. The engine plays a vital role in any type of motor vehicle. The Explorer car model in Ford has some common engine problems that will be discussed in this article.
Let’s have an overview of the common engine problem in the Ford Explorer model. Our example, the 2016 Ford Explorer model, has:
- Illuminated MIL’s/CEL’s
- Noises that are squealing or sometimes the sound from the engine is like the sound of a fan
- Loss of RPM
- Starting trouble
- Lack of engine power
- Under-spec speed
- Engine stalling on the operation
Before diving into the topic it is to be noted that unless and until you drive the car frequently irrespective of any model car, then engine problems are always going to be a concern for you. It is better to make sure that you keep your car put to use regularly. Let us quickly dive into some of the common engine problems of Ford Explorer in brief.
Engine Crank
This is a very common engine problem faced by Ford Explorer. If the engine doesn’t start it may be mostly because of a low battery, but there are other reasons where the engine of the car fails to start. It is important to check the fuel if there is an engine crank. The engine of the car may fail to start because of the dirty or clogged filter that is used for filling fuel. Neglecting filter and oil changes can also contribute to the engine breakdown of the car. These are very common problems that occur while having a Ford Explorer car model.
Overheating of the car Engine
During the summer season, there is a possibility of the car’s engine to get overheated, which does not mean car engines do not get overheated in the winter season. The gauges in the car signal or indicate to the drivers whether the engine of the car is in danger or not. There can be times where the gauges fail to give a signal to the driver. This ultimately leads to overheating of the engine causing engine problems.
Air compression
Sometimes the car might have broken valves in the cylinders. Through the broken valves, there is a possibility that air might enter into the tube causing blocks. These blocks cause damages like engine cranks. This is a very common problem that is faced by almost all cars. These types of problems can be avoided if the person owning the car maintains the car well through regular car service.
Defective Oxygen sensors
The defective oxygen cylinder can be dangerous to the engine of the car. This problem can be dangerous to the car as well. When your Ford Explorer car fails to give you the right information then there are chances that you might face inefficiencies in the proper functioning of the engine. It is not good to drive a car with damaged sensors as the driver will not be aware of the alarm of the car.
If you face any of these engine problems in your Ford Explorer then it is better to service the car. Do not postpone the engine diagnosis of your car with the trusted auto repair mechanic once in a few months. This will ensure that your engine is in a safe condition which might help you avoid common engine problems.
Ever since Ford F-150 was launched, the model has evolved with time and risen to be one of the top attractions of American conciseness. It is considered by many to be an ironically designed truck. The F-150 is one of Ford’s fantastic series, which has overshadowed the other vehicles of the franchise and its competitors due to its sheer popularity, revenue, and sales.
Though Ford has a reputation for being tough, it also a few negatives. On one side, Ford F-150 vehicles can get any job done. On the other hand, they are full of mechanical breakdowns now and then. The Ford F-150 series has received numerous negative reviews from customers. There are a variety of issues owners face, but some are life-threatening. Mostly, owners have complied about transmission issues, jerky shifts, unwanted noises while changing shifts, etc. To address the issues faced by customers, Ford has improved its customer service and updated the F150 model currently.
As we already mentioned, some of the common issues faced by Ford F-150 owners are noises during shifts, less control, jerky shifts, transmission problems, abrupt change of transmission into first gear, without prior inductions. Let’s us now go through some of the transmission issues in F-150.
Transmission Issues
The Ford F-150 faces severe transmission issues. Not just that, drivers even face problems while changing shifts. There’s a hard upshift between the 4th and 5th gear. Similarly, when they are to change shift from 10th to the 9th gear, there’s a hard downshift.
Dealers are, however, denying having heard of such issues previously. At the same time, Ford F-150 owners are also hearing similar issues from other Ford owners. Resetting the transmission is thought to be helpful, but even after doing so, many drivers are continuing to deal with bumpy, loud noises and shifts.
Engine malfunctioning
Some Ford F-150 owners have faced engine problems, even though the vehicle is brand new. However, if the issues have occurred within the warranty period, they can bring it to the notice of the dealer. But, if it’s over, owners have to fix the issue on their own. Engine repairs would roughly cost around $8k, which is a lot to be spent after a new truck.
A Faulty Powerstroke
The power stroke is shockingly a disaster. It fails severely and can lead to potential breakdowns. With such a faulty power stroke, drivers experience sudden shut down of engines at high speeds. Not only is the engine shutdown dangerous, but sometimes the vehicle fails to restart in the middle of the road. Whenever drivers have faced this issue, they had to call a towing service for help. This is a major cause of inconvenience. Additionally, this issue has occurred even after taking the vehicle to professional mechanics because they clean the sensor and its components and do not replace it.
Leaking Oil
Some drivers are also facing issues of oil leakage. Oil is found to leak from the right head gasket, flowing through the back of the engine and drips on the exhaust. This oil dripping can prove to be destructive for other components. Repairing and controlling oil leakage is an expensive procedure, which makes matters worse. Replacing one gasket means replacing them all.
While it’s the beginning of 2021 and the Ford F-150 has not been able to solve the issues that drivers are facing, people are highly waiting for the next model to get launched. So far, Ford F-150 seems to have more negatives than positives. People are now frustrated with its 2019 Ford F-150 model. So, instead of buying this old yet popular model, they are highly expecting the next model to be much better. People are waiting to see better performance levels. If you are willing to know more about the upcoming model, you can research it to prevent yourself from making a bad investment.
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