Cooling System Service in Colorado Springs, CO

Worth knowing before it happens, because the decisions are made in a few seconds and the wrong ones are expensive.

Switch the air conditioning off. It reduces the load on the engine and removes heat from the air passing through the radiator.

Reduce the demand. Ease off, drop a gear so the engine is turning faster for the same effort, and let the water pump and fan work at a useful speed.

Stop before it reaches the red, somewhere safe, and leave the engine running at idle for a short while unless it is already very hot. The coolant keeps circulating that way; switching off immediately traps heat where it is.

Do not open anything. A hot cooling system is pressurized, and the contents are above the boiling point of water. Opening it releases both at once.

Do not top it up with cold water on a hot engine.

Then call rather than continue. A system that reached that point once will reach it again, and the second time is usually worse.

Rarely one dramatic failure. Usually several small shortfalls that were each survivable on flat ground.

A radiator with its face partially blocked. A pressure cap that no longer holds pressure, lowering the boiling point of the whole system. A thermostat that does not open fully. Coolant past its service life. A fan or fan clutch not working as it should. A water pump worn enough to move less than it did.

On a climb, all of that gets tested at once. Which is why the sensible version of this service is checking the whole system rather than replacing the part that gets blamed.

It protects against freezing and against corrosion, and the corrosion additives deplete with time whether the vehicle is driven or parked. Depleted coolant looks like new coolant while the radiator, heater core and water pump corrode internally.

The Colorado Springs store runs sixteen services, opens at 7:00 AM, and is managed by Tyler Campbell. See also scheduled maintenance and engine repair.

See the national cooling system page for all 33 locations.