If Your Engine Overheats

In any of the following situations, you can reduce the potential for overheating by taking the appropriate action.

• On the highways — slow down.
• In city traffic — while stopped, place the transmission in NEUTRAL, but do not increase engine idle speed.

NOTE: There are steps that you can take to slow down an impending overheat condition:

• If your air conditioner (A/C) is on, turn it off. The A/C system adds heat to the engine cooling system and turning the A/C off can help remove this heat.
• You can also turn the temperature control to maximum heat, the mode control to floor and the blower control to high. This allows the heater core to act as a supplement to the radiator and aids in removing heat from the engine cooling system.

Driving with a hot cooling system could damage your vehicle. If the pointer CAUTION!

Driving with a hot cooling system could damage your vehicle. If the pointer rises to the H (red) mark, the instrument cluster will sound a chime. When safe, pull over and stop the vehicle with the engine at idle. Turn off the air conditioning and wait until the pointer drops back into the normal range. If the pointer remains on the H (red) mark for more than a minute, turn the engine off immediately and call for service.

You or others can be badly burned by hot engine coolant (antifreeze) or steam WARNING!

You or others can be badly burned by hot engine coolant (antifreeze) or steam from your radiator. If you see or hear steam coming from under the hood, do not open the hood until the radiator has had time to cool. Never try to open a cooling system pressure cap when the radiator or coolant bottle is hot.

    See also:

    Engine Air Cleaner Filter
    Refer to the “Maintenance Schedule” for the proper maintenance intervals. WARNING! The air induction system (air cleaner, hoses, etc) can provide a measure of protection in the case of engine bac ...

    Engine oil consumption
    Max engine oil consumption is usually 400 grams every 1000 km. During the beginning of the vehicle’s life the engine is be tuned in. Engine oil consumption can only be considered stabilized after t ...

    Emergency start-up
    If the Fiat CODE system fails to recognize that code transmitted by the ignition key (instrument panel warning light on) the emergency startup can be performed by using the CODE card code. See s ...