Your engine temperature gauge
These days many of us get into a car without really understanding how any of it works, and even the engine and how it operates and powers the car is a mystery to many.
Well, essentially it contains cylinders where explosions occur generating power. This means that there is also a lot of heat generated, and thus the engine needs to be cooled and this is usually done with water cooling system that is pumped around the engine to ensure it remains in its standard operating temperature range.
There is a temperature gauge that tells you if the system is within the ordinary range or not; if you've heard of an engine 'overheating' then this refers to it going above the ordinary operating temperature range, and if it is too high then you should stop driving as soon as you realise this.
On very hot days this could be the cause for an engine overheating, but other possibilities include there not being enough water to cool the system because of for instance something like a leaking radiator.
Another possibility is that the fan belt that operates the water pump has broken, or perhaps the radiator can be blocked (by something like ice), and therefore often anti-freeze is used when it is cold and potentially icy to stop this happening.
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