i would like to share my view and analysis or even the principle behind a car experiencing overheating. this is likewise based on my experience on such trouble and similarly based on how i was able to determine the cause and had made a solution out of it.

let me first discuss in a very short cut approach the basic principle on engine cooling system or shall we say , ' HOW  THE COOLING SYSTEMS WORKS.

 This is the picture of the whole system.  There is a radiator with water,with two hoses attached to it , at the top and at the bottom or lower part,  when the engine starts, the water pump which is normally carried by a BELT thru the crankshaft pulley, pumps the water from the radiator , the water reacting to the action of the water pump, passes thru the lower radiator hose, at the other end of the lower hose, a THERMOSTAT  is installed which serves as a traffic to the incoming water that will be delivered to the engine.  This thermostat is actually a heat sensor where its heat sensitivity is  pre set by the manufacturer depending what degrees in temperature this thermostat should open to allow the water to enter the engine. the principle of this thermostat is that , it opens when it sense that the water is already hot, and it closes when the water temperature drops below the normal temperature where it was set.

This thermostat is located at the end of the radiator hose but before entering the engine block.   Example .starting a car  from a cold engine , the thermostat is closed, preventing the water coming from the radiator to enter the engine, time will come when this water will become hot because the water came from a moving  engine,  if the water in the lower hose  reached the desired temperature, say 50degrees celcius, this thermostat opens, allowing the water coming from the radiator enters the engine, a time will come again that the water coming from the lower hose will not become too hot  or a little bit colder than what it should,  since the water passes thru the radiator cooling fins, PLUS  the help of the RADIATOR FAN blade that sucks the heat from the radiator,  that will trigger the thermostat to close because it sensed that the water is below the a dictated temperature.  when the water coming from the engine becomes hot again and pass thru the thermostat, this thermostat will open once again.

take note that without the RADIATOR FAN , the water inside the radiator will not  become cold by the mere passing of water in the cooling fins of the radiator , it needs the movement of the fan blade to remove the heat in the radiator.   this radiator automatically operates by means of a SENSOR SWITCH installed near the THERMOSTAT.  This switch is embedded in the engine where it is submerged in the water coming from the lower hose.  if the water where this switch is submerged is still cold, this switch is still open, meaning     it will not send signal to the radiator fan to operate, by the time the water where  the  sensor switch is submerged  becomes hot , the sensor switch will send signal to the radiator fan to operate and will only stops when the water in it becomes below the temperature where it is set.

for us to be able to know whether our car is experiencing overheating , a TEMPERATURE GAUGE is installed in the dashboard to warn us that something is going wrong.   this GAUGE  is wired to a SENSOR which sensor is embedded in the  place directly in the engine where it receives  the HOT
 water from the engine . this gauge is likewise preset, in such a way that its needle remains constantly fixed in a certain degree, except when the engine overheats, in which case the needle deflects upward.  

NEXT is to talk about the causes of overheating